The best Hacker News stories from Show from the past day
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Show HN: zkGolf – Competitive optimization of formally verified circuits
Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) let an untrusted proved show that computation was executed correctly without revealing the inputs to the verifier.
However to prove anything, the computation first has to be expressed as a circuit: a system of polynomial equations (constraints) over a finite field.
Circuits are the assembly language of zk and every constraint costs prover (and sometimes verifier) time, so production circuits are aggressively hand-optimized.<p>Over the last months, we have been experimenting with writing formal specifications instead and letting LLMs produce the circuits: as long as they could prove that their implementation was correct.
It started with SHA-256: we hand wrote a specification in Lean for SHA-256 compression, and then we asked LLMs to write the circuit, targeting R1CS arithmetization and large fields.<p>It took a few hours of work for Opus 4.7, and some light steering into the right direction, but in the end the model came up with a reasonable implementation. We then asked the LLM to aggressively optimize the circuits, by driving down a cost metric of the circuit (number of constraints). We immediately got very promising results, just by asking to come up with optimization ideas, implement them and prove that the new circuit still satisfies soundness and completeness. Sometimes, it came up with unsound optimizations, however, since it could not prove them, it backtracked and got itself back on to the right approach.<p>The result was a (non-deterministic) circuit beating the current, human optimized, state of the art for SHA256 compression. This experience lead us to create "zk.golf" which is an open competition to produce optimized, formally verified circuits to lower the bar for the use of ZKPs and make their application more efficient.<p>Come play (<a href="https://zk.golf/llms.txt" rel="nofollow">https://zk.golf/llms.txt</a>) and learn about formal verification.
Show HN: QUALITY.md – open format/specification, agent skill, and CLI
Hello all, I created QUALITY.md to help build a holistic quality evaluation process for my projects. Turns out it's also ideal for loop engineering. I'm hoping this provides a valuable contribution to the conversation around quality and craft and having AI help us in the effort. I hope to shift the mindset from a reactive/review/repair mindset to a proactive care mindset.<p>Give it a go. I look forward to your thoughts/comments/feedback!<p>Website: <a href="https://getquality.md" rel="nofollow">https://getquality.md</a>
GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/qualitymd/quality.md" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/qualitymd/quality.md</a>
Show HN: Claudoro, Pomodoro timer embedded in the Claude Code statusline
3 weeks ago I had a nasty accident and fractured my vertebrae. As I lay in bed I needed something to take my mind off it all so built "Claudoro".<p>Claudoro is a pomodoro timer built right into the Claude Code status line, as well as can be directly controlled from Claude Code and the CLI. A few years ago I built "pymodoro" which was great, but recently I felt I needed something embedded in the tools I actually use, and I also wanted something that was flexible, and I could tweak and nudge.<p>Anyway I hope it is useful to you, and I'd love some feedback on how to improve it.<p>Thank you...!<p>PS this is a write up all about how it works etc: <a href="https://benemson.com/blog/agents/claudoro-pomodoro-timer-claude-code" rel="nofollow">https://benemson.com/blog/agents/claudoro-pomodoro-timer-cla...</a>
Show HN: CLI tool for detecting non-exact code duplication with embedding models
Show HN: A graph paper generator that renders vector PDFs in the browser
Show HN: Mail Memories – A desktop app to rescue photos from Gmail
Hey HN, I’m the creator of Mail Memories. Like many of you, I've had my Gmail address for more than 20 years. A few years ago, I got curious and wanted to see what photos were buried deep in my account. I ended up finding lots of "lost" pictures of old friends, family members, and a ridiculous number of vintage memes.<p>I originally built and launched this as a SaaS, but even with code and policies in place that kept users' photos private, I figured everyone would feel more comfortable with a desktop app.<p>So, I threw out the server architecture and completely rewrote it as a 100% local desktop app for Mac and Windows.<p>How it works now: The app connects directly to Google's server from your computer, processes everything entirely on your system, and saves photos straight to your hard drive.<p>You can download your 50 oldest photos for free (no credit card required) just to see what's in there. If you want to download all the pictures in your account, it's a one-time payment of $29. No subscriptions.<p>If you have an old, pre-2010 Gmail account, definitely give it a spin. You'll be surprised at what you find deep in your archive.<p>I'd love to hear your feedback on the layout, scanning performance, or anything else.<p>TL;DR: I turned my SaaS into a local desktop app (Mac/Windows) that recovers decades of forgotten photos from your Gmail. 100% local, no cloud, no subscriptions, no AI.
