How I work
Cloth is strong because every thread crosses many others. Systems are the same. Most of what I do is making sure the crossings hold.
Read production first
Before I change anything I look at what the system is already saying: the traces, the error rates, the slow pages, the last incident. The real problem is usually one layer under the ticket.
Tests before code
Test-driven, reviewed, committed often. Small changes with a test beside them are the fastest way I know to keep a busy codebase honest.
Keep the stack current
Upgrades done a little at a time, every quarter, so no version jump ever becomes a project. Current dependencies are also the cheapest security work there is.
Write it down, then teach it
Design docs, runbooks and a training session for whoever comes next. A change is finished when someone else can run it without me.