alt Hacker NewsAsk HN: What are you working on? (February 2026)
What are you working on? Any new ideas that you're thinking about?
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Also working on App Shot Editor [1], a free iOS/Google App store screenshot generator. Basically my kids were getting into mobile app development, and I wanted an easy way for them to create the screenshots needed for the app store listing.
I just released Configmesh this week. It's a macOS app (with CLI companion) for e2e encrypted syncing and backing up of dotfiles and application configurations. You can sync for example stuff from ~/.config/, Application Support, *.plists, and so on, and add config sync to apps that don't support it natively
Fresh off the press
I'm going to do the hyper-literal take of what are you working on literally today, since I'm always working on the same old project Marginalia Search and I have been for going on five years now.
* Integrating website liveness data into the crawler to make more informed decisions about whether to keep or wipe data from a website if it can't be reached while crawling
* Working out why the liveness data gathering process isn't stopping as scheduled.
* Deploying a voluntary max-charge request header for the commercial API
* Making website URL elements searchable. They should be already, but are not for some reason.
* Maybe looking into an intermittent stacktrace I get on one of the index partitions.
No blockers.
I am building HNSignals: HNSignals transforms Hacker News comment discussions into executive-level intelligence briefs.
It synthesizes comments into structured reports in a Chief-of-Staff style for tech leaders.
Professionally, I'm currently working on a touchscreen interface for a medical device warming cabinet. But in my spare time I'm learning to use the micro-mill I recently purchased, by creating a cutting tool for an electric hand drill that will make flat holes in wood that are cut to exact depth and centered correctly. This is for preparing worn out pivot holes in 19th century wooden works clocks to insert bushes.
A dashboard to spin up web servers, proxies, remote server monitoring, remote terminal, and docker containers in milliseconds.
https://github.com/prettydiff/aphorio
Screenshots: https://prettydiff.github.io/aphorio/screenshots/index.html
vibebin is a self-hosted platform for running persistent, isolated AI coding sandboxes on a single VPS using Incus/LXC containers:
https://github.com/jgbrwn/vibebin
It automates installing and managing Incus, Caddy, and SSHPiper, provides a TUI for container lifecycle and quick actions, a web admin (built/compiled on the container) for toggling and updating AI coding tools (Shelley, Claude Code, OpenCode, etc.), and a background sync daemon that keeps Caddy routes and container metadata in sync.
Each container exposes coding tool web UIs on isolated ports and supports direct SSH/VS Code Remote access, so you can run multiple independent coding agents against real project files without exposing your local machine.
The project emphasizes simplicity and recoverability for running agents locally: containers are persistent, optionally routed via reverse proxy with basic auth, and tracked in an SQLite DB so setups auto-heal after restarts. It’s written in Go, includes an install script for one-line deployment, targets modest VPS specs (4–8GB RAM recommended), and bundles helpers for DNS and provider automation.
Ideal if you want a lightweight, opinionated way to host multiple isolated AI dev environments on your own server instead of relying on hosted agent platforms.
I'm building a password tray app. It's tiny cross-platform app (spotlight like search) for people who juggle multiple password managers and browser profiles.
It gives you a global quick search to find and copy credentials from different sources, regardless of browser or profile.
https://matula.itch.io/kings-dont-stack
Klondike solitaire game using Godot. The goal is to better understand Godot's inner workings, and not using any LLMs... outside of whatever Google searches automatically popup when I have questions.
Secondarily, decompiling the DuckTails Gameboy ROM with PHP... then seeing about using PHP to create a GameBoy game. For no reason than to see if it can be done.
I started working on https://ottex.ai three months ago just for fun to test Gemini 3 Flash as a voice-to-text model (by the way, it’s amazing, but a bit slow). However, it quickly transformed into my main project.
It's a free macOS app written in Swift that allows you to type with your voice. It supports local models and BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) with a bunch of providers.
You can assign different models and post-processing steps to polish the text. For example, I have a setup for Obsidian that transforms my voice into clean, formatted Markdown. Or, when I use it inside VS Code, it switches to the Parakeet V3 instant local model.
I've been working on this project, which lets you create interactive Valentine’s Day invitations for your special someone. You can pick from a set of templates, add your own message or photo, and share it easily.
Currently, adding CMS feature so that user can edit their info right in the website and get the link instead of them hosting themself or editing the code.
For the past 2ish months, I’ve been working on Lattice, my internal engine for my multi-tenant blogging system. Take a look at the code [1] and the live site [2]
[1]: https://github.com/AutumnsGrove/GroveEngine [2]: https://grove.place
I'm building Ditto — it clones websites with 100% visual accuracy and outputs a proper React app with named components and preserved structure.
