Setting Up This Blog

The first post of the journey! 🚀 This one covers how I set up this blog so that anyone interested — or on a similar path — can replicate it easily.

Setting up this blog with Jekyll and the Chirpy theme using VSCode and Copilot

1. Gmail

Nothing fancy here — just follow the standard steps to create a Gmail account. I created roadtoaimastery@gmail.com to keep everything on-brand.

2. Github

Same deal — follow GitHub onboarding instructions. I also set up an SSH key so I can easily push commits without typing my password every time.

SSH key uses public-private key cryptography. Think of it like installing a lock (public key) on a door that only your private key can open. You can share the lock with anyone (like GitHub), but only you hold the matching key. This way, you don’t have to manually enter your username and password every time you interact with GitHub.

Quick SSH key setup:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"
# Add the public key to your GitHub account
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

3. Instagram

I’m planning to experiment with different platforms to bring in site traffic. I’ll start with Instagram (@roadtoaimastery) and see how it goes. Later, I may expand to X, Threads, Substack, and others.

4. ChatGPT Plus

I currently have a paid ChatGPT Plus subscription ($20/mo), which (as of June 2025) includes increased access to:

• GPT-4o
• o3 (the reasoning model)
• DALL·E 3 image generation
• Deep research capabilities

It seems worth it so far. That said, I’m not fully committed — I’m also actively evaluating Gemini and Claude as alternatives.

5. VSCode

VS Code remains the most widely used editor. I haven’t tried newer options like Cursor yet, but VS Code still feels the most comprehensive (as of June 2025).

One powerful feature is Dev Containers, which lets you isolate development environments for different projects.

Must have extensions:

• Docker
• Dev Containers
• Remote - SSH
• Python
• GitHub Copilot

6. VSCode Github Copilot

Github Copilot is a must-have for any programmer. It improved significantly after Claude Sonnet 3.7 was introduced. My current favorite backend LLM model is Claude Sonnet 4.0 — I’ve found it performs best in agent mode.

For general use and smaller code completions, I use ChatGPT-4.1, which feels faster.

I’m on the Pro subscription plan ($10/mo).

7. Blog

Now finally onto the main topic!

This blog was created using Jekyll, which is a static site generator written in Ruby. It’s especially popular among academics and developers who blog, thanks to its simplicity and seamless GitHub Pages integration.

I used Chirpy as the template, which I just followed the official setup guide (I used Option 1) to get started.

With working Jekyll template, you can instantly launch a working website with the command:

$ bundle exec jekyll serve --livereload

This command runs the site locally with live reload, allowing you to preview changes in real time and iterate efficiently.

I wrote the About.md page using Claude Sonnet 4.0, and used DALL·E (ChatGPT 4o) to generate both the profile picture and hero image. It’s a simple setup, but it gets the job done for now.

What I learned today 💡

• Gem: Ruby package management system (like npm for Node.js)
• jekyll-compose: Streamlines creating new posts with commands like bundle exec jekyll post "My New Post"

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Found this helpful? I’d love to hear about your setup! Drop me a line on Instagram or GitHub.

Also, if you have a request on what to cover, send me an email at roadtoaimastery@gmail.com.

Happy building! 🛠️