ryan sheppard

Now

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 17:14:20 -0700

This is a snapshot of what I’m focused on right now, inspired by the now page movement.

right now

Building software at Rockbot, mostly on backend systems.
Spending time with my family.
Getting around by bike when I can.
Listening to MJ Lenderman and Turnstile.

this site

I’m writing short notes about software, command-line tools, and things I learn along the way.

Last updated August 15, 2026.

pgcli with visidata

Sat, 11 May 2024 14:33:12 -0500

tip

When using pgcli, you might want to explore the result of a query. Visidata is a great tool for that. Here’s how you can use it with pgcli.

If you are not familiar with visidata, you can check out the official website.

Or if you have not used pgcli before, you can check out the official website.

configuration

We will update the pgcli configuration file to use visidata as the pager and set the output format to csv.

no more ugly json

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 20:19:19 -0500

I wanted to share an easy way to make JSON output from the command line more readable. I’ve been using this for a while now and it’s been a huge help. This is for macOS, but I’m sure there are similar tools for other operating systems.

The Problem

I often copy the JSON message from our logging system and paste it into slack or a text editor. The problem is that the JSON is all on one line and it’s hard to read. Here’s an example:

favorite git aliases

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 16:35:36 -0600

All of the alias below are from the git plugin available in Oh My Zsh.

gss: `git status -s`

short the working-tree status with short flag

gpsup: `git push --set-upstream origin $(git_current_branch)`

push the current branch to orgin

gaa: `git add --all`

adds all files to the index

gc: `git commit`

commit files and open the default git text editor to provide a message

gfa: `git fetch --all --prune --jobs=10`

fetch updates from all remotes, removing remote branch that no longer exists

favorite command line tools

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 13:36:28 -0600

K9s

https://k9scli.io/

Terminal based UI for interacting with K8s clusters.

log viewing
port-forward pods
keyboard shortcuts
benchmarking with Hey

HTTPie

https://httpie.io/docs/cli

HTTP client that’s more simple than curl in my opinion.

Ticker

https://github.com/achannarasappa/ticker

Stock tracking in the terminal, easy to configure.

tldr

https://github.com/tldr-pages/tldr

When I can’t remember the commands and flags of cli apps.

ripgrep

https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep

Blazing fast alternative to grep.

dust

https://github.com/bootandy/dust

Sane disk usage viewer. Hey Spotify, you are using too much space!

what has helped my switch to vim

Sat, 13 Nov 2021 17:57:42 -0600

Use the :help or :h command whenever you are looking something up! I, like many, use a search engine whenever I need to look something up. This was no different when I started using vim. I have found though, it’s so much easier to find what I need with regards to vim or a plugin if I use the built in tool. There’s also the benefit of getting more experience with vim this way.

about

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

about

I’m a senior software engineer at Rockbot. I wear many hats, but I focus on infrastructure and backend development. I enjoy solving hard problems at scale and being trusted to take on high-risk, high-impact work.

skills

My work spans a few closely related areas:

Backend systems: designing services and APIs, modeling data, and building reliable integrations.
Infrastructure and platforms: cloud architecture, container orchestration, infrastructure as code, observability, and developer tooling.
Data: relational databases, caching, and the systems that move and serve data efficiently.
Frontend: building and maintaining web applications when a project calls for it.

I also enjoy sharing and learning from others. I have volunteered for Microsoft’s TEALS program, where I helped teach computer science to high school students.

ryan sheppard

Now

right now

this site

pgcli with visidata

tip

configuration

no more ugly json

The Problem

favorite git aliases

gss: git status -s

gpsup: git push --set-upstream origin $(git_current_branch)

gaa: git add --all

gc: git commit

gfa: git fetch --all --prune --jobs=10

favorite command line tools

K9s

HTTPie

Ticker

tldr

ripgrep

dust

what has helped my switch to vim

about

about

skills

gss: `git status -s`

gpsup: `git push --set-upstream origin $(git_current_branch)`

gaa: `git add --all`

gc: `git commit`

gfa: `git fetch --all --prune --jobs=10`