Digging through Jerod Santo’s tool box

October 17, 2024

59 min episode · 2 min read

Danny Grant,Jerod Santo,K Ball

Episode

59 min

Read time

2 min

AI-Generated Summary

Published Dec 19, 2025

Key Takeaways

✓Editor Evolution: Switched from Sublime Text to Zed editor within six months for speed and lightness, while keeping Vim for terminal SSH work and one-off text manipulation tasks.
✓Custom Platform ROI: Built Changelog's podcast platform in Elixir/Phoenix since 2016, enabling custom features like GitHub transcript sync and partner broadcasting that off-shelf solutions couldn't provide.
✓Terminal Productivity: Uses Atuin tool for upgraded shell history with fuzzy search and cross-machine sync, plus Smug for Tmux session management via YAML configuration files.
✓AI Integration Strategy: Runs local Llama 3.2 via Ollama with Enchanted GUI for daily queries, while using Cursor for complex code refactoring despite preferring lightweight editors.

What It Covers

Jared Santo reveals his development toolbox including Zed editor, Vim background, Elixir/Phoenix for Changelog, custom podcast platform, business tools like FreshBooks and Gusto, plus AI coding workflows.

Key Questions Answered

•Editor Evolution: Switched from Sublime Text to Zed editor within six months for speed and lightness, while keeping Vim for terminal SSH work and one-off text manipulation tasks.
•Custom Platform ROI: Built Changelog's podcast platform in Elixir/Phoenix since 2016, enabling custom features like GitHub transcript sync and partner broadcasting that off-shelf solutions couldn't provide.
•Terminal Productivity: Uses Atuin tool for upgraded shell history with fuzzy search and cross-machine sync, plus Smug for Tmux session management via YAML configuration files.
•AI Integration Strategy: Runs local Llama 3.2 via Ollama with Enchanted GUI for daily queries, while using Cursor for complex code refactoring despite preferring lightweight editors.

Notable Moment

Santo admits being a JavaScript sprinkles developer who avoids single-page apps and TypeScript, using only 64KB of minified JavaScript on Changelog despite hosting a JavaScript-focused podcast.

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