The best Hacker News stories from Show from the past day
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Show HN: Autotab – Programmable AI browser for turning web tasks into APIs
Hey HN, we're Alexi and Jonas the co-founders of Autotab (<a href="https://autotab.com">https://autotab.com</a>). Autotab is a chrome-based browser you can teach to do complex tasks, with a simple API for running them from your app or backend.<p>Here is a walkthrough of how it works: <a href="https://youtu.be/63co74JHy1k" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/63co74JHy1k</a>, and you can try it for free at <a href="https://autotab.com">https://autotab.com</a> by downloading the app.<p>Why a dedicated editor?<p>The number one blocker we've found in building more flexible, agentic automations is performance quality BY FAR (<a href="https://www.langchain.com/stateofaiagents#barriers-and-challenges" rel="nofollow">https://www.langchain.com/stateofaiagents#barriers-and-chall...</a>). For all the talk of cost, latency, and safety, the fact is most people are still just struggling to get agents to work. The keys to solving reliability are better models, yes, but also intent specification. Even humans don't zero-shot these tasks from a prompt. They need to be shown how to perform them, and then refined with question-asking + feedback over time. It is also quite difficult to formulate complete requirements on the spot from memory.<p>The editor makes it easy to build the specification up as you step through your workflow, while generating successful task trajectories for the model. This is the only way we've been able to get the reliability we need for production use cases.<p>But why build a browser?<p>Autotab started as a Chrome extension (with a Show HN post! <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37943931">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37943931</a>). As we iterated with users, we realized that we needed to focus on creating the control surface for intent specification, and that being stuck in a chrome sidepanel wasn't going to work. We also knew that we needed a level of control for the model that we couldn't get without owning the browser. In Autotab, the browser becomes a canvas on which the user and the model are taking turns showing and explaining the task.<p>Key features:<p>1. Self-healing automations that don't break when sites change<p>2. Dedicated authoring tool that builds memory for the model while defining steps for the automation<p>3. Control flows and deep configurability to keep automations on track, even when navigating complex reasoning tasks<p>4. Works with any website (no site-specific APIs needed)<p>5. Runs securely in the cloud or locally<p>6. Simple REST API + client libraries for Python, Node<p>We'd love to get any early feedback from the HN community, ideas for where you'd like the product to go, or experiences in this space. We will be in the comments for the next few hours to respond!
Show HN: Autotab – Programmable AI browser for turning web tasks into APIs
Hey HN, we're Alexi and Jonas the co-founders of Autotab (<a href="https://autotab.com">https://autotab.com</a>). Autotab is a chrome-based browser you can teach to do complex tasks, with a simple API for running them from your app or backend.<p>Here is a walkthrough of how it works: <a href="https://youtu.be/63co74JHy1k" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/63co74JHy1k</a>, and you can try it for free at <a href="https://autotab.com">https://autotab.com</a> by downloading the app.<p>Why a dedicated editor?<p>The number one blocker we've found in building more flexible, agentic automations is performance quality BY FAR (<a href="https://www.langchain.com/stateofaiagents#barriers-and-challenges" rel="nofollow">https://www.langchain.com/stateofaiagents#barriers-and-chall...</a>). For all the talk of cost, latency, and safety, the fact is most people are still just struggling to get agents to work. The keys to solving reliability are better models, yes, but also intent specification. Even humans don't zero-shot these tasks from a prompt. They need to be shown how to perform them, and then refined with question-asking + feedback over time. It is also quite difficult to formulate complete requirements on the spot from memory.<p>The editor makes it easy to build the specification up as you step through your workflow, while generating successful task trajectories for the model. This is the only way we've been able to get the reliability we need for production use cases.<p>But why build a browser?<p>Autotab started as a Chrome extension (with a Show HN post! <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37943931">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37943931</a>). As we iterated with users, we realized that we needed to focus on creating the control surface for intent specification, and that being stuck in a chrome sidepanel wasn't going to work. We also knew that we needed a level of control for the model that we couldn't get without owning the browser. In Autotab, the browser becomes a canvas on which the user and the model are taking turns showing and explaining the task.<p>Key features:<p>1. Self-healing automations that don't break when sites change<p>2. Dedicated authoring tool that builds memory for the model while defining steps for the automation<p>3. Control flows and deep configurability to keep automations on track, even when navigating complex reasoning tasks<p>4. Works with any website (no site-specific APIs needed)<p>5. Runs securely in the cloud or locally<p>6. Simple REST API + client libraries for Python, Node<p>We'd love to get any early feedback from the HN community, ideas for where you'd like the product to go, or experiences in this space. We will be in the comments for the next few hours to respond!
