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Show HN: Epiq – Distributed Git based issue tracker TUI

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Re: Show HN: Epiq – Distributed Git based issue tracker TUI

#12

Post by cxr »

jolaflow wrote: post #4
Izkata wrote: post #3

There was a small surge in popularity in distributed git issue trackers a bit over a decade ago, and all of them had some sort of problem baked in to the design that made them not very good. Two weeks ago I had listed out the problems I could remember offhand: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47956979 It sounds like there's intentionally no attempt to handle the last one (that this is by devs for devs), and point…

Thanks for input. Interesting list. A few notes on that: - Issue state is not tied to commits in the checked out repo. Events live in append-only user-scoped logs and are materialized independently of the checked out branch, so switching branches does not change issue state. This is solved with git worktrees. - Epiq keeps state in a dedicated state branch and does not put issue data into normal code history. The work…

You don't need to put it on the Web to be able to leverage the World Wide Wruntime.

Epiq looks to be written in TypeScript and distributed as JS via NPM. You know what excels at executing JS? The browser.

If you want to actually address the usability problems—then create a CONTRIBUTING.html—linked from the README, that users are instructed to double-click to open (i.e. launch in the browser on any sanely configured system). From there, they can/should be able to load the project either by pointing to it with a filepicker-based workflow that's the same as VSCode's "Open Folder…" workflow, or by dragging and dropping the source tree into the browser window. If you do it right, then this should immediately present them with a browser-based UI for poring over and interacting with all the Epiq data in the repo—down to the Git commands to execute to integrate changes into the Epiq "database".

It's beyond baffling that so many programmers who are nominally JS developers thumb their noses at writing standards-compliant code and instead insist on coding directly against Node's proprietary APIs.

Re: Show HN: Epiq – Distributed Git based issue tracker TUI

#14

Post by goyozi »

You have my upvote because I love Git-based apps. There’s something cool about Git being an effective database with loads of free hosting options.

I’d (re)consider a couple of things if you intend to work on it and make it viable for a wider audience.

1. Who is it aimed for? If product managers and designers _are_ in scope e.g. you imagine full engineering teams using it, then a TUI isn’t gonna cut it. It’s a great interface choice for devs but I don’t think it’s organizationally viable to force everyone else in the terminal.

2. I’d think about either having a central issues repository as a default / recommended option or creating an easy way for linking issues together across repos. To me, as appealing as it sounds to have your code and issues together, these things often evolve at a different pace. If I want to edit an issue I’m working on to add some new info or address changing requirements, I almost definitely don’t want to commit and push it with my local WIP version of the code.

Re: Show HN: Epiq – Distributed Git based issue tracker TUI

#15

Post by tim-projects »

Izkata wrote: post #3

There was a small surge in popularity in distributed git issue trackers a bit over a decade ago, and all of them had some sort of problem baked in to the design that made them not very good. Two weeks ago I had listed out the problems I could remember offhand: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47956979 It sounds like there's intentionally no attempt to handle the last one (that this is by devs for devs), and point…

I am writing a tool with git tracking. Here's how I tackled these. I store the issues in a work tree inside the git repo called .tasks

This work tree is not included as part of the standard repo

Then I have two commands, a save and restore. These commands create a remote branch inside the git repo called tasks and updates it with the contents of the .tasks work tree. This remote branch only contains tasks no normal code.

Restore takes the contents of the remote branch and downloads it back to the locally created .tasks work tree

Save and restore are manual processes, but the tool I wrote triggers a save whenever a merge to main occurs.

Re: Show HN: Epiq – Distributed Git based issue tracker TUI

#18

Post by locknitpicker »

cxr wrote: post #12
jolaflow wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for input. Interesting list. A few notes on that: - Issue state is not tied to commits in the checked out repo. Events live in append-only user-scoped logs and are materialized independently of the checked out branch, so switching branches does not change issue state. This is solved with git worktrees. - Epiq keeps state in a dedicated state branch and does not put issue data into normal code history. The work…

You don't need to put it on the Web to be able to leverage the World Wide Wruntime. Epiq looks to be written in TypeScript and distributed as JS via NPM. You know what excels at executing JS? The browser. If you want to actually address the usability problems—then create a CONTRIBUTING.html—linked from the README, that users are instructed to double-click to open (i.e. launch in the browser on any sanely configured s…

> It's beyond baffling that so many programmers who are nominally JS developers thumb their noses at writing standards-compliant code and instead insist on coding directly against Node's proprietary APIs.

You're talking about node.js projects running on node.js, and you're complaining that it consumes node.js APIs. Strange.

Re: Show HN: Epiq – Distributed Git based issue tracker TUI

#19

Post by locknitpicker »

nextaccountic wrote: post #10

> Agent interactions > The MCP server lets AI tools interact with Epiq in a predictable way. Or maybe just publish a skill for the agent to use your CLI? The agent alredy uses CLI commands to interact with git itself

> Or maybe just publish a skill for the agent to use your CLI?

This. Skills effectively turned MCPs obsolete in the vast majority of MCP applications. A single CLI tool implemented following a progressive disclosure style doesn't even need a agent skill for coding agents to use it effectively.

Re: Show HN: Epiq – Distributed Git based issue tracker TUI

#20

Post by mentalgear »

cxr wrote: post #12
jolaflow wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for input. Interesting list. A few notes on that: - Issue state is not tied to commits in the checked out repo. Events live in append-only user-scoped logs and are materialized independently of the checked out branch, so switching branches does not change issue state. This is solved with git worktrees. - Epiq keeps state in a dedicated state branch and does not put issue data into normal code history. The work…

You don't need to put it on the Web to be able to leverage the World Wide Wruntime. Epiq looks to be written in TypeScript and distributed as JS via NPM. You know what excels at executing JS? The browser. If you want to actually address the usability problems—then create a CONTRIBUTING.html—linked from the README, that users are instructed to double-click to open (i.e. launch in the browser on any sanely configured s…

Indeed, I would use this in a browser (sandboxed) but in these times of exponential supply chain attacks, I'm not `npm install` anything outside a VM, and definitely not globally.

The Browser with its sandbox hardened for the internet is the way to go for any future personal/dx tools that were previously node only.

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