QFM062: Elixir Reading List - April 2025

Source: Photo by Zan Lazarevic on Unsplash

This month's Elixir Reading List showcases AI integration within the Elixir ecosystem. A RAG Library for Elixir introduces Bitcrowd's new 'rag' library for building Retrieval-Augmented Generation systems, emphasising Elixir's advantages for scalable and reliable AI systems through its fault-tolerance model. This connects to github.com/bitcrowd/rag, which provides comprehensive RAG functionality including vector stores like pgvector and chroma, alongside evaluation tools for context relevance and groundedness.

AI-augmented development tools feature prominently across multiple articles. Hex2txt Documentation Tool converts hex.pm package documentation into formats optimised for AI coding assistants, generating /llms.txt files that improve AI-powered Elixir code generation. Meanwhile, Tidewave speeds up development with an AI assistant embeds MCP servers into Phoenix apps to expose runtime tools like logs, database access, and code evaluation to LLM-powered editors, enabling AI agents to interact with live applications rather than static code. The companion service Harnessing AI with Tidewave for Enhanced Web Development provides additional tooling for deeper web application insights through Model Context Protocol integration.

Phoenix and LiveView development receives attention through practical implementations. WYSIWYG editor in LiveView with embedded images that are uploaded to S3 bucket demonstrates creating rich text editors within Phoenix LiveView using Quill.js, transforming content between HTML and Markdown whilst handling automatic S3 image uploads. Development workflow improvements appear in Configuring a dev environment for Phoenix package development, which explores live reloading configurations for rapid iteration across different project structures.

Core language features and best practices receive detailed examination. Import, Alias, Require, and Use in Elixir provides comprehensive guidance on Elixir's module directives, explaining syntax, use cases, and pitfalls for each approach. Reduce, Reuse, Refactor: Clearer Elixir with the Enum Module advocates for more straightforward Enum functions over complex reduce operations, introducing custom Credo checks to identify refactoring opportunities. Technical architecture decisions are explored in Structs vs Embedded Schemas in Elixir, comparing lightweight structs for internal data grouping against embedded schemas for robust validation.

Advanced tooling and frameworks demonstrate Elixir's expanding capabilities. Clean up your seeds with Generators and AshOps shows how the Ash Framework enables modular data generation through generators and Mix tasks, whilst A high-performance Model Context Protocol (MCP) implementation in Elixir provides production-ready MCP client functionality with multiple transport layers and robust supervision. Performance innovations appear in Microsecond transforms: Building a fast sandbox for user code, which details Sequin's 'Mini-Elixir' approach for high-performance code sandboxing.

Business and ecosystem perspectives round out the collection. Elixir for Business: 5 Ways It Transforms Your Processes highlights resource efficiency and cost reduction benefits, referencing Discord and Pinterest's operational improvements. Technical presentations include FLAME: Thinking differently about the BEAM from ElixirConf US 2024, offering fresh perspectives on process-oriented virtual machine design and expanding traditional BEAM thinking.

As always, the Quantum Fax Machine Propellor Hat Key will guide your browsing. Enjoy!

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M@

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Originally published on quantumfaxmachine.com. Also cross-published on Medium.

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