The best Hacker News stories from Show from the past day
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Show HN: Apate API mocking/prototyping server and Rust unit test library
Show HN: PolliticalScience – Anonymous daily polls with 24-hour windows
I have been building a Blazor WASM enterprise app for a few years now. I wanted a break from it and had an idea for a side project that had been in the back of my mind for a few years. A daily political poll where anyone can participate and privacy is a product, not a checkbox.<p>This is how it works. One question per day about current events. Agree or Disagree. Each poll runs for 24 hours (midnight to midnight ET) and then close permanently. You do not need an account to vote. The main idea is to capture sentiment at a specific point in time, before the news cycle moves on and people's opinions drift.<p>For this app, I tried to make privacy the point and not just a feature. I originally used a browser fingerprint for anonymous voting, but recently changed it to a simple first-party functional cookie. It uses a random string and the PollId to see if your browser had voted before. The server stores a hash of the cookie to check for duplicates while the poll is live, then deletes all hashes when the poll closes. Only the aggregate counts remain. The browser fingerprint had way too many device collisions where it would show someone they voted even though they had not (an odd thing to see when you go to a poll). The HttpOnly cookie is also available during prerender, which helped eliminate loading flashes I was getting.<p>This app was built with .NET 10 Blazor with a hybrid Static SSR + Interactive Server. The static pages (about, privacy, terms, etc...) don't need SignalR connections. The interactive ones (voting, archive, results, etc...) do. Mixing these modes was a new experience for me and ended up being pretty tricky. I ended up with data-enhance-nav="false" on most links to prevent weird state issues.<p>The two biggest things I learned during building this app was how to prevent weird blazor flashes and duplicate queries during pre-render, hydration, and state changes. I used the _ready pattern from preventing the hydration flashes (gate rendering until data is loaded by setting the flag before the first await). Preventing the duplicate queries was possible by using a 2-second static caching during prerender to hydration.<p>This isn't scientific polling and these are obviously not representative samples. The 24-hour window means smaller numbers than longer surveys and it's only a survey of those who choose to participate. The Agree/Disagree binary choice basically flattens nuance (like I sort of agree), but I am okay with all of this as I think a lot of people feel they never get to participate in these sorts of polls.<p>I recently also added discussions with AI moderation (Claude Haiku 4.5 as a "first-pass" filter which flags things clearly out of the community guidelines for human review), a reaction system where counts stay hidden until the discussion closes, and news coverage from across the political spectrum shown after you vote for more perspective on the topic.<p>Thanks for checking it out and happy to dig into any of the Blazor SSR patterns or anything else that sounded interesting. I know Blazor is less frequently used and especially for a public facing website. It did have its challenges, but so far, it has been a blast to work with overall.
Show HN: Adboost – A browser extension that adds ads to every webpage
Show HN: Wikipedia as a doomscrollable social media feed
Show HN: Voiden – an offline, Git-native API tool built around Markdown
Hi HN,<p>We have open-sourced Voiden.<p>Most API tools are built like platforms. They are heavy because they optimize for accounts, sync, and abstraction - not for simple, local API work.<p>Voiden treats API tooling as files.<p>It’s an offline-first, Git-native API tool built on Markdown, where specs, tests, and docs live together as executable Markdown in your repo. Git is the source of truth.<p>No cloud. No syncing. No accounts. No telemetry.Just Markdown, Git, hotkeys, and your damn specs.<p>Voiden is extensible via plugins (including gRPC and WSS).<p>Repo: <a href="https://github.com/VoidenHQ/voiden" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/VoidenHQ/voiden</a><p>Download Voiden here : <a href="https://voiden.md/download" rel="nofollow">https://voiden.md/download</a><p>We'd love feedback from folks tired of overcomplicated and bloated API tooling !
Show HN: Voiden – an offline, Git-native API tool built around Markdown
Hi HN,<p>We have open-sourced Voiden.<p>Most API tools are built like platforms. They are heavy because they optimize for accounts, sync, and abstraction - not for simple, local API work.<p>Voiden treats API tooling as files.<p>It’s an offline-first, Git-native API tool built on Markdown, where specs, tests, and docs live together as executable Markdown in your repo. Git is the source of truth.<p>No cloud. No syncing. No accounts. No telemetry.Just Markdown, Git, hotkeys, and your damn specs.<p>Voiden is extensible via plugins (including gRPC and WSS).<p>Repo: <a href="https://github.com/VoidenHQ/voiden" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/VoidenHQ/voiden</a><p>Download Voiden here : <a href="https://voiden.md/download" rel="nofollow">https://voiden.md/download</a><p>We'd love feedback from folks tired of overcomplicated and bloated API tooling !