Show HN: Autotab – Programmable AI browser for turning web tasks into APIs
Hey HN, we're Alexi and Jonas the co-founders of Autotab (<a href="https://autotab.com">https://autotab.com</a>). Autotab is a chrome-based browser you can teach to do complex tasks, with a simple API for running them from your app or backend.<p>Here is a walkthrough of how it works: <a href="https://youtu.be/63co74JHy1k" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/63co74JHy1k</a>, and you can try it for free at <a href="https://autotab.com">https://autotab.com</a> by downloading the app.<p>Why a dedicated editor?<p>The number one blocker we've found in building more flexible, agentic automations is performance quality BY FAR (<a href="https://www.langchain.com/stateofaiagents#barriers-and-challenges" rel="nofollow">https://www.langchain.com/stateofaiagents#barriers-and-chall...</a>). For all the talk of cost, latency, and safety, the fact is most people are still just struggling to get agents to work. The keys to solving reliability are better models, yes, but also intent specification. Even humans don't zero-shot these tasks from a prompt. They need to be shown how to perform them, and then refined with question-asking + feedback over time. It is also quite difficult to formulate complete requirements on the spot from memory.<p>The editor makes it easy to build the specification up as you step through your workflow, while generating successful task trajectories for the model. This is the only way we've been able to get the reliability we need for production use cases.<p>But why build a browser?<p>Autotab started as a Chrome extension (with a Show HN post! <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37943931">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37943931</a>). As we iterated with users, we realized that we needed to focus on creating the control surface for intent specification, and that being stuck in a chrome sidepanel wasn't going to work. We also knew that we needed a level of control for the model that we couldn't get without owning the browser. In Autotab, the browser becomes a canvas on which the user and the model are taking turns showing and explaining the task.<p>Key features:<p>1. Self-healing automations that don't break when sites change<p>2. Dedicated authoring tool that builds memory for the model while defining steps for the automation<p>3. Control flows and deep configurability to keep automations on track, even when navigating complex reasoning tasks<p>4. Works with any website (no site-specific APIs needed)<p>5. Runs securely in the cloud or locally<p>6. Simple REST API + client libraries for Python, Node<p>We'd love to get any early feedback from the HN community, ideas for where you'd like the product to go, or experiences in this space. We will be in the comments for the next few hours to respond!
