Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026)

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Indie developers are pouring their energy into everything from AI-powered coding agents and research tools to privacy‑focused search engines, note‑taking apps, and personal productivity systems. Many projects try to tame or harness large language models—building agent frameworks, safer execution sandboxes, and local‑first assistants—while others go in the opposite direction with retro games, hardware hacks, and niche utilities for fitness, transit, and finance. Together they sketch a snapshot of how technically minded people are experimenting with new ways to work, learn, play, and regain control over their data in 2026.

AI & Agent Tooling

  • Many projects center on AI agents and harnesses: coding agents, multi‑agent orchestrators, task runners, context managers, model routers, and safety/permissions layers.
  • Common goals: reduce babysitting, add durable state, sandboxed execution (often via VMs or NixOS), and better guardrails for destructive tools.
  • Several tools focus on structured outputs, memory, local‑first inference, or cross‑provider switching; others try to make agents safer via deterministic policies instead of expensive LLM “auto review.”

Developer Tools & Infrastructure

  • New CLIs, LSPs, and libraries: TypeScript checkers in Rust, Go retry/backoff libs, repo structure linters, Git caching compilers, deterministic .NET runtimes, SQL canvases, and alternative CI/build/deploy systems.
  • Infrastructure projects include apt‑cache replacements robust to upstream outages, Kubernetes‑based agent runtimes, high‑throughput Bitcoin transaction distribution, and image registries for disk images.
  • Some work targets niche but painful areas: RADIUS re‑implementations, database auditing, TLS automation, and Kafka protocol mockers.

Games & Creative Media

  • Many indie games in progress: NES and browser games, RPGs, idle clickers, tactical sims, puzzle games, and narrative/AI‑driven TTRPG experiences.
  • Several devs emphasize deterministic engines, custom physics, and tooling (e.g., mocap pipelines, VFX editors, music languages).
  • Enthusiasm is high; concern appears mainly around content quality (e.g., AI‑generated puzzles and stories often still feel weak vs. human design).

Productivity, Notes & Knowledge Tools

  • New note‑taking, spaced‑repetition, journaling, task, and calendar apps—often local‑first, Markdown‑based, and sync‑light.
  • Some explicitly target AI‑era workflows: integrating with coding agents, generating specs from MD files, or surfacing code/PR context.
  • There’s recurring interest in replacing heavier SaaS (Miro, Notion, Anki, etc.) with simpler, privacy‑respecting tools.

Hardware, Embedded & “Real World” Projects

  • Projects span barbell motion sensors, ESP‑based automation, mocap on a budget, holographic displays, GNSS‑guided lawnmowers, 3D printers, and e‑bike batteries.
  • One thread around lifting IMU metrics shows disagreement: some argue bar path is key to safety; others say injury risk is more nuanced and “velocity” is more useful.

Privacy, Self‑Hosting & Alternatives

  • Multiple efforts to build EU‑hosted or privacy‑centric replacements for search, PagerDuty, AirDrop, email marketing, analytics, and AI chat clients.
  • Skepticism appears around products requiring Google sign‑in just to view a landing page or around heavy browser tracking (e.g., Firefox bookmark metadata).

Learning, Writing & Personal Experiments

  • Many are learning formal methods, compiler construction, OS dev, DSP, woodworking, FreeBSD, and languages by building real tools.
  • Others focus on writing blogs, books, or sci‑fi, often reflecting on AI’s role (from “AI slop” suspicion to heavy everyday use).