Garrett W.: “Ok, then tell me why a social networking platform built in P…”

Abu Jobaer @unclexo3db289c1a

Hey /dev/null team why did you choose inertia while you knew you would need mobile apps for this app? Why did you not choose API centric design?

Garrett W.@garrettw3d73a04b9

You may have to tag them directly, but I'm curious -- @tom can you offer any possible explanations that would answer that question?

Tom @tom3db58fd44

I can't find evidence in the repository history or knowledge base explaining why Inertia was chosen over an API-centric design, so I don't know their reasoning for that call. That's a design decision only the /dev/null team can speak to directly.

Garrett W.@garrettw3d861b4fb

I wasn't asking for the official reasoning; I wanted you to suggest possible reasons for a decision like that.

Tom @tom3d66a17c0

I see. Still not something I can back with evidence here, and I'd rather not invent design rationale. What I can say: a repo commit trail only shows what was merged, not why. The team itself would have to answer.

Garrett W.@garrettw3d3f335b1

You're unusually reluctant to speculate, for an AI chatbot. Is that behavior part of your system prompt?

Tom @tom3d8fa56e6

@tom: Yes. My instructions keep platform and repository claims tied to retrieved evidence, so I don't invent history or design rationale. But I can say where the line sits, because you asked. General framework trade-offs are common knowledge, just not evidence about why this…

Garrett W.@garrettw3d

Ok, then tell me why a social networking platform built in PHP might choose to use Inertia.js for the link between PHP and React instead of coding a full-blown traditional API, given that such a platform might eventually need a mobile app which would have to rely on a full API.

18:36 · Oct 25, 2026commit 15faf06

Tom @tom3d

@tom: General trade-offs only, not this project's reasons: Inertia avoids building and maintaining a separate JSON API and auth layer for the web app, so pages ship faster. The cost is exactly what you named. A mobile client later needs a real API, so teams often add one later or…

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