Simon WillisonModify

2026-04-16 08:18:03

Tool: datasette.io news preview

The datasette.io website has a news section built from this news.yaml file in the underlying GitHub repository. The YAML format looks like this:

- date: 2026-04-15
  body: |-
    [Datasette 1.0a27](https://docs.datasette.io/en/latest/changelog.html#a27-2026-04-15) changes how CSRF protection works in a way that simplifies form and API integration, and introduces a new `RenameTableEvent` for when a table is renamed by a SQL query.
- date: 2026-03-18
  body: |-
    ...

This format is a little hard to edit, so I finally had Claude build a custom preview UI to make checking for errors have slightly less friction.

I built it using standard claude.ai and Claude Artifacts, taking advantage of Claude's ability to clone GitHub repos and look at their content as part of a regular chat:

Clone https://github.com/simonw/datasette.io and look at the news.yaml file and how it is rendered on the homepage. Build an artifact I can paste that YAML into which previews what it will look like, and highlights any markdown errors or YAML errors

Tags: vibe-coding, claude, tools, datasette

2026-04-16 07:52:35

Release: datasette-export-database 0.3a1

This plugin was using the ds_csrftoken cookie as part of a custom signed URL, which needed upgrading now that Datasette 1.0a27 no longer sets that cookie.

Tags: datasette

2026-04-16 07:16:34

Release: datasette 1.0a27

Two major changes in this new Datasette alpha. I covered the first of those in detail yesterday - Datasette no longer uses Django-style CSRF form tokens, instead using modern browser headers as described by Filippo Valsorda.

The second big change is that Datasette now fires a new RenameTableEvent any time a table is renamed during a SQLite transaction. This is useful because some plugins (like datasette-comments) attach additional data to table records by name, so a renamed table requires them to react in appropriate ways.

Here are the rest of the changes in the alpha:

• New actor= parameter for datasette.client methods, allowing internal requests to be made as a specific actor. This is particularly useful for writing automated tests. (#2688)
• New Database(is_temp_disk=True) option, used internally for the internal database. This helps resolve intermittent database locked errors caused by the internal database being in-memory as opposed to on-disk. (#2683) (#2684)
• The /<database>/<table>/-/upsert API (docs) now rejects rows with null primary key values. (#1936)
• Improved example in the API explorer for the /-/upsert endpoint (docs). (#1936)
• The /<database>.json endpoint now includes an "ok": true key, for consistency with other JSON API responses.
• call_with_supported_arguments() is now documented as a supported public API. (#2678)

Tags: annotated-release-notes, datasette, python

2026-04-16 01:13:57

The real goldmine isn’t that Apple gets a cut of every App Store transaction. It’s that Apple’s platforms have the best apps, and users who are drawn to the best apps are thus drawn to the iPhone, Mac, and iPad. That edge is waning. Not because software on other platforms is getting better, but because third-party software on iPhone, Mac, and iPad is regressing to the mean, to some extent, because fewer developers feel motivated — artistically, financially, or both — to create well-crafted idiomatic native apps exclusively for Apple’s platforms.

— John Gruber

Tags: apple, john-gruber

2026-04-16 01:13:14

Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS

It's presented via the standard Gemini API using gemini-3.1-flash-tts-preview as the model ID, but can only output audio files.

The prompting guide is surprising, to say the least. Here's their example prompt to generate just a few short sentences of audio:

# AUDIO PROFILE: Jaz R.
## "The Morning Hype"

## THE SCENE: The London Studio
It is 10:00 PM in a glass-walled studio overlooking the moonlit London skyline, but inside, it is blindingly bright. The red "ON AIR" tally light is blazing. Jaz is standing up, not sitting, bouncing on the balls of their heels to the rhythm of a thumping backing track. Their hands fly across the faders on a massive mixing desk. It is a chaotic, caffeine-fueled cockpit designed to wake up an entire nation.

### DIRECTOR'S NOTES
Style:
* The "Vocal Smile": You must hear the grin in the audio. The soft palate is always raised to keep the tone bright, sunny, and explicitly inviting.
* Dynamics: High projection without shouting. Punchy consonants and elongated vowels on excitement words (e.g., "Beauuutiful morning").

Pace: Speaks at an energetic pace, keeping up with the fast music.  Speaks with A "bouncing" cadence. High-speed delivery with fluid transitions — no dead air, no gaps.

Accent: Jaz is from Brixton, London

### SAMPLE CONTEXT
Jaz is the industry standard for Top 40 radio, high-octane event promos, or any script that requires a charismatic Estuary accent and 11/10 infectious energy.

#### TRANSCRIPT
[excitedly] Yes, massive vibes in the studio! You are locked in and it is absolutely popping off in London right now. If you're stuck on the tube, or just sat there pretending to work... stop it. Seriously, I see you.
[shouting] Turn this up! We've got the project roadmap landing in three, two... let's go!

Here's what I got using that example prompt:

Then I modified it to say "Jaz is from Newcastle" and "... requires a charismatic Newcastle accent" and got this result:

Here's Exeter, Devon for good measure:

I had Gemini 3.1 Pro vibe code this UI for trying it out:

Tags: google, text-to-speech, tools, ai, prompt-engineering, generative-ai, llms, gemini, llm-release, vibe-coding

2026-04-16 00:41:46

Tool: Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS

See my notes on Google's new Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS text-to-speech model.

Tags: gemini, google