Bryce Watson
Senior software engineer.
I build production systems and open-source tools, and write down what I find. Lately I've been working on how AI agents use tools and carry work through a project. Before this, I spent eleven years shipping software at eBay.
Available for contract engineering work, directly or through your agency .
What I've built
All workA shared kit of rules, skills, and checks for my coding sessions. I'm trying out how much project work can happen in those sessions without a separate system coordinating them.
An agent for preparing Etsy listings, with memory for lessons from earlier runs and a person approving publication.
An open-source starter kit for adapting a REST API into an MCP server, with source and tests available to inspect.
Client work
Current client: Akaya . Engagement details remain confidential.
Latest published week
See the week in fullThis was the week Command started acting on what it sees, and wound down what the evidence no longer supported.
From my published work log. See the full log, or the goals it rolls up to.
Most-read guides
All writingThe three most-read guides on the site. If you arrived with a Claude Code or Cowork problem, one of these is probably it.
- Fixing 'VM Service Not Running' in Claude Desktop Cowork on WindowsThe same error message covers at least six different root causes. Here's the diagnostic decision tree with PowerShell commands, log locations, and fixes for each one.
- Claude Code deletes your old session logs after 30 days by defaultThe cleanupPeriodDays default is 30 days, so Claude Code deletes session transcripts older than that at startup. Set it higher in ~/.claude/settings.json to stop the deletions. What the setting covers, what was already gone on my machine, and why raising it can't recover the past.
- Where Claude Desktop Actually Stores Your Cowork ConversationsHow I located Cowork conversations through session manifests: Windows transcript paths, message and tool-call records, and an audit log with per-session costs. Based on 195 local sessions in March 2026.
Elsewhere
GitHub for the code, LinkedIn for the working history, the RSS feed for new posts, and hello@brycewatson.com for anything else. I don't run a mailing list.