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ewf

324 karma · joined May 18, 2023

Founder at embedworkflow.com - interested in SAAS, automation, AI
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ewf··on Ask HN: What are you building that's not AI related?
Embed Workflow (https://embedworkflow.com). Embeddable workflow builder for SaaS platforms. Your users design and run their own workflows inside your product.

5+ years now, bootstrapped. I still write most of the code. The product itself isn't AI, it's orchestration. Visual builder, triggers, delays, webhooks, execution logic. Some of our users do wire up AI models or agents through it, but the core is just helping non-technical people build automations for our clients product.

ewf··on Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (April 2026)
I'm building Embed Workflow (https://embedworkflow.com), an embeddable workflow builder for SaaS platforms. Your users design and run their own workflows inside your product.

Been at it for 5+ years, bootstrapped, small team. I'm a programmer first and still get to ship code daily. Also do demo calls every week. That's where I learn the most. Own product too and say no to features a lot. No investors either, which means nobody's breathing down our neck about growth.

Finishing up a workflow testing interface today. First time we've had one. I heard "this is industry standard! You need it" on demo calls forever, but nobody ever really pushed. Workarounds were good enough for our clients, and their users don't really care, they're mostly non-technical anyway. Regardless, the other night after putting the kids down I felt like knocking it out. I'll admit though, now that I have it... I wonder how I didn't do this earlier.

ewf··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2026)
Embed Workflow | Support Engineer | REMOTE (EMEA/APAC/LATAM preferred) | Part-time

We're building an in-app workflow builder that SaaS companies embed directly into their platforms—letting their users automate processes without leaving the app.

Looking for a Support Engineer (10-15 hrs/week) to help developers integrate our product, troubleshoot issues, and shape our documentation. Technical background required—you should be comfortable reading code and understanding APIs.

Competitive hourly rate, flexible hours, real product influence. 1-2 month trial with path to grow as we do.

Apply here by Jan 15: https://embedworkflow.com/careers/jobs/support_engineer

ewf··on AI Coding
people want easier and if you hold a shiny object in front, most will lunge for it. Developers have been benefiting greatly for some time now. High paying jobs, no ceiling in business, praise from colleagues, respect from family, etc. Non-devs close to it now have this opportunity.

No one knows what the impact of AI code gen will be on developers. But if AI code gen under delivers and the demand on truly talented devs rise, then the ones 'doing the hard work' now and maintaining their craft by human coding will win big.

ewf··on Will AI Replace Human Thinking? The Case for Writing and Coding Manually
well said
ewf··on Will AI Replace Human Thinking? The Case for Writing and Coding Manually
You're an early adopter, so you're seeing massive gains. But eventually everyone gets the same productivity boost and that becomes the new baseline expectation.

Any clever prompting techniques that give you an edge today will evaporate quickly. People figure out the tricks, models absorb them, and tools automate them away.

There's no substitute for actually coding to learn software development. For new engineers, I'd strongly recommend limiting AI code generation on real work. Use it to explain concepts, not do the work for you. Otherwise you'll never develop the judgment to know what that 10% actually is.

ewf··on Malleable Software
Malleable and opinionated aren't mutually exclusive. The best products that solve non-core business processes should be opinionated, that's their value prop.

But yeah, the demand for webhooks, integration options, embedding's will win IMO. I imagine more demand for API-first products.

ewf··on Omarchy Is Out
I've been seeing a lot of people setting it up on old macbook pros.. and think I'll do the same
ewf··on Sequoia backs Zed
good question. I think the community fell off and many plugins were left unmaintained. I was using it for over a decade up until recently. ST4 had so many plugin issues and it stopped being worth manually fixing.
ewf··on Sequoia backs Zed
feels like we are giving up privacy for productivity.
ewf··on Why I'm all-in on Zen Browser
if the fan starts - force quit
ewf··on Why I'm all-in on Zen Browser
Ten years ago we installed ad blockers. Now we want AI to surveil us.
ewf··on Why I'm all-in on Zen Browser
feels like people keep wanting more and more from the browser. I just want it to stay out the way. Lightweight, good dev tools, good privacy settings.
ewf··on Build vs. Buy in the Age of AI
we lost something important with AI code gen... those technical barriers that used to filter for actual engineering competence. Now everyone and their mother is launching SaaS products.

