Show HN: Y – A malleable coding-agent desktop app built with Electron | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Y – A malleable coding-agent desktop app built with Electron

github.com

37 pointsHetPatel10623 comments

Very cool!

Suggestion: would be helpful to include examples of what's possible, or some things to try (or things that are explicitly prevented).

Good point. I’ll add this to the README. Thanks!

This is cool conceptually, but "y" do I have to login to your site if it is local and uses my Claude Code?

y uses your local Claude Code/Codex and your local files. Your chats stay local too - I never get them. Login is for account/product features like feedback, usage analytics, and updates, not for proxying your repo or chat history through us. Details: https://ytimesy.com/privacy and https://ytimesy.com/terms

I guess this is in tune with the yc rfs - https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#dynamic-software-interfaces - but i do have the same question for the app updates - you will break everything as soon as the update takes place - this opens up a nice rabbit hole for discussion.

It will not break the app. If I ship an update that conflicts with your modified version, you can select from a checklist what you want to add and then modify will take care of the rest.

I used to like Electron but most recently became a fan of Tauri. Electron is great from a UI perspective but seems like it tends to get bloated very quickly. Any suggestions on how to deal with it?

> Any suggestions on how to deal with it?

Yes, pick up a book on swift or MFC

Tauri performance on Linux as abysmal. I'll take Electron any and everyday of the week withe all ita extra bloat instead of having Tauri apps ramp my Nvidia GPU to 100% in order to show me a basic screen.

Cool!

Your readme mentions Modify. What’s that?

Does this use some generative UI?

Thanks! Modify is the part where you can ask your coding agent to update the app live - including UI changes.

does the userland persist across app updates? curious what happens to my modify changes when you ship a new version of y

Yes! Your modified version would stay the same, if I have an update which conflicts with your modified version you can simply select what to add to your modified version and then modify would take care of the rest.

I like it. I see this concept of allowing users to modify things to cater to their preferences being the future tbh.

Yes, I agree!

An app ui that can be modified by end users is a really cool idea. I hope to see that in more apps!

Reminds of smalltalk.

Whoa! I did not know about smalltalk. Thanks for letting me know!

smalltalk is basically the textbook ancestor of OO

It would be even cooler if it was made with a Lisp and took advantage of it being homoiconic.

Also, a bit like emacs.

Hey this is pretty cool

Thanks!

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