Show HN: Embed an SQLite database in your PostgreSQL table
pglite-fusion is a PostgreSQL extension that allows you to embed SQLite databases into your PostgreSQL tables by enabling the creation of columns with the `SQLITE` type. This means every row in the table can have an embedded SQLite database.<p>In addition to the PostgreSQL `SQLITE` type, pglite-fusion provides the `query_sqlite`` function for querying SQLite databases and the `execute_sqlite` function for updating them. Additional functions are listed in the project’s README.<p>The pglite-fusion extension is written in Rust using the pgrx framework [1].<p>----<p>Implementation Details<p>The PostgreSQL `SQLITE` type is stored as a CBOR-encoded `Vec<u8>`. When a query is made, this `Vec<u8>` is written to a random file in the `/tmp` directory. SQLite then loads the file, performs the query, and returns the result as a table containing a single row with an array of JSON-encoded values.<p>The `execute_sqlite` function follows a similar process. However, instead of returning query results, it returns the contents of the SQLite file (stored in `/tmp`) as a new `SQLITE` instance.<p>[1] <a href="https://github.com/pgcentralfoundation/pgrx">https://github.com/pgcentralfoundation/pgrx</a>
Show HN: Embed an SQLite database in your PostgreSQL table
pglite-fusion is a PostgreSQL extension that allows you to embed SQLite databases into your PostgreSQL tables by enabling the creation of columns with the `SQLITE` type. This means every row in the table can have an embedded SQLite database.<p>In addition to the PostgreSQL `SQLITE` type, pglite-fusion provides the `query_sqlite`` function for querying SQLite databases and the `execute_sqlite` function for updating them. Additional functions are listed in the project’s README.<p>The pglite-fusion extension is written in Rust using the pgrx framework [1].<p>----<p>Implementation Details<p>The PostgreSQL `SQLITE` type is stored as a CBOR-encoded `Vec<u8>`. When a query is made, this `Vec<u8>` is written to a random file in the `/tmp` directory. SQLite then loads the file, performs the query, and returns the result as a table containing a single row with an array of JSON-encoded values.<p>The `execute_sqlite` function follows a similar process. However, instead of returning query results, it returns the contents of the SQLite file (stored in `/tmp`) as a new `SQLITE` instance.<p>[1] <a href="https://github.com/pgcentralfoundation/pgrx">https://github.com/pgcentralfoundation/pgrx</a>
Show HN: Physically accurate black hole simulation using your iPhone camera
Show HN: Physically accurate black hole simulation using your iPhone camera
Show HN: Dumbo – Hono inspired framework for PHP
Hey HN, I last PHP professionally over 15 years ago, and I loved it. I switched to Ruby on Rails, then Node/Go/React/GraphQL as there was a lot more demand for those roles. However, PHP is back!<p>In true JavaScript fashion, I decided to learn PHP again by building a framework to put all the pieces together in my brain.<p>I absolutely love Hono.dev, and decided to base the PHP framework on that. Dumbo isn't intended to compete with Laravel, Symphony or Slim, if anything, it's something people can use in production, but also contribute to and be used as a learning resource for others.
Show HN: Dumbo – Hono inspired framework for PHP
Hey HN, I last PHP professionally over 15 years ago, and I loved it. I switched to Ruby on Rails, then Node/Go/React/GraphQL as there was a lot more demand for those roles. However, PHP is back!<p>In true JavaScript fashion, I decided to learn PHP again by building a framework to put all the pieces together in my brain.<p>I absolutely love Hono.dev, and decided to base the PHP framework on that. Dumbo isn't intended to compete with Laravel, Symphony or Slim, if anything, it's something people can use in production, but also contribute to and be used as a learning resource for others.
Show HN: A dynamic C (Hot reloading) module-based Web Framework
Show HN: A dynamic C (Hot reloading) module-based Web Framework
Show HN: Documind – Open-source AI tool to turn documents into structured data
Documind is an open-source tool that turns documents into structured data using AI.<p>What it does:<p>- Extracts specific data from PDFs based on your custom schema
- Returns clean, structured JSON that's ready to use
- Works with just a PDF link + your schema definition<p>Just run npm install documind to get started.
Show HN: Documind – Open-source AI tool to turn documents into structured data
Documind is an open-source tool that turns documents into structured data using AI.<p>What it does:<p>- Extracts specific data from PDFs based on your custom schema
- Returns clean, structured JSON that's ready to use
- Works with just a PDF link + your schema definition<p>Just run npm install documind to get started.
