About Field Guides
Why this site exists, who it is for, and who writes it.
What this is
Field Guides is long-form writing on how to build real systems, for people who already do the work: senior engineers, data and product people across AI, data, DeFi and software. I write each guide from the practitioner's seat, with one running example carried the whole way through and the trade-offs named rather than glossed.
There is no textbook neutrality here. Where I have a view, I say so, and I say when it does not hold.
Who writes it
I'm Chris. I build data and AI products, and the guides come out of that work. They cover the problems I have actually had to solve, not a tour of the manual. When I learn something the hard way, it tends to end up here.
Find me on LinkedIn.
Other things I build
Two products I am building alongside the guides:
DistillQL
A unified data platform: one engine over the warehouses a company already runs, so the people with the questions can answer them safely themselves. The agent learns what your terms mean, not just which tables exist.
distillql.com →EsquemAI
Every line in your home on one map: plumbing, wiring, ducts and equipment as layers on a 3D model, each with an honest level of evidence behind it.
esquemai.com →