The problem: you find a design you love, want to use it as a starting point, and your options are either manually recreating it or using a tool that spits out a tangled mess of divs and inline styles. CatchDitto gives you an actual codebase — clean component hierarchy, sensible naming, structure you can extend without wanting to rewrite everything first.
I'm still iterating, would love to hear what others think.
A healthcare integration engine for companies who don't want to build their own or don't want to use Mirth connect. Brings together some of the nicer features we have had in the SWE world (writing code and using a CLI vs clicking in a UI, version control, IaC, spin up/tear down envs easily, CI/CD, telemetry). It is written in Go.
I am working on versanovatech.com. Its a learning layer for AI agents that lets them remember, share and learn from their experiences. I have built novasheets.com using the tech of versanovatech.com. It extract structured information from financial excel spreadsheets and is totally free to use.
BrowserBox embedding API plus a bunch of other side projects. BrowserBox is a remote isolated browser with a variety of DLP, NIST 800-53 controls and FIPS 140-3 encryption at rest. It can function as a fully automated embeddable browserview for AI workflows, isolated sandboxes, generic whitelabeled RBI and multiple other use cases. It's a heavy target of abuse by non state actors in sanctioned countries so I had to add ID verification to get a trial key.
A platform to efficiently work with any data right in the browser. Like interactively visualizing millions or rows, and at the same time augmenting the data with domain-specific capabilities. For instance, the cheminformatics plugin automatically recognizes molecules and provides proper rendering, substructure search etc. Sort of a Swiss Army knife for scientific data.
Not really a new idea, been working on it for many years already :)
Hi, I’m splitting my time between multi-cloud governance and optimizing my "vibe coding" workflow: Kexa (https://kexa.io)
An open-source multi-cloud governance framework powered by a YAML rule engine. We just reached a milestone by adding Database (DB) support.
The goal is to allow developers to audit configuration and compliance directly within DB instances, alongside standard cloud resources (AWS, GCP, Azure, K8s). We’re focusing on keeping the YAML rules as agnostic as possible so the same logic can apply across different environments without rewriting everything. rtk (https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk)
This is a "scratching my own itch" project born from using Claude-code. While vibe coding, I got frustrated watching the agent spam ls -al or cat repeatedly just to "orient" itself.
It creates two main issues:
The Token Tax: It burns through tokens for info the agent already has.
Context Pollution: The context window fills up with redundant noise.
I'm working in getting my fullstack web framework Andurel to v1 (currently in beta).
The goal is to approach the developer experience you get from Rails, but in Go, while keep as many of the idioms from Go.
Solo dev, built https://poddley.com a guest-tracking transcript podcast service with rss, timestamps, person-filtering and transcript search.
UPSC Civil Services exam is one of the most coveted exams in India (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Services_Examination). I created the platform which has indexed mock test copies of people who are now officers for the Indian Govt.
Now I am building additional features that make the prep slighly easier. The platform is already live and is being used by several thousand aspirants.
Let me know if you have any feedback! Thank you
I'm working on Kanji Palace (https://kanjipalace.com). It's a web app that help people learn Japanese language with AI.
Right now, I'm working on the OpenClaw-like feature. So, you can learn Japanese via Telegram. Keep track your progress. Practice conversation with your AI assistant. Etc.
Working on either a self hosted, or self "provisioned" document extraction platform. Trying to make it as flexible as possible, so businesses
I worked with manufacturing companies, and the amount of manual document extraction and manipulation, particularly from accounting documents, was always a large burden.
The goal is upload a document → extract structured fields via LLM → generate new documents from templates. Has a dashboard, with an API, along with a webhook, very much a WIP.
I am currently not really working on anything major, due to time constraints.
However had, on my semi-immediate todo list in the future are:
- improvements to the scripts I use to compile software from source; I want to be able to build a complete LFS/BLFS without any interaction (I know there is AFLS but I don't like the format or restrictions; I literally want to be able to do everything here via actionable scripts at every moment in time, including using git sources rather than old releases)
- continue on the unified widgets project (e. g. use oldschool GUIs but also for the web "GUIs"). Describe once, run anywhere, in any programming language. This is obviously way too much for a single person, so I mostly want to get the foundation right, prototype primarily in ruby, then add python and java to it. The "end format" should be for normal people, e. g. they should be able to describe everything in one format, and then have that be the basis for every GUI.
- continue working with regard to bioinformatics, also with a focus on normal people (non-tech savvy people). Most bioinformatics software was written by math-heavy tech-centric people, which makes sense. It's not trivial to work with that (we have AI to work around this to some extent, but I feel that many people who use AI don't understand the underlying components; I kind of want something like a Linux from Scratch for all bioinformatics-centric software. Like not just use it but full and useful explanations that are not too technical, but also not too overly long.)
