Mike Lopez

I’m Mike Lopez. I ⌨️ build software, 🎹 write and release songs, 🎤 lead worship, and 📣 share what I learn along the way. Expect code, music, faith, AI, and the occasional rabbit hole. Different hats, same person. Which one brought you here?

What makes you trust a new leader sooner: how they listen, what they know, or whether they follow through?

Recognize steady maintenance work, not just dramatic rescues.

Teach the full AI workflow: define behavior, inspect the patch, run checks, and reject bad suggestions. Have the learner drive and explain the correction. Try my practical team learning exercise: mikelopez.com/blog/1753/

Which Bible story could you hear again and again without getting tired of it?

Use version control for configuration templates and database migrations.

WordPress trunk testing is useful when stable and trunk run the same plugin, fixtures, and checks. Keep core and its PHPUnit library matched, and triage the differences. Use my compatibility matrix: mikelopez.com/blog/1735/

Cancel recurring meetings that no longer serve a purpose.

A merged PR does not prove a fix is live. AI status reports should link claims to evidence and leave unconfirmed deployment, owners, and forecasts unresolved. Try my source-grounded reporting prompt: mikelopez.com/blog/1755/

Upgrading PHP gets much less exciting when you have a repeatable test setup. That’s a good thing.

Delegate outcomes while leaving room for others to choose the approach.

Membership software should fit the customer lifecycle. Map purchases, access, renewals, and cancellations to the exact components you need, then test in staging. Use my MemberPress product-fit checklist: mikelopez.com/blog/1734/

Make the smallest safe change that solves the problem.

Permission to explain code should not silently grant permission to execute it or deploy it. Define tool, data, action, and review boundaries where developers work. Build a practical AI operating agreement: mikelopez.com/blog/1754/

A deadline is easier to discuss honestly when people can say what is still unknown.

Check dependencies before promising a delivery date.

WishList Member webhooks do not document a stable event ID or retry guarantee. Use state-based handlers and reconciliation; add custom delivery guarantees when needed. Walk through the payload and PHP API examples: mikelopez.com/blog/1733/

Ask “What am I missing?” before closing a difficult discussion.