Show HN: The App I Built to Help Manage My Diabetes
Hi HN,<p>I’m Joshua, a student, and I’m excited (and a little nervous) to share something deeply personal that I’ve been working on: Islet, my diabetes management app powered by GPT-4o-mini. It’s now on the App Store, but I want to be upfront—it’s still very much in its early stages, with a lot more to go.<p>I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while rowing competitively, and that moment changed everything. It wasn’t just the practical challenges of managing insulin, carb counts, and blood sugars; it fundamentally shifted how I see myself and the world. It forced me to slow down, prioritise my health, and take control in ways I never had to before. My outlook on life became more focused on resilience, adaptability, and finding solutions to problems that truly matter.<p>This app started as a pet project over the summer, a way to see what I could create using ChatGPT and explore the potential of LLMs to help with real-world challenges. At first, it was just about making my own diabetes management easier—understanding patterns in blood sugars, planning meals, and adjusting routines. But as I worked on it, I realised it could do more.<p>Right now, Islet offers personalised meal suggestions, tracks activity, and provides basic insights based on the data you enter. It’s far from complete. Even so, the process of building Islet has already taught me so much about how powerful AI can be in creating personal, meaningful tools.<p>This project is deeply tied to how my diagnosis changed me. It’s about more than managing diabetes, it’s about showing how anyone, even a student experimenting over the summer, can use AI to potentially solve real, personal problems. I believe tools like LLMs have the power to democratise solutions for all, making life just a bit easier for all of us.<p>If you’re curious, you can check it out here: <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/islet-diabetes/id6453168642" rel="nofollow">https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/islet-diabetes/id6453168642</a>. I’d love to hear your thoughts what works, what doesn’t, and what features you think would make it better. Your input could help shape the next steps for Islet.<p>Thanks for reading !<p>joshua
Show HN: The App I Built to Help Manage My Diabetes
Hi HN,<p>I’m Joshua, a student, and I’m excited (and a little nervous) to share something deeply personal that I’ve been working on: Islet, my diabetes management app powered by GPT-4o-mini. It’s now on the App Store, but I want to be upfront—it’s still very much in its early stages, with a lot more to go.<p>I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while rowing competitively, and that moment changed everything. It wasn’t just the practical challenges of managing insulin, carb counts, and blood sugars; it fundamentally shifted how I see myself and the world. It forced me to slow down, prioritise my health, and take control in ways I never had to before. My outlook on life became more focused on resilience, adaptability, and finding solutions to problems that truly matter.<p>This app started as a pet project over the summer, a way to see what I could create using ChatGPT and explore the potential of LLMs to help with real-world challenges. At first, it was just about making my own diabetes management easier—understanding patterns in blood sugars, planning meals, and adjusting routines. But as I worked on it, I realised it could do more.<p>Right now, Islet offers personalised meal suggestions, tracks activity, and provides basic insights based on the data you enter. It’s far from complete. Even so, the process of building Islet has already taught me so much about how powerful AI can be in creating personal, meaningful tools.<p>This project is deeply tied to how my diagnosis changed me. It’s about more than managing diabetes, it’s about showing how anyone, even a student experimenting over the summer, can use AI to potentially solve real, personal problems. I believe tools like LLMs have the power to democratise solutions for all, making life just a bit easier for all of us.<p>If you’re curious, you can check it out here: <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/islet-diabetes/id6453168642" rel="nofollow">https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/islet-diabetes/id6453168642</a>. I’d love to hear your thoughts what works, what doesn’t, and what features you think would make it better. Your input could help shape the next steps for Islet.<p>Thanks for reading !<p>joshua
Show HN: Tips.io – A Tailwind playground with AI, page management, and theming
Hi HN!<p>My name is Nick and this is my fun side project. Please lay it on me. HN can think of Tips.io as a cracked out Tailwind Playground that has page management and amazing AI integration.<p>There are a few core ideas:<p>1) The HTML is the CMS<p>There are no fields or restrictions. Just hover, click, and start tweaking any HTML. Also, certain elements you click will have special easy edit abilities:<p>- <img> auto creates an uploader, stock photo picker (or HTML)<p>- <video> auto creates an uploader, stock video picker (or HTML)<p>- <svg> auto creates a big icon picker (or HTML)<p>- <div class="prose"> auto creates a WYSIWYG Editor (or HTML)<p>2) Slices<p>Think of these as just individual HTML sections of a page or lil baby single-file components. They are self-contained and isolated so you drag them around easily. The real power comes from reuse across your pages and linking them (aka, one HTML footer updates globally). You can also use "slices" from any other tips.io project for quickly expanding your site with more design options.<p>3) AI Elements, Not Pages<p>Another cool concept is you can select any element on an HTML slice an edit that individually vs re-streaming/rebuilding and entire component every time. We support 5 different AI models right now. Some other really intense/cool AI integration is coming soon.<p>4) Tailwind Everything, No Build Step, & Theming<p>We have a custom "themer" to make creating Tailwind config files near instant with real-time font trying, color palettes/preset trying, and more. All our Tailwind is automatic and requires zero config instantly. The same Tailwind that magic runs client-side will run server-side so quick no one knows a build step is happening. Tailwind and AI are also a match made in heaven.<p>Other features:<p>- Animations
- Zoomable page tree
- Basic Forms (yes on your static site!)