Show HN: ZeroFS – A log-structured filesystem for S3
Show HN: PMB – local memory for coding agents that shows if it is used
Show HN: Frond – a frontend runtime for your app's dependency graph
Show HN: Salt – a systems language with Z3 theorem proving in the compiler
Show HN: Pglayers – PostgreSQL extensions as stackable Docker layers
Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps
Show HN: HackerNows – Native iOS HN Client
Show HN: QR code renderer in a TrueType font
In the "Libre Barcode Project" discussion yesterday, 1bpp asked: "Is anyone willing to sacrifice their sanity for the sake of implementing a QR renderer as TTF hinting code?"<p>Yes. I had some tokens to burn and was curious... turns out, it's possible. This was put together by a mix of Gemini, GPT, and Claude (depending on which usage limits kept running out).
Show HN: QR code renderer in a TrueType font
In the "Libre Barcode Project" discussion yesterday, 1bpp asked: "Is anyone willing to sacrifice their sanity for the sake of implementing a QR renderer as TTF hinting code?"<p>Yes. I had some tokens to burn and was curious... turns out, it's possible. This was put together by a mix of Gemini, GPT, and Claude (depending on which usage limits kept running out).
Show HN: GolemUI – Declarative Form Engine
We're a team of three friends who have been working with forms and Open Source for a decade, and we joined forces together to create something where we can apply all of our experience.<p>We recently released GolemUI, an Open Source library to generate forms dynamically from JSON definitions, with a typed layer to simplify authoring.<p>This library has a lot to offer. These are the main characteristics:<p>1. A JSON engine. The form is governed by a JSON definition that you can store in a DB, version, diff, or generate it with LLMs as a validated JSON.<p>2. We provide also 28 headless components (and growing) that you can style with CSS variables. We offer APIs so you can drop in Material, Shoelace, or your own components.<p>3. A DX typed authoring layer on top to write forms programmatically, that generates JSON. So you don't have to write it.<p>4. The same definition can render the UI components in React, Angular, Vue, Lit, or Vanilla JS.<p>5. We also have a deterministic MCP that has tools for to validate the model's output, generate JSONs or code, and ensure that the definition returned by the LLM is always valid.<p>You can find more information here:<p>Happy to hear any feedback from you and answer any questions!
Show HN: GolemUI – Declarative Form Engine
We're a team of three friends who have been working with forms and Open Source for a decade, and we joined forces together to create something where we can apply all of our experience.<p>We recently released GolemUI, an Open Source library to generate forms dynamically from JSON definitions, with a typed layer to simplify authoring.<p>This library has a lot to offer. These are the main characteristics:<p>1. A JSON engine. The form is governed by a JSON definition that you can store in a DB, version, diff, or generate it with LLMs as a validated JSON.<p>2. We provide also 28 headless components (and growing) that you can style with CSS variables. We offer APIs so you can drop in Material, Shoelace, or your own components.<p>3. A DX typed authoring layer on top to write forms programmatically, that generates JSON. So you don't have to write it.<p>4. The same definition can render the UI components in React, Angular, Vue, Lit, or Vanilla JS.<p>5. We also have a deterministic MCP that has tools for to validate the model's output, generate JSONs or code, and ensure that the definition returned by the LLM is always valid.<p>You can find more information here:<p>Happy to hear any feedback from you and answer any questions!
Show HN: Searchable directory of 22k+ products from worker-owned co-ops
Show HN: Searchable directory of 22k+ products from worker-owned co-ops
Show HN: Vaghenu, a meter aware sloka-to-chant, TTS for Sanskrit
A 15-year-old dream has come true today. I started a PhD with the dream of creating a system that chants any Sanskrit shloka perfectly.<p>And here I am opening sourcing Vaghenu, a meter aware sloka-to-chant, TTS for Sanskrit . This is the world's first vrutta-aware, open-source TTS for Sanskrit Chanting. I am making the model weights, training scripts, and even data (that I meticulously collected) public - <a href="https://prathosh.in/vagdhenu/" rel="nofollow">https://prathosh.in/vagdhenu/</a><p>No large AI lab. No big engineering team. No venture-scale budget. Just a professor's conviction that one of humanity's oldest knowledge traditions deserves modern, open infrastructure.<p>The name comes from the Upanishadic phrase: "Vācaṃ dhenum upāsīta" - Like the mythical wish-fulfilling cow, Vāgdhenu is intended to make Sanskrit texts more accessible to students, teachers, researchers, and devotees everywhere.<p>Test out the live demo here and let me know your comments - <a href="https://prathosh.in/vagdhenu/" rel="nofollow">https://prathosh.in/vagdhenu/</a><p>The entire system, from data collection to model building and demos, is built by a single person (your truly) using the powerful harness that we are building at LatentForce.<p>I have attached a sample audio file generated by the system.<p>P.S: Posting on behalf of my friend, their aren't on HN.