Simon Willison’s Weblog

How I Use Every Claude Code Feature (via) Useful, detailed guide from Shrivu Shankar, a Claude Code power user. Lots of tips for both individual Claude Code usage and configuring it for larger team projects.

I appreciated Shrivu's take on MCP:

The "Scripting" model (now formalized by Skills) is better, but it needs a secure way to access the environment. This to me is the new, more focused role for MCP.

Instead of a bloated API, an MCP should be a simple, secure gateway that provides a few powerful, high-level tools:

• download_raw_data(filters...)
• take_sensitive_gated_action(args...)
• execute_code_in_environment_with_state(code...)

In this model, MCP's job isn't to abstract reality for the agent; its job is to manage the auth, networking, and security boundaries and then get out of the way.

This makes a lot of sense to me. Most of my MCP usage with coding agents like Claude Code has been replaced by custom shell scripts for it to execute, but there's still a useful role for MCP in helping the agent access secure resources in a controlled way.

# 2:46 am / ai, generative-ai, llms, ai-assisted-programming, model-context-protocol, coding-agents, claude-code

PyCon US 2026 call for proposals is now open (via) PyCon US is coming to the US west coast! 2026 and 2027 will both be held in Long Beach, California - the 2026 conference is set for May 13th-19th next year.

The call for proposals just opened. Since we'll be in LA County I'd love to see talks about Python in the entertainment industry - if you know someone who could present on that topic please make sure they know about the CFP!

The deadline for submissions is December 19th 2025. There are two new tracks this year:

PyCon US is introducing two dedicated Talk tracks to the schedule this year, "The Future of AI with Python" and "Trailblazing Python Security". For more information and how to submit your proposal, visit this page.

Now is also a great time to consider sponsoring PyCon - here's the sponsorship prospectus.

# 7:22 pm / call-for-proposals, conferences, pycon, python, psf