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Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
661–670 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#662Currently working on Bedevere Wise (https://bedeverewise.app), a browser-based SQL data viewer for the file formats still widely used by biostat / clinical-data people: SAS (sas7bdat, xpt), SPSS (sav), Stata (dta), plus Parquet, Excel, and CSV.
Everything runs locally: DuckDB-WASM (the SQL engine), the file parser, statistical and plot library (a DuckDB extension that I built).
I wanted a "drop file → SELECT * FROM it" and run a few other explorative queries on a dataset (provided in one of the formats mentioned above). Sometimes, it might even be a whole nested subtree with dozens of files that includes all or most of the formats I mentioned above (trust me, I've seen it many times). I also wanted something easy to use for my colleagues: no installers, no configurations, no faff. And, most importantly, files never leave the device (which matters for clinical data).
The plotting half is GGSQL. I read Thomas Lin Pedersen / Posit's alpha release a couple of weeks ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47833558) and that's when I realised I could add the "Grammar of Graphics inside SQL" into Bedevere. So pasting
VISUALIZE bill_depth_mm AS x , bill_length_mm AS y , species AS color FROM penguins_clean DRAW point ;
in the editor pops a chart without anything leaving the device.
This is the demo for the impatient (I admit I am usually one): https://bedeverewise.app/demo (The query is ready to be run in the editor).
Feedback is very welcome.
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#663We're working on Drawers ( https://drawers.computer ), a macOS app to give each of your projects its own dock, space, and windows. We integrate with macOS spaces to switch out a project-specific dock on each space, containing only the resources you need for that project. We made it possible to add granular resources instead of full apps to the dock (think specific slack channels instead of the whole slack app), to ke…
That's epic. Will try it ASAP.
Was look for exactly that (but for Features). currently I'm using superset.sh which works great. But the problem is that such tools need to re-implement everything (browser, terminal, etc.) while a "VM-like" approach doesn't.
It is possible to "clone" a drawer that auto starts server, browser, etc. So I can start new PRs quickly and jump between them while the agents run in the background?
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#664European night trains search engine. The plan is not to provide the functionality where user searches for a specific route on a specific date and the engine returns prices. The plan is to provide "tips for trips", e.g. I provide a starting city and it will recommend me interesting trip ideas any time in the future. There are many flight apps that provide this functionality, but no train app. Currently I'm building sc…
Would be nice to add Milan as a destination. I currently do not see it listed in the cities available.
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#665I've been working on DeskTalk(https://www.desktalk.ai/), an AI-native desktop environment that runs in the browser.
The idea is pretty simple: I want an OS where people can just describe the app they want, have AI build it on the spot, keep tweaking it in real time, and also use AI to operate the whole thing. Not just chat with an assistant sitting off to the side, but actually let the assistant create apps, edit them in place, manage windows, and help you get work done.
So instead of installing a bunch of software up front, you can say “build me a tracker” or “make this app simpler” and the system just does it. If something feels off, you tell it what to change and it updates live.
Still early, but that’s the direction I’m excited about: software that feels less fixed and more malleable.
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#666A permission broker for deno + opencode fork that can run in deno instead of bun.
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#667[dead]
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#668I left my fulltime faculty position at the university. I'm only teaching two modules this semester and I'll probably fade out even more in the future. I've also paused recording any new lectures at pikuma.com for now. I'm still taking some time to decide what's next for the website. I'm currently focusing on reviewing math & physics to help homeschool my son. Other than that, I just improved the roof of my chicken co…
Thanks for all your efforts on pikuma.com, huge fan here.
Can you share what kind of ideas you're mulling for the direction of the site?
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#669I am working on SpreadsheetPreview.com, a subscription service that gives you PNG previews of your uploaded spreadsheet (xlxs files).
On the server it opens a headless browser, where it converts the XLXS format to OGF (Open Grid Format), which is then rendered by DataGrid Toolkit, the engine behind DataGridXL v4. It then takes a screenshot of this render and sends it back to the requester.
Try out a few renders at https://spreadsheetpreview.com
Re: Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)
#670Diagnostic tool for all vehicles.
Describe your symptoms in as much detail as detail as you like and get a full diagnostic report with parts links, tutorials, price estimates, guides for diy
Includes car sales tool, generates all the documents you need for the dmv in your county/state
iPhone all connects to Bluetooth obd2 sensors for check engine lights and live driving data
Setup search alerts for “dream cars”
This one has been a blast to build