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Launch HN: Poly (YC S22) – Cursor for Files

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31–40 of 75 posts

Re: Launch HN: Poly (YC S22) – Cursor for Files

#31
post #16
post #2

Hooking up the Internet to my filesystem is scary. What security measures are in place to ensure a compromise of your infrastructure doesn't compromise mine?

I'm not certain what exact scenario you are referring to. Do you mean if someone is able to install malware on our backend system will that malware get sent to you? Is there something in particular that we are vulnerable to that doesn't also affect Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, etc.?

You are correct that, from a security standpoint, your software is no different than any other software I install on my computer, since desktop computers have no sandboxing. But from a privacy standpoint, it could be uniquely concerning.

With Google Drive, I choose which files to upload. It doesn't have broad access to everything on my computer.

Dropbox, iCloud, and OneDrive are just backup services, so in theory they could just back up your files as an encrypted blob and have no way to read them. Unfortunately, they don't encrypt them (which is partly why I don't use those services). But at least I have their "promise" that they won't read or analyze my files, which would make me feel better even if its a weak promise.

On the other hand, your service, by nature, is reading an analyzing all of my files using a remote server.

Re: Launch HN: Poly (YC S22) – Cursor for Files

#32
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not certain what exact scenario you are referring to. Do you mean if someone is able to install malware on our backend system will that malware get sent to you? Is there something in particular that we are vulnerable to that doesn't also affect Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, etc.?

You are correct that, from a security standpoint, your software is no different than any other software I install on my computer, since desktop computers have no sandboxing. But from a privacy standpoint, it could be uniquely concerning. With Google Drive, I choose which files to upload. It doesn't have broad access to everything on my computer. Dropbox, iCloud, and OneDrive are just backup services, so in theory the…

You choose which files to use in Poly, we don't scan your hard drive either.

I don't know about the other services, but Dropbox _does_ read your files. https://help.dropbox.com/security/privacy-policy-faq

> We may build models that identify keywords and topics from a given document. These models may be trained on your documents and metadata, and power features within Dropbox such as improved search relevance, auto-sorting and organization features, and document summaries.

Re: Launch HN: Poly (YC S22) – Cursor for Files

#33
post #11

Nitpick: Cursor for Files makes approximately zero sense to me given what I see here. Feedback: Supporting an enterprise air gapped solution of this clearly has huge value. It really doesn't matter where the data is stored if the indexing / embedding is happening on your infrastructure. Enterprises with compliance requirements are quite likely the types of clients looking for ways to save time searching through petab…

I think the phrase is apt, actually, but it's not perfect: 1. We have an embedded agent that can read, edit, organize, and take actions on your files. This means it can read almost any media type, which is why it's "cursor for files" even though "isn't _cursor_, cursor for files?". In other words, Cursor is "Poly for text" :) 2. We provide you with an "IDE", I.e. a file browser. However, unlike Cursor we actually bui…

Part of the issue with the "slogan" is Cursor/XYZ jank IDE is already "for files". "Cursor for data" seems slightly better in my opinion. You are clearly using "Cursor" as something to draw familiarity to, But I suspect the bulk of your future target market probably doesn't know what "Cursor" is.

Re: Launch HN: Poly (YC S22) – Cursor for Files

#35
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsqCySU4Ln0 (linked above) that? Here's what we always tell founders about demo videos: "What works well for HN is raw and direct, with zero production values. Skip any introductions and jump straight into showing your product doing what it does best. Voiceover is good, but no logos or music!"

My bad, totally missed the link in the text post. I clicked on 'watch video' on the Poly website

Ah good! I was wondering if I'd missed something.

Re: Launch HN: Poly (YC S22) – Cursor for Files

#37
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the phrase is apt, actually, but it's not perfect: 1. We have an embedded agent that can read, edit, organize, and take actions on your files. This means it can read almost any media type, which is why it's "cursor for files" even though "isn't _cursor_, cursor for files?". In other words, Cursor is "Poly for text" :) 2. We provide you with an "IDE", I.e. a file browser. However, unlike Cursor we actually bui…

Part of the issue with the "slogan" is Cursor/XYZ jank IDE is already "for files". "Cursor for data" seems slightly better in my opinion. You are clearly using "Cursor" as something to draw familiarity to, But I suspect the bulk of your future target market probably doesn't know what "Cursor" is.

Agreed. We chose it for the Hacker News crowd.

Re: Launch HN: Poly (YC S22) – Cursor for Files

#39
post #22
post #21

My immediate hesitance with a tool like this (which sounds awesome) is that I don't actually trust tools like Claude Code unless I have them running in a git directory where I can see exactly what changed, and easily revert when needed. Do y'all have a solution for this here? Some kind of safety layer of some kind to easily review and optionally revert actions the agent has taken across my entire file system? The sea…

We're adding that feature to be able to manually approve agentic actions! You can already revert things, as our file system is fully version controlled.

Genuine question: why is that a feature that you have to add, instead of something foundational? Most folks, I'd wager, are sloppy about backups, so a level of manual control and oversight seems vital!
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