About James Chen
Staff Writer, Developer Tools & SEO
San Francisco, CA
James was a full-stack engineer for six years before discovering he was better at explaining software than building it. He covers developer tooling, API-first products, and SEO platforms — categories where the gap between marketing claims and real-world performance tends to be widest.
His approach is data-first. He runs actual benchmarks, pulls real pricing comparisons, and calls out when a tool’s value proposition doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. He’s particularly interested in tools that automate the parts of content and SEO work that developers hate doing manually.
At ToolsBrief, James handles the technical reviews: Ahrefs, Moz, Semrush, and any tool that requires you to read documentation before you can use it properly. He also covers AI video tools and developer productivity platforms.
Specialties: SEO platforms, developer tooling, API integration, technical content workflows, AI video generation
Background: Full-stack engineer (Node.js, Python, React) turned technical writer. Based in San Francisco since 2019. Previously built internal tooling at two Y Combinator companies.