---
title: "Cloud as a library"
description: "Sam Goodwin argues that cloud services can be consumed as libraries inside an application."
plain: "Sam Goodwin says the whole cloud can become a library you use inside your application."
group: concept
terms:
  - "cloud as a library"
  - "cloud becomes a library"
sources:
  - url: https://youtu.be/MtKHzAH6uXM?t=1790
    title: "Sam Goodwin - Alchemy - YouTube"
    publisher: "Sam Goodwin"
    note: "Cloud-as-library discussion; used for Sam's central phrase."
    accessed: "2026-10-01"
  - url: https://youtu.be/xUnRQ9vLXxo?t=913
    title: "Everything we knew about software has changed — Theo Browne, @t3dotgg ​ - YouTube"
    publisher: "Theo Browne"
    note: "Closing argument; used for Theo's related build-your-own-AWS framing."
    accessed: "2026-10-01"
---

# Cloud as a library

> For agents: start with the [agent guide](https://ratstack.sh/llms.txt). Every page is Markdown by default; add `Accept: text/html` for HTML.

New on /news: [Effect Office Hours 52 with Resonate HQ](/news).

Sam's phrase is that "the whole cloud becomes a library." [Watch from 29:50](https://youtu.be/MtKHzAH6uXM?t=1790).

Theo closes his talk with a related line about building your own AWS. [Watch from 15:13](https://youtu.be/xUnRQ9vLXxo?t=913). In the same talk, he says an extensible product can let users add features within a product area that the author did not predict. [14:37](https://youtu.be/xUnRQ9vLXxo?t=877).

Sources: [Sam Goodwin on Alchemy](/lore/devtools-fm-sam-goodwin-alchemy) and [AI Engineer World's Fair 2026](/lore/aiewf-2026-everything-we-knew-about-software-has-changed-theo-browne).

## Sources

1. [Sam Goodwin - Alchemy - YouTube](https://youtu.be/MtKHzAH6uXM?t=1790)
   Sam Goodwin. Cloud-as-library discussion; used for Sam's central phrase. Accessed 2026-10-01.

2. [Everything we knew about software has changed — Theo Browne, @t3dotgg ​ - YouTube](https://youtu.be/xUnRQ9vLXxo?t=913)
   Theo Browne. Closing argument; used for Theo's related build-your-own-AWS framing. Accessed 2026-10-01.

## Linked from

- Agent guide → An Effect stack so pure (aspirational) Kit Langton will blush. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/llms.txt)

- Change log → What changed in the files served here, newest first. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/log)

- Full agent guide → An Effect stack so pure (aspirational) Kit Langton will blush. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/llms-full.txt)

- Infrastructure as effects → Sam Goodwin relates application operations to infrastructure requirements in one typed program. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/lore/infrastructure-as-effects)

- Purpose and boundaries of rat-stack (VISION.md) → What this starter is for and what a useful copy should keep. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/VISION.md)

- Rat Stack lore | rat-stack → Short, source-grounded notes on the ideas and decisions behind rat-stack. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/lore)

- Source change history (log.md) → The generated change log as Markdown. → [Read page](https://ratstack.sh/log.md)