Hopefully gem.coop becomes a viable alternative to rubygems.org - I hate the corporate identity rubygems.org adopted (and you can see the fall-out in other areas, e. g. Heroku dying right now, which kind of means ruby will die too, if all use cases are eroded despite the pro-corporate focus RubyCentral embraced). Unfortunately things seem to become worse in general - I was hoping LadyBird would be a real competitor. The moment you make any statement that they perceive as "criticism" is the moment their code of conduct kicks in and locks you out. And that's not even after a first release; imagine how they will operate once people come in with complaints about LadyBird having problems.
The world wide web used to be a LOT more open in the past.
Working on pg-fs, a postgres backed file system abstraction for ai agents. So I agents can be given their familiar file primitives, without
https://github.com/DumbMachine/pg-fs
A version of it powers my local rubber duck thoughts and voice note store. Like an explicit chatgpt memory store, helps with information fomo cause I know finding the needle in haystack would be easy.
https://github.com/ScivizLabVienna/HandsomeTello
An opensource iot drone for less than thirty dollars.
Building https://shippable.build for vibe coding in a proper stack and opinionated stack so it is less of a pain going to prod.
A specialized programming language for 3D geometry generation + manipulation called Geoscript as well as a Shadertoy-inspired web app for building stuff with it: https://3d.ameo.design/geotoy
There have been lots of cool technical challenges through the whole process of building this, and a very nice variety of different kinds of work.
I'm working towards using the outputs from this language to build out levels and assets for a browser-based game I've been dabbling with over the past few years.
Month 2 of building the SQL client I've always wished I had.
One feature I'm especially proud of is the visual query builder. Drag & drop to build SQL queries.
There's also an entire SQL tutorial section for anyone who wants to learn or refresh SQL knowledge.
A free interactive SQL tutorial that will get to the level of being a data analyst. It's Alice in Wonderland themed.
I used to be a coding bootcamp instructor, TA and guest lecturer. I've noticed more and more people need to learn SQL for various different reasons. I'm mostly concerned about lesson scaffolding since most SQL courses don't do it that well. I'm hyped about AI but they're not great with lesson scaffolding.
I'm 33% to 50% done. I've already noticed the way I scaffold the lessons is unconventional. For example, for the first 50%, I don't want students to know what tables are. It's too much all at once, everything should be small bites before the big concepts get introduced.
If anyone is interested in testing the beta version, let me know. It will be up within the next 2 weeks probably. My email is in my profile.
I've been building a flutter django app around sharing and using checklists.
I use it myself by iterating on checklists and then tracking my usage of them and recently added orgs for privately shared checklists.
So it's easy to create an org around a shared task and then create a run through that task and track.
I am researching go-string-concat-benchmark [1]:
A performance comparison of four common Go string building methods.
I recently updated my go-stats-calculator to include many more stats [2]:
CLI tool for computing statistics (mean, median, variance, std-dev, skewness, etc.) from files or standard input.
I also created claude-image-renamer [3]:
AI-powered image renaming script that generates descriptive filenames for screenshots.
[1] https://github.com/jftuga/go-string-concat-benchmark
Built myself a silly little menubar pomodoro timer tamagotchi thing for mac. I’ve been slowly going through and building highly personalized versions of my day to day apps. This is the first one I polished up enough to share. Free if anyone’s interested. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/time-flies-focus-timer/id67582...
Started working on a site to document anti patterns in online discourse. Not quite logical fallacies but more so unproductive expressions that aren’t conducive to pleasant, productive, and focused discussion. The site is a bit rough right now and a work in progress.
I want the internet to be a better place for discourse and I think a reference or guide on anti patterns in replies could help make a dent in the right direction.
I've been working on a starter kit for indie SaaS builders. Extracted from a few of my SaaS products. Been programming for 30 years and using coding agents for the past year, so it's optimized for that https://stacknaut.com
I released an open source library to remove metadata from images: https://github.com/fasouto/picscrub
Was more complex than I thought. Still missing support for some RAW formats and had to fix some bugs
I also created a website to showcase how it works -> https://picscrub.com/
I'm currently working on a RethinkDNS-like (Android) and DNSCrypt-Proxy-like app built with Tauri + Svelte. It will include DNS blocklists, a custom WireGuard proxy, and potentially cross-platform device support. I'm using Mullvad's GotaTun implementation. I wanted to learn more about these networking concepts. If I finish it, I'll open-source it.
