Show HN: Minimalist editor that lives in browser, stores everything in the URL

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Core idea & persistence

  • Editor content is stored in the URL fragment (after #), compressed and base64-encoded; it also saves to localStorage.
  • Some see bookmarking as “saving,” but note you must re-bookmark for updates; others argue file export/import or Ctrl+S-to-.txt is ultimately needed for practicality.
  • A drawback of URL-only state: every edit creates a new URL, complicating collaborative sharing.

URL length, limits, and behavior

  • People cite specs and browser docs: 8k octets recommended minimum; mainstream browsers support much more (Chrome up to ~2MB; Firefox ~1MB; WebKit effectively higher).
  • There’s a reminder that “characters” vs “octets” differs, and non-ASCII encoding can reduce effective capacity.
  • The “Crime and Punishment” example produces a ~546k-character URL, demonstrating extreme capacity in practice.

Performance, crashes, and compatibility

  • Long-URL examples reliably crash or glitch several mobile Chromium-based browsers when tapping or editing the address bar, though they often render the page itself.
  • Firefox and Safari mobile generally fare better, though some report slow or odd address-bar behavior.
  • One report notes a blank page in Firefox and another a missing CompressionStream in older Safari versions.

Privacy, tracking, and security

  • Advocates like the privacy aspect: content in the hash is never sent to the server by default.
  • Others warn that malicious or compromised hosting can exfiltrate the hash via JavaScript, and that some apps strip or mangle fragments, causing logging or breakage.
  • There’s criticism that a “no tracking” claim conflicts with including a Cloudflare analytics beacon, though the HTML itself is easily self-hosted.

Use cases, derivatives, and related tools

  • Numerous similar tools are shared: localStorage notepads, code editors, guitar tab editors, spreadsheets, map annotation apps, SQL translators, math note sharers, and pastes—all storing state in URLs or hashes.
  • Use cases include quick notes, sharable tabs, collaborative grocery lists, maps with drawings, teaching materials, and WhatsApp-friendly content.

Design preferences & feature wishes

  • Requests include monospace default for code, Markdown support, themes, Ctrl+S download, and avoiding history pollution.
  • Some question why bloat the URL instead of relying solely on localStorage; supporters point to easy, backend-free sharing as the key benefit.