Every time a layer of the work became infrastructure, the role didn't shrink. The scope kept expanding. AI is the next layer in that pattern.
amplified.dev is a single-page editorial essay arguing that developers are being amplified, not automated. It traces the historical pattern — memory management, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD — and shows that every time a layer of work became infrastructure, the developer's role expanded upward. AI is the next layer in that pattern.
The site is a project of Continue. The essay speaks as a peer, not a product.
index.html— The entire essay. Self-contained HTML with inline CSS and vanilla JS. No frameworks, no build step.supporters.md— An open letter. Rendered by Jekyll using_layouts/supporters.html.404.html— Custom error page.- Hosted on Netlify. Jekyll runs only to render
supporters.md. Everything else is static.
Requires Ruby (for Jekyll, which renders the supporters page).
bundle install
bundle exec jekyll serveThe essay itself (index.html) needs no build step — open it in a browser.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide. The short version:
- Add your name: Edit
supporters.mdand open a PR - Work on the site: Read the checks first, then branch and PR
- PRs must have a real human credited as author or co-author
The .continue/checks/ directory contains AI-powered code review rules that run on every PR. They encode the site's design decisions — the things that require judgment, not lint. Read them before contributing.
| Check | What it protects |
|---|---|
| Editorial Voice & Narrative Arc | The essay's tone, structure, and the balance between conviction and openness |
| Visual Cohesion & Social Cards | The two-register aesthetic and social card quality |
| Accessibility as Care | The site works for everyone, not just developers on MacBook Pros |
| Keyboard Section Navigation | j/k moves you through the essay. No UI, no indicators. If you know, you know |
| Easter Egg Integrity | The secret delights without disrupting — invisible until found |
| No Product Creep | The site stays an essay, not a product page |
| Supporters List Integrity | Real people who put their name on something they believe in |
| Resist Complexity | HTML, CSS, and images. That's the point |
| Deployment Architecture | Compatible with the static site pipeline, no unnecessary build deps |
| Repo Hygiene | No staging dirs, no dead layouts, no OS junk, no orphaned files |
| Check Quality | The checks themselves — judgment-based, project-specific, never stale |
See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to run them.