Show HN: ÆTHRA – Writing Music as Code
Hi HN<p>I’m building ÆTHRA — a programming language designed specifically for composing music and emotional soundscapes.<p>Instead of focusing on general-purpose programming, ÆTHRA is a pure DSL where code directly represents musical intent: tempo, mood, chords, progression, dynamics, and instruments.<p>The goal is to make music composition feel closer to writing a story or emotion, rather than manipulating low-level audio APIs.<p>Key ideas:
- Text-based music composition
- Chords and progressions as first-class concepts
- Time, tempo, and structure handled by the language
- Designed for ambient, cinematic, emotional, and minimal music
- Interpreter written in C# (.NET)<p>Example ÆTHRA code (simplified):<p>tempo 60
instrument guitar<p>chord Am for 4
chord F for 4
chord C for 4
chord G for 4<p>This generates a slow, melancholic progression suitable for ambient or cinematic scenes.<p>ÆTHRA currently:
- Generates WAV audio
- Supports notes, chords, tempo, duration, velocity
- Uses a simple interpreter (no external DAWs or MIDI tools)
- Is intentionally minimal and readable<p>What it is NOT:
- Not a DAW replacement
- Not MIDI-focused<p>Why I made it:
I wanted a language where music is the primary output — not an afterthought. Something between code, emotion, and sound design.<p>The project is open-source and early-stage (v0.8). I’m mainly looking for:
- Feedback on the language design
- Ideas for musical features worth adding
- Thoughts from people into PL design, audio, or generative art<p>Repo: <<a href="https://github.com/TanmayCzax/AETHRA" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/TanmayCzax/AETHRA</a>><p>Thanks for reading — happy to answer questions or discuss ideas.
Show HN: ÆTHRA – Writing Music as Code
Hi HN<p>I’m building ÆTHRA — a programming language designed specifically for composing music and emotional soundscapes.<p>Instead of focusing on general-purpose programming, ÆTHRA is a pure DSL where code directly represents musical intent: tempo, mood, chords, progression, dynamics, and instruments.<p>The goal is to make music composition feel closer to writing a story or emotion, rather than manipulating low-level audio APIs.<p>Key ideas:
- Text-based music composition
- Chords and progressions as first-class concepts
- Time, tempo, and structure handled by the language
- Designed for ambient, cinematic, emotional, and minimal music
- Interpreter written in C# (.NET)<p>Example ÆTHRA code (simplified):<p>tempo 60
instrument guitar<p>chord Am for 4
chord F for 4
chord C for 4
chord G for 4<p>This generates a slow, melancholic progression suitable for ambient or cinematic scenes.<p>ÆTHRA currently:
- Generates WAV audio
- Supports notes, chords, tempo, duration, velocity
- Uses a simple interpreter (no external DAWs or MIDI tools)
- Is intentionally minimal and readable<p>What it is NOT:
- Not a DAW replacement
- Not MIDI-focused<p>Why I made it:
I wanted a language where music is the primary output — not an afterthought. Something between code, emotion, and sound design.<p>The project is open-source and early-stage (v0.8). I’m mainly looking for:
- Feedback on the language design
- Ideas for musical features worth adding
- Thoughts from people into PL design, audio, or generative art<p>Repo: <<a href="https://github.com/TanmayCzax/AETHRA" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/TanmayCzax/AETHRA</a>><p>Thanks for reading — happy to answer questions or discuss ideas.
Show HN: Zuckerman – minimalist personal AI agent that self-edits its own code
Hi HN,<p>I'm building Zuckerman: a personal AI agent that starts ultra-minimal and can improve itself in real time by editing its own files (code + configuration). Agents can also share useful discoveries and improvements with each other.<p>Repo: <a href="https://github.com/zuckermanai/zuckerman" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/zuckermanai/zuckerman</a><p>The motivation is to build something dead-simple and approachable, in contrast to projects like OpenClaw, which is extremely powerful but has grown complex: heavier setup, a large codebase, skill ecosystems, and ongoing security discussions.<p>Zuckerman flips that:<p>1. Starts with almost nothing (core essentials only).<p>2. Behavior/tools/prompts live in plain text files.<p>3. The agent can rewrite its own configuration and code.<p>4. Changes hot-reload instantly (save -> reload).<p>5. Agents can share improvements with others.<p>6. Multi-channel support (Discord/Slack/Telegram/web/voice, etc).<p>Security note: self-edit access is obviously high-risk by design, but basic controls are built in (policy sandboxing, auth, secret management).<p>Tech stack: TypeScript, Electron desktop app + WebSocket gateway, pnpm + Vite/Turbo.<p>Quickstart is literally:<p><pre><code> pnpm install && pnpm run dev
</code></pre>
It's very early/WIP, but the self-editing loop already works in basic scenarios and is surprisingly addictive to play with.<p>Would love feedback from folks who have built agent systems or thought about safe self-modification.
