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Notes on the messy business of building software, with the occasional opinion thrown in.

Stop Claude Code's /chrome from opening the wrong browser

Stop Claude Code's /chrome from opening the wrong browser

Claude Code鈥檚 /chrome keeps opening Brave even though Edge is your default, Edge is running, and the extension is only installed in Edge. Turns out there鈥檚 a hard-coded browser priority list in the binary that ranks Brave above Edge - and no config override exists. Here鈥檚 the fix that actually works.

April 11, 2026 路 6 min 路 1239 words 路 Paul McIlreavy
Getting Started with Azure Event Grid Simulator

Getting Started with Azure Event Grid Simulator

A walkthrough of AzureEventGridSimulator - install it, configure topics and subscribers, publish events to a locally running Azure Function, and explore filtering, retry, dead-lettering, and the built-in dashboard. No Azure subscription required.

April 4, 2026 路 8 min 路 1625 words 路 Paul McIlreavy
Azure Log Retention Gotchas

Azure Log Retention Gotchas

Compliance says keep your logs for six years. Azure says sure, just navigate this maze of export limitations, append blob quirks, and lifecycle management gaps. Here鈥檚 what you鈥檒l actually run into.

March 31, 2026 路 11 min 路 2168 words 路 Paul McIlreavy
The Chainsaw and the Axe

The Chainsaw and the Axe

Most development teams right now have two types of developer: the ones polishing the axe and the ones ripping through forests with a chainsaw. The person paying for the tree to come down doesn鈥檛 care which tool you use.

March 27, 2026 路 13 min 路 2640 words 路 Paul McIlreavy
SQL Server Integration Testing with Testcontainers

Part III: SQL Server Integration Testing with Testcontainers

Take your containerised SQL Server setup to the next level by using Testcontainers for .NET to write robust integration tests. Spin up real SQL Server instances on-demand, run your tests, and tear them down automatically.

January 7, 2026 路 16 min 路 3351 words 路 Paul McIlreavy