I've been thinking about how AI code gen affects different teams. I think it makes good teams better and bad teams worse.

Got me thinking about how it applies to the build/buy formula. Curious what others think about this:

- Good teams with resources will be super picky about vendors and just build if they don't trust you - Good teams without resources will lean toward building - Bad teams will build everything initially, accumulate insane tech debt and then heavily favor buying

ewf··on Why we still build with Ruby
I've always blamed the "rails can't scale" take on how easy it is for inexperienced devs to build full stack apps. But code gen has 1000x this so I'd imagine that will fade.
ewf··on Why not to use iframes for embedded dashboards
it's for seo. they could have framed it better
ewf··on Why not to use iframes for embedded dashboards
It was a hard requirement for us to make our dev tool 100% embeddable without iframes. From the vendor's perspective, it's an opportunity to differentiate from competitors and avoid potential future iframe limitations that others have mentioned.

This was my instinct when we first started, and years later, on 50% of sales calls someone asks if we use iframes (as a concern). Our enterprise clients don't want to highlight a third-party solution, and iframes scream "not native" to their users.

The technical challenges of avoiding iframes are real, but the business case for solving them has been clear for us.

ewf··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2024)
Embed Workflow | Full Time / Contract | REMOTE | LATAM | https://embedworkflow.com

Embed Workflow is an API-first company bringing a native workflow builder to our customer's end-users. We are a lean self-funded team looking for strong ICs to round out our early engineering team.

Frontend engineer (React/Vanilla JS) - https://embedworkflow.com/careers/jobs/frontend_engineer

Product designer - https://embedworkflow.com/careers/jobs/product_designer

For those applying: Please include "HN" in the subject line

ewf··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (December 2023)
Embed Workflow | Full Time / Contract | REMOTE | https://embedworkflow.com

Embed Workflow is an API-first company bringing a native workflow builder to our customer's end-users. We are a lean self-funded team looking for our first key hires.

Tech stack: React, Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, AWS, AMQP, Vanilla JS

Product designer - https://embedworkflow.com/careers/jobs/product_designer

Frontend engineer (React/Vanilla JS) - https://embedworkflow.com/careers/jobs/frontend_engineer

Developer advocate (GTM) - https://embedworkflow.com/careers/jobs/developer_advocate

If you have a strong interest but your role isn't listed, we encourage you to still apply.

Connect with us on LinkedIn or via email.

ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
Glad you pointed this out. Going to make an improvement here
ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
Would you be utilizing our embed capabilities? The embeddable workflow builder makes us stand out from Formspark and others.

I'm curious to know if I set something up similar to Formspark's monetization model, at what price would you say it's expensive but still something you'd consider purchasing, AND at what price would you say it's a bargain for your money? Thanks!

ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
Noted. I also like the idea of workflow's actions performing. Currently, it executes as it would in production but communication is disabled for the demo (emails won't send, webhooks won't POST). Thanks for the feedback!
ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
That is a very thoughtful response. Thank you!

The backend can get complicated. Our workflows are stored as a directed acyclic graph, and each action is scheduled. There are also dynamic data placeholders, error handling, and much more. I’ve seen users create custom webhooks called “send text message” that hit their API.

Are you using React? I recommend checking out react flow if you want a UI-only solution.

ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
home page could use some improvements. Again, all feedback is welcome and appreciated.

A real world example: You are a dev at a real estate software company. You want to allow your users to send an email, send a text, and perform a webhook when a lead signs up. We have created developer tools (API, SDK, UI components) so you can accomplish this in your app with ease.

Hope that helps... questions welcome!

ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
appreciate it! I just made the code changes and it will get shipped soon
ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
I understand entirely and deeply relate to this, as I built three different custom solutions for other companies. We