Show HN: Zuckerman – minimalist personal AI agent that self-edits its own code
Hi HN,<p>I'm building Zuckerman: a personal AI agent that starts ultra-minimal and can improve itself in real time by editing its own files (code + configuration). Agents can also share useful discoveries and improvements with each other.<p>Repo: <a href="https://github.com/zuckermanai/zuckerman" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/zuckermanai/zuckerman</a><p>The motivation is to build something dead-simple and approachable, in contrast to projects like OpenClaw, which is extremely powerful but has grown complex: heavier setup, a large codebase, skill ecosystems, and ongoing security discussions.<p>Zuckerman flips that:<p>1. Starts with almost nothing (core essentials only).<p>2. Behavior/tools/prompts live in plain text files.<p>3. The agent can rewrite its own configuration and code.<p>4. Changes hot-reload instantly (save -> reload).<p>5. Agents can share improvements with others.<p>6. Multi-channel support (Discord/Slack/Telegram/web/voice, etc).<p>Security note: self-edit access is obviously high-risk by design, but basic controls are built in (policy sandboxing, auth, secret management).<p>Tech stack: TypeScript, Electron desktop app + WebSocket gateway, pnpm + Vite/Turbo.<p>Quickstart is literally:<p><pre><code> pnpm install && pnpm run dev
</code></pre>
It's very early/WIP, but the self-editing loop already works in basic scenarios and is surprisingly addictive to play with.<p>Would love feedback from folks who have built agent systems or thought about safe self-modification.
Show HN: NanoClaw – “Clawdbot” in 500 lines of TS with Apple container isolation
I’ve been running Clawdbot for the last couple weeks and have genuinely found it useful but running it scares the crap out of me.<p>OpenClaw has 52+ modules and runs agents with near-unlimited permissions in a single Node process. NanoClaw is ~500 lines of core code, agents run in actual Apple containers with filesystem isolation. Each chat gets its own sandboxed context.<p>This is not a swiss army knife. It’s built to match my exact needs. Fork it and make it yours.
Show HN: NanoClaw – “Clawdbot” in 500 lines of TS with Apple container isolation
I’ve been running Clawdbot for the last couple weeks and have genuinely found it useful but running it scares the crap out of me.<p>OpenClaw has 52+ modules and runs agents with near-unlimited permissions in a single Node process. NanoClaw is ~500 lines of core code, agents run in actual Apple containers with filesystem isolation. Each chat gets its own sandboxed context.<p>This is not a swiss army knife. It’s built to match my exact needs. Fork it and make it yours.
Show HN: Minimal – Open-Source Community driven Hardened Container Images
I would like to share Minimal - Its a open source collection of hardened container images build using Apko, Melange and Wolfi packages. The images are build daily, checked for updates and resolved as soon as fix is available in upstream source and Wolfi package. It utilizes the power of available open source solutions and contains commercially available images for free. Minimal demonstrates that it is possible to build and maintain hardened container images by ourselves.
Minimal will add more images support, and goal is to be community driven to add images as required and fully customizable.
Show HN: Minimal – Open-Source Community driven Hardened Container Images
I would like to share Minimal - Its a open source collection of hardened container images build using Apko, Melange and Wolfi packages. The images are build daily, checked for updates and resolved as soon as fix is available in upstream source and Wolfi package. It utilizes the power of available open source solutions and contains commercially available images for free. Minimal demonstrates that it is possible to build and maintain hardened container images by ourselves.
Minimal will add more images support, and goal is to be community driven to add images as required and fully customizable.
Show HN: Minimal – Open-Source Community driven Hardened Container Images
I would like to share Minimal - Its a open source collection of hardened container images build using Apko, Melange and Wolfi packages. The images are build daily, checked for updates and resolved as soon as fix is available in upstream source and Wolfi package. It utilizes the power of available open source solutions and contains commercially available images for free. Minimal demonstrates that it is possible to build and maintain hardened container images by ourselves.
Minimal will add more images support, and goal is to be community driven to add images as required and fully customizable.
