Deep Dive · Episode 41 · May 15, 2026
01
Why I Stopped
Reading Markdown.
And Started Treating My Data
Like Nice China.
How one X post last week changed how I work with Claude. And how you can copy what I did this Monday.
Olga Pechnenko · Practical AI Show
Part 1 · The Aha
02
It started with one tweet. 12.2 million views.
Part 1 · The Aha
03
His argument, in plain English.
- Markdown was great when WE wrote the files. We read them. We edited them.
- Now agents write them. 100-line plans. Reports. Specs. Nobody reads past line 100.
- HTML can show what markdown can't: tables, color, charts, layouts, links.
- When Claude gives you HTML instead of markdown, you actually read it. You actually share it. You actually act on it.
Part 1 · The Aha
04
"I have honestly stopped using markdown altogether for almost everything."
— Thariq @trq212 · Claude Code team · May 8, 2026
Part 1 · The Aha
05
Only for special occasions. Like nice china.
Part 1 · The Aha
06
Same content. Different format. Different experience.
Before · Markdown file
After · HTML in a browser
Part 1 · The Aha
07
My weekly funding report IS a special occasion.
My news flash IS a special occasion.
Every Friday IS a special occasion.
So I stopped saving the good experience for once a quarter.
My news flash IS a special occasion.
Every Friday IS a special occasion.
So I stopped saving the good experience for once a quarter.
Part 2 · How I Did It
08
I changed three things this week.
- I locked the rule in my Claude config.
- I installed Netlify so I could publish in one command.
- I made "publish this" a single sentence that does it all.
Step 1 · The Rule
09
My current rule. Copy it.
- State that changes over time → HTML
- Anything I have to review and decide on → HTML
- Anything I'll send to a human → HTML
- Operating file my AI and I edit together → Markdown
- Email, newsletter, X, pasted into another tool → Markdown
Shortest version: Anything I'll look at and decide on gets HTML. That covers most of it.
Step 1 · The Rule
10
Reviews are where this hits hardest.
Anything I need to look at and decide on now ships as HTML.
- Title options for an episode
- Shorts candidate reviews
- Proposal A vs Proposal B
- Candidate scoring for hiring
- Weekly funding deep-dives
The honest before: I used to avoid these files entirely. I'd ask Claude for a summary instead. Or force a Word doc out. Both painful. I'd procrastinate for days. HTML didn't make me faster. It made me show up.
Step 2 · Publish In One Command
11
Two commands. Once. Then you're done forever.
In your terminal · one time
npm install -g netlify-clinetlify login
netlify login opens a browser tab once for OAuth. Click yes. Close the tab. Never touch it again.
Every future deploy happens from inside Claude Code. You never open Netlify's website again.
Step 3 · The Magic Sentence
12
I just say "publish this."
I added a rule to my Claude config:
When I say "publish this," "share this HTML," or "make this a link" → Claude runs the Netlify CLI automatically, deploys to production, opens the URL in my browser, and hands me back the link.
One sentence in plain English. Live URL on the internet. About five seconds.
Step 3 · The Magic Sentence
13
Before I publish, three filters run.
- Sensitive? Financials, contracts, personal data → NO. Stays in Dropbox.
- Internal-only? Just my team → NO. Dropbox already covers it.
- Needs a real domain? → that's a different publish path.
If something looks sensitive, my AI flags it and asks. Never silently strips content.
Part 3 · What I Shipped This Week
14
Three artifacts. Each one was a sentence to Claude.
News Flash
Weekly news block. Newsroom editorial format. 6 segments.
practical-ai-ep41-news.pages.dev
Funding Report
This week's $9.45B AI funding. Top 5 with human descriptions.
practical-ai-funding-may-14.netlify.app
24-Week Tracker
$299B cumulative. Five charts. Brand-rebuilt today in 10 min.
practical-ai-funding-tracker.netlify.app
All three live right now. You can visit them while I'm talking.
Part 3 · The Scope
15
Here's what I've built in HTML so far.
- Weekly news flashes (newsroom format)
- Weekly funding reports
- 24-week funding tracker with 5 charts
- GEO transcripts for every episode
- Producer feedback + coaching tracker
- Show predictions log
- Pre-show packets + run sheets
- Title options (decision docs)
- Shorts candidate reviews
- Master execution dashboards
- Vision documents and manifestos
- Funded-companies deep-dives
- Coaching proposals
- Cross-business comparison memos
Every one of these used to be a markdown file that nobody read.
Part 4 · What's Next
16
What I'm building next with HTML.
- A design system file that locks my brand visually. No more re-explaining colors and fonts.
- Interactive editors with drag-and-drop. Triage candidates, Shorts picks, sales prospects.
- Sliders and knobs for tuning palette, fonts, charts.
- SVG diagrams beyond charts. My empire map. My flywheel.
- Annotation tools for Sales Uplevel — tag examples, export decisions.
Part 4 · What's Next
17
If you write code, this is even more for you.
Developers in the audience — your version of "boring file I'm avoiding" is a 400-line PR. Here's what HTML unlocks for code work:
- Rendered code diffs with inline annotations. Better than GitHub's default view.
- PR explainers attached to every pull request. Diagrams, flowcharts, why-this-matters.
- Implementation plans with mockups, data flow, code snippets to review before any code gets written.
- Throwaway editors — Linear ticket triage, feature flag config, prompt tuning side-by-side.
- Design system HTML that points Claude at your codebase so every future artifact matches.
Thariq attaches an HTML code explainer to every PR he makes now. Says it works better than GitHub's diff view.
Heads Up · Before You Start
18
Netlify has a free tier limit. I hit half of it in 6 days.
Netlify free = 100GB of traffic + 300 build minutes a month. Plenty to start. But if you go heavy, you'll hit the cap before the month ends.
Three free places to publish if you outgrow Netlify:
- GitHub Pages — what Thariq uses. Free forever. No real limit for personal use.
- Cloudflare Pages — bigger free tier than Netlify. Unlimited bandwidth.
- S3 (Amazon) — pennies a month even at heavy volume.
Start with Netlify because it's the fastest setup. Move when you outgrow it.
Part 5 · Your Turn
19
The ONE thing you can do Monday.
Find the ugliest, most boring file in your week. The CSV your team ignores. The PDF nobody opens. The status report you write every Monday that nobody reads.
Open Claude. Drop the file in. Say:
Paste this
"Make this an HTML I can actually enjoy reading. Lead with the headline numbers. Make it scannable in 60 seconds."
React to what comes back. Say what you don't like. You don't have to know what good looks like. You only have to know what you hate.
Bonus · Steal These
20
Three prompts to steal Monday morning.
For data you have
Turn this CSV into a single HTML file I can read in 60 seconds. Lead with the headline numbers.
For a decision you need to make
Give me 6 options for X. Lay them out as cards in a single HTML file with the trade-off each is making.
For a report you need to share
Write this as an HTML report I can send to my team. Self-contained, mobile-responsive, single file.
The Bigger Shift
21
This isn't really about HTML.
It's about treating your data like it deserves a visual experience. The way good restaurants plate food. The way good designers spec products.
Your data has been eating off paper plates. It's time to give it nice china every day.
It's about treating your data like it deserves a visual experience. The way good restaurants plate food. The way good designers spec products.
Your data has been eating off paper plates. It's time to give it nice china every day.
Your Turn
22
Find one boring file.
Make it special this Sunday.
Tag us on X when you publish.
We want to see what you build.
We want to see what you build.
@OlgaPechnenko
@thepearsonified