- Analytics
- Redirects, site passwords, and much more.<p>Tech:<p>- 100% Cloudflare Workers
- Svelte
- UnoCSS<p>Some resources:<p>- Promo video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8U2rJJX-rk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8U2rJJX-rk</a>
- Tutorial & demo video: <a href="https://tips.io/tutorial" rel="nofollow">https://tips.io/tutorial</a>
- Just launch: <a href="https://new.tips.io" rel="nofollow">https://new.tips.io</a>
Show HN: Tips.io – A Tailwind playground with AI, page management, and theming
Hi HN!<p>My name is Nick and this is my fun side project. Please lay it on me. HN can think of Tips.io as a cracked out Tailwind Playground that has page management and amazing AI integration.<p>There are a few core ideas:<p>1) The HTML is the CMS<p>There are no fields or restrictions. Just hover, click, and start tweaking any HTML. Also, certain elements you click will have special easy edit abilities:<p>- <img> auto creates an uploader, stock photo picker (or HTML)<p>- <video> auto creates an uploader, stock video picker (or HTML)<p>- <svg> auto creates a big icon picker (or HTML)<p>- <div class="prose"> auto creates a WYSIWYG Editor (or HTML)<p>2) Slices<p>Think of these as just individual HTML sections of a page or lil baby single-file components. They are self-contained and isolated so you drag them around easily. The real power comes from reuse across your pages and linking them (aka, one HTML footer updates globally). You can also use "slices" from any other tips.io project for quickly expanding your site with more design options.<p>3) AI Elements, Not Pages<p>Another cool concept is you can select any element on an HTML slice an edit that individually vs re-streaming/rebuilding and entire component every time. We support 5 different AI models right now. Some other really intense/cool AI integration is coming soon.<p>4) Tailwind Everything, No Build Step, & Theming<p>We have a custom "themer" to make creating Tailwind config files near instant with real-time font trying, color palettes/preset trying, and more. All our Tailwind is automatic and requires zero config instantly. The same Tailwind that magic runs client-side will run server-side so quick no one knows a build step is happening. Tailwind and AI are also a match made in heaven.<p>Other features:<p>- Animations
- Zoomable page tree
- Basic Forms (yes on your static site!)