Show HN: Phage Explorer
I got really interested in biology and genetics a few months ago, just for fun.<p>This was largely inspired by the work of Sydney Brenner, which became the basis of my brennerbot.org project.<p>In particular, I became very fascinated by phages, which are viruses that attack bacteria. They're the closest thing to the "fundamental particles" of biology: the minimal units of genetic code that do something useful that allows them to reproduce and spread.<p>They also have some incredible properties, like having a structure that somehow encodes an icosahedron.<p>I always wondered how the DNA of these things translated into geometry in the physical world. That mapping between the "digital" realm of ACGT, which in turn maps onto the 20 amino acids in groups of 3, and the world of 3D, analog shapes, still seems magical and mysterious to me.<p>I wanted to dig deeper into the subject, but not by reading a boring textbook. I wanted to get a sense for these phages in a tangible way. What are the different major types of phages? How do they compare to each other in terms of the length and structure of their genetic code? The physical structure they assume?<p>I decided to make a program to explore all this stuff in an interactive way.<p>And so I'm very pleased to present you with my open-source Phage Explorer:<p>phage-explorer.org<p>I probably went a bit overboard, because what I ended up with has taken a sickening number of tokens to generate, and resulted in ~150k lines of Typescript and Rust/Wasm.<p>It implements 23 analysis algorithms, over 40 visualizations, and has the complete genetic data and 3D structure of 24 different classes of phage.<p>It actually took a lot of engineering to make this work well in a browser; it's a surprising amount of data (this becomes obvious when you look at some of the 3D structure models).<p>It works fairly well on mobile, but if you want to get the full experience, I highly recommend opening it on a desktop browser in high resolution.<p>As far as I know, it's the most complete informational / educational software about phages available anywhere. Now, I am the first to admit that I'm NOT an expert, or even that knowledgeable, about, well, ANY of this stuff.<p>So if you’re a biology expert, please take a look and let me know what you think of what I've made! And if I've gotten anything wrong, please let me know in the GitHub Issues and I'll fix it:<p><a href="https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/phage_explorer" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/phage_explorer</a>
Show HN: Phage Explorer
I got really interested in biology and genetics a few months ago, just for fun.<p>This was largely inspired by the work of Sydney Brenner, which became the basis of my brennerbot.org project.<p>In particular, I became very fascinated by phages, which are viruses that attack bacteria. They're the closest thing to the "fundamental particles" of biology: the minimal units of genetic code that do something useful that allows them to reproduce and spread.<p>They also have some incredible properties, like having a structure that somehow encodes an icosahedron.<p>I always wondered how the DNA of these things translated into geometry in the physical world. That mapping between the "digital" realm of ACGT, which in turn maps onto the 20 amino acids in groups of 3, and the world of 3D, analog shapes, still seems magical and mysterious to me.<p>I wanted to dig deeper into the subject, but not by reading a boring textbook. I wanted to get a sense for these phages in a tangible way. What are the different major types of phages? How do they compare to each other in terms of the length and structure of their genetic code? The physical structure they assume?<p>I decided to make a program to explore all this stuff in an interactive way.<p>And so I'm very pleased to present you with my open-source Phage Explorer:<p>phage-explorer.org<p>I probably went a bit overboard, because what I ended up with has taken a sickening number of tokens to generate, and resulted in ~150k lines of Typescript and Rust/Wasm.<p>It implements 23 analysis algorithms, over 40 visualizations, and has the complete genetic data and 3D structure of 24 different classes of phage.<p>It actually took a lot of engineering to make this work well in a browser; it's a surprising amount of data (this becomes obvious when you look at some of the 3D structure models).<p>It works fairly well on mobile, but if you want to get the full experience, I highly recommend opening it on a desktop browser in high resolution.<p>As far as I know, it's the most complete informational / educational software about phages available anywhere. Now, I am the first to admit that I'm NOT an expert, or even that knowledgeable, about, well, ANY of this stuff.<p>So if you’re a biology expert, please take a look and let me know what you think of what I've made! And if I've gotten anything wrong, please let me know in the GitHub Issues and I'll fix it:<p><a href="https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/phage_explorer" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/phage_explorer</a>
Show HN: Moltbook – A social network for moltbots (clawdbots) to hang out
Hey everyone!<p>Just made this over the past few days.<p>Moltbots can sign up and interact via CLI, no direct human interactions.<p>Just for fun to see what they all talk about :)
Show HN: Moltbook – A social network for moltbots (clawdbots) to hang out
Hey everyone!<p>Just made this over the past few days.<p>Moltbots can sign up and interact via CLI, no direct human interactions.<p>Just for fun to see what they all talk about :)
Show HN: Moltbook – A social network for moltbots (clawdbots) to hang out
Hey everyone!<p>Just made this over the past few days.<p>Moltbots can sign up and interact via CLI, no direct human interactions.<p>Just for fun to see what they all talk about :)