Ask HN: What are you working on? (April 2025)

Hacker News Discussion ↗

AI, LLMs, and Agents

  • Many projects center on AI tooling: note-taking with LLM editing, document extraction with citations, RSS→LLM summarizers, AI for accounting, SEO agents, and AI-based research/interpretability tools.
  • Several “agent platforms” aim to orchestrate tools (MCP-based hubs, no‑code agent builders, an AI terminal, agent APIs, and desktop eval tools).
  • Debate around focus: some tools emphasize reliability and local/offline use over flashy agent behavior, especially for debugging, compliance, and education use cases.

Developer Tools, Data, and Infrastructure

  • Rich ecosystem of dev tools:
    • A Postgres-based SQL debugger with step-by-step clause visualization, time-per-step profiling plans, and future multi‑DB support; strong interest for complex CTEs, OLAP, Snowflake/BigQuery, and education.
    • New build systems, stream processors, distributed object storage, hybrid Docker/Kubernetes alternatives, and Git collaboration platforms.
    • Game engines and backends (SFML fork with batching, 2D/3D engines, fantasy consoles, open-source game backends).
  • Multiple projects attack “ops pain”: Nomad automation, key/secret scanners, on-prem deployments for SaaS, and easier multi-machine self-hosting.

Education, Knowledge, and Learning Tools

  • Language learning is a major theme: apps for couples, polyglots, immersion browsing, and a very ambitious multi-language SRS platform that drew heavy UX feedback (confusing onboarding, unclear pricing, mobile glitches). The creator actively engaged and promised tutorials and fixes.
  • Other educational work: CS teaching tools, physics/particles simulations, category theory study guides, Japanese reading tools, and AI-assisted equation explainer apps.

Consumer / Productivity Apps and Web Services

  • Many small focused apps: recipe archivers, link archivers, blogging CMSs, habit and workout trackers, budget and YNAB calendar tools, desk booking, movie and music discovery, local news-by-map, running analytics, and price trackers (web, cloud, compute, groceries).
  • Some social or creative experiments: human-only social networks, AI-safe social CRMs, city-feedback platforms, and various games (puzzle sites, card games, geo‑guessers, IP guessing, MUDs, etc.).

Hardware, Robotics, and Physical Projects

  • Wide range: escape rooms and haunt control systems, e‑bike batteries, embedded relays and Bluetooth starters, e‑paper dictionaries, speed-camera detectors, fridge cameras, Kindles as dashboards, humanoid and walking robots, precision positioning stages, and farm yield/density estimation (sunflowers, berries).
  • Safety, ethics, and liability discussed around tree‑cutting planning tools, child‑monitoring screen capture, speed‑camera aids, and AirTag cloaking hardware.

Personal and Career Themes

  • Many commenters are focusing on self‑improvement: sabbaticals, learning new math or music, rebuilding careers, or leaving VC and big tech.
  • Some explicitly “work on themselves” as their main project, treating life changes as a kind of refactor or new “volume” rather than a new chapter.