I’m building PointWiseSystem, a browser-based habit and responsibility system I originally built for my own family.
It uses a simple points model instead of streaks or financial-style tracking to make expectations visible, progress clear, and follow-through easier.
In real use it’s solving three main problems: - As a Family Chore Chart — a digital chore system that actually gets kids engaged with responsibilities using points and rewards. - As a Personal Habit Tracker — a way for individuals to organize routines, add notes, and earn points toward meaningful self-defined rewards. - As Complete Homeschool Management — tracking assignments, logging progress by subject, and generating reports and transcripts for multiple students.
It’s entirely web-based (no app download) and works on phones, tablets, and desktops. I’m actively iterating on it based on real use, and it’s been most useful in situations where simpler systems actually get used instead of abandoned.
Check it out https://www.pointwisesystem.com/ Pre-Launch offering 6 months free
I'm building CatchIntent (https://CatchIntent.com). The goal is to help turning social conversations into qualified warm leads.
Started with it because I was struggling with finding relevant conversations about my first app where people are exactly asking for what I'm selling, only that I was missing those conversations and people. Build a POC, tested for myself and started getting good leads, so I converted it into my second app.
I'm working on Memex: https://github.com/joenewbry/memex
It's inspired by a moment a few years ago when I realized I had no history of what I had worked on in the past.
It let's you quickly get answers to questions like:
- What did I work on last week? - What was that one hacker new post about compiler optimization that I forgot to bookmark last week?
And it has MCP support so it plays well with Claude.
I've used it recently to target specific job applications by adjusting my resume based on what the job application is looking for and what I've worked on in the past... Claude one shots this (because it has context from Memex). And it feels amazing!
Also, the name Memex comes from Vannevar Bush's 1945 article "As We May Think". He originally thought of as a device in which individuals would compress and store all of their books, records, and communications, "mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility". The individual was supposed to use the memex as an automatic personal filing system, making the memex "an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory".
And he created a word - memex - which is a portmanteau of "memory" and "index".
The wikipeida entry here has more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex
It's been a slow start for me. But now, between the cli interface and the MCP connection with Claude I find that I'm starting to use it instead of:
- Bookmarks - Lists / Bug Tracking
And even more exciting it's unlocking capabilities that I didn't have before:
- Can ask Claude to review the last week of work and remind me of things that I might still need to do - Can prevent randomization when someone asks me how to configure a server that I set up a month ago. Now I just ask claude and it checks in Memex. And I can send over a nice .md file
I'm still working on basi[0], a Playwright alternative syntax/tool. I am curious about using LightPanda as an optional headless browser for it and wrote about it here[1]
[0]: https://github.com/zikani03/basi [1]: https://code.zikani.me/using-the-zig-built-lightpanda-browse...
After 15+ years in web development — now diving into game development with Three.js / React Three Fiber (R3F). Keeping AI usage minimal where possible, but it’s been invaluable for complex geometry and math-heavy problems.
Game idea: DroneCraft is a third-person drone exploration game where players scout the world for parts, craft powerful upgrades, and trade strategically to evolve their build.
Whats coming: Core mechanics are up and running. First playable version planned within a month, alongside open-sourcing the full codebase.
A Postman-like MQTT platform with variables and custom MQTT topic buttons.
https://github.com/alsoftbv/topic-lab
It's a Tauri-based app so it has small binaries and supports MacOS, Linux, and Windows.
No screenshots yet, couldn't find the time for marketing work. I'm building features as I am using them. I wanted my colleagues to give it a go first before sharing to the public, but I believe it's already valuable as-is.
I just bought a few microcontrollers and electronics bits to mess with, I want to write an operating system for it to learn risc-v assembler
Working on a PHP debofuscator (ioncube) at https://decodephp.io/
Small lenticular holograms of math equations: https://gods.art/store.html
Almost done with launching my chrome extension called Klue which helps you create notes about webpages and talk with them. Just to clean up a few things, set up a feedback flow for family and friends and set up a landing page. What do you guys use to create these beautiful landing pages?
I built a time tracking app and control panel for ourselves at our company out of frustration (it was very basic, for compliance with spanish law) and eventually we just fixed so much stuff and added so many features that we just released it as a product https://workstamp.eu
We need to reduce the entry barrier (it's meant for companies so it needs explicit registration) so anyone can use it as a proper SaaS but so far we already have a couple clients :D
A goal tracking app that bridges the gap between a to-do list and a calendar. Todo lists don't track time, while calendar time blocks are too rigid.
I need something that gives me visibility into my pace on recurring goals while still allowing for flexibility, i.e. undone goals roll over to the next period. So Im building an internal app for myself.