$
cat
./manifest.txt
--quiet
▍
background
learning_
##
three tracks × three horizons
##
content timeline
At the start of every week — three short videos, one per track. Each carries a single idea and an implementation task — something you can apply at work right away and then unpack together.
filter tracks:
now
##
locked · unlocks with more time
switch the time in the header ↑
⊕what else unlocks
[ 4h ]
Case reviews — ask an expert a
question, get a breakdown on a live call.
+ 4h
[ 4h ]
Chat digest — a substantive review of
discussions with summaries and a full transcript.
+ 4h
[ 6+h ]
Community — a private telegram chat
with threads, experiments, direct questions.
+ 6h
[ 6+h ]
Audio streams — not news but opinions,
whenever something important happens in the industry.
+ 6h
##
case reviews
from 4h of free time · daily
ask an expert
A tough architectural problem, a contentious decision, a
communication snag — describe the case, get a
detailed breakdown. No calls, no publicity. Once a month, a
video answer with alternatives, context, and trade-offs.
→ one case per member per month · anonymized before
publishing inside the community
case template1 / 1
→context
→options you're considering
→constraints and trade-offs
→where exactly you're stuck
submitted → got a breakdown on a live call and asked
questions → applied the recommendations
##
chat digest
from 4h of free time · once a month
a substantive review
of discussions
Chats are noise: 1200 messages a month, of which 50 are
useful. Someone has already read them for you. You
get a digest: summaries by topic, key quotes, the full
transcript via link — without spending extra time on the
chats.
→ structure: problem → approaches → consensus → open
questions
example threads
AI-agent taming workshopClaude Opus 4.8 on a production Go repo: cost and quality
of a single endpoint
AI-agent taming workshopomc: when ralph, when team
effective communications workshopCamera on calls: team lead's requirement vs personal
discomfort
technical discussionsEngineer vs vibecoder: who solves the problem and who
pieces it together from whatever's at hand
non-technical questionsAI as a learning tool: where it works, where it
breaks
→ full transcript via link · key quotes inside
##
community
from 6h of free time · live
experiment,
share,
ask
One private telegram chat with threads by track.
Discussions, agent experiments, real-time case reviews.
Illya and guest experts are online.
→ moderation · NDA-friendly · no ads or toxicity
what's insidelive
▸A live case review — without waiting for the month to
end
▸"Stuck" → an answer from peers and Illya within an
hour
▸Experiment with an agent → share the result
▸A direct question to an expert, no calls
→ people answer, not a bot · no ads or off-topic
##
audio streams
from 6h of free time · by events
not news —
opinions
When something interesting or important happens in the
industry — a new model, a high-profile incident, a
controversial release —
a short audio stream goes out. No schedule, no
waiting for a release. Illya and guest experts break down
"what it means for us".
→ by events · push notification in the bot · the recording
comes later
streamslatest episodes
▶AI again, layoffs again: a different take
▶AI hysteria: new thoughts (Illya)
→ "it happened — let's talk" · 1–2 a month on average
##
in the near future
in progress
01
soon
A TypeScript course for agentic coding
Access to the recordings: how to write code an agent understands from a hint and doesn't break.
02
soon
Long-form videos on key topics
Hour-long deep dives where 15 minutes isn't enough — deep and to the point.
03
soon
AI search across the guild's materials
Ask in your own words — get an answer drawn from every episode, digest, and stream.
##
authors
Illya Klymov
Staff Frontend Engineer at GitLab ·
Google Developer Expert in web technologies. Founder of
JavaScript.ninja, HolyJS speaker, 15+ years in the industry.
Timur Shemsedinov
CTO at Metatech · 30+ years of
experience. Chief architect of Metarhia, lecturer at KPI,
author of 350+ open lectures on Node.js and software
engineering.
##
subscribe to background learning
subscription
three videos a week.
no pressure.
You're not signing up for a course. You're subscribing to a
rhythm. Each video is 15 minutes — watch it over lunch or save
it for the weekend. In six months you'll have a different
vocabulary and a different lens.
nexttick — guild of engineers
roadmap