- Analytics
- Redirects, site passwords, and much more.<p>Tech:<p>- 100% Cloudflare Workers
- Svelte
- UnoCSS<p>Some resources:<p>- Promo video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8U2rJJX-rk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8U2rJJX-rk</a>
- Tutorial & demo video: <a href="https://tips.io/tutorial" rel="nofollow">https://tips.io/tutorial</a>
- Just launch: <a href="https://new.tips.io" rel="nofollow">https://new.tips.io</a>
Show HN: Tips.io – A Tailwind playground with AI, page management, and theming
Hi HN!<p>My name is Nick and this is my fun side project. Please lay it on me. HN can think of Tips.io as a cracked out Tailwind Playground that has page management and amazing AI integration.<p>There are a few core ideas:<p>1) The HTML is the CMS<p>There are no fields or restrictions. Just hover, click, and start tweaking any HTML. Also, certain elements you click will have special easy edit abilities:<p>- <img> auto creates an uploader, stock photo picker (or HTML)<p>- <video> auto creates an uploader, stock video picker (or HTML)<p>- <svg> auto creates a big icon picker (or HTML)<p>- <div class="prose"> auto creates a WYSIWYG Editor (or HTML)<p>2) Slices<p>Think of these as just individual HTML sections of a page or lil baby single-file components. They are self-contained and isolated so you drag them around easily. The real power comes from reuse across your pages and linking them (aka, one HTML footer updates globally). You can also use "slices" from any other tips.io project for quickly expanding your site with more design options.<p>3) AI Elements, Not Pages<p>Another cool concept is you can select any element on an HTML slice an edit that individually vs re-streaming/rebuilding and entire component every time. We support 5 different AI models right now. Some other really intense/cool AI integration is coming soon.<p>4) Tailwind Everything, No Build Step, & Theming<p>We have a custom "themer" to make creating Tailwind config files near instant with real-time font trying, color palettes/preset trying, and more. All our Tailwind is automatic and requires zero config instantly. The same Tailwind that magic runs client-side will run server-side so quick no one knows a build step is happening. Tailwind and AI are also a match made in heaven.<p>Other features:<p>- Animations
- Zoomable page tree
- Basic Forms (yes on your static site!)
- Analytics
- Redirects, site passwords, and much more.<p>Tech:<p>- 100% Cloudflare Workers
- Svelte
- UnoCSS<p>Some resources:<p>- Promo video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8U2rJJX-rk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8U2rJJX-rk</a>
- Tutorial & demo video: <a href="https://tips.io/tutorial" rel="nofollow">https://tips.io/tutorial</a>
- Just launch: <a href="https://new.tips.io" rel="nofollow">https://new.tips.io</a>
Show HN: Nova JavaScript Engine
We're building a different kind of JavaScript engine, based on data-oriented design and willingness to try something quite out of left field. This is most concretely visible in our major architectural choices:<p>1. All data allocated on the JavaScript heap is placed into a type-specific vector. Numbers go into the numbers vector, strings into the strings vector, and so on.<p>2. All heap references are type-discriminated indexes: A heap number is identified by its discriminant value and the index to which it points to in the numbers vector.<p>3. Objects are also split up into object kind -specific vectors. Ordinary objects go into one vector, Arrays go into another, DataViews into yet another, and so on.<p>4. Unordinary objects' heap data does not contain ordinary object data but instead they contain an optional index to the ordinary objects vector.<p>5. Objects are aggressively split into parts to avoid common use-cases having to reading parts that are known to be unused.<p>If this sounds interesting, I've written a few blog posts on the internals of Nova over in our blog, you can jump into that here: <a href="https://trynova.dev/blog/what-is-the-nova-javascript-engine" rel="nofollow">https://trynova.dev/blog/what-is-the-nova-javascript-engine</a>
Show HN: Nova JavaScript Engine
We're building a different kind of JavaScript engine, based on data-oriented design and willingness to try something quite out of left field. This is most concretely visible in our major architectural choices:<p>1. All data allocated on the JavaScript heap is placed into a type-specific vector. Numbers go into the numbers vector, strings into the strings vector, and so on.<p>2. All heap references are type-discriminated indexes: A heap number is identified by its discriminant value and the index to which it points to in the numbers vector.<p>3. Objects are also split up into object kind -specific vectors. Ordinary objects go into one vector, Arrays go into another, DataViews into yet another, and so on.<p>4. Unordinary objects' heap data does not contain ordinary object data but instead they contain an optional index to the ordinary objects vector.<p>5. Objects are aggressively split into parts to avoid common use-cases having to reading parts that are known to be unused.<p>If this sounds interesting, I've written a few blog posts on the internals of Nova over in our blog, you can jump into that here: <a href="https://trynova.dev/blog/what-is-the-nova-javascript-engine" rel="nofollow">https://trynova.dev/blog/what-is-the-nova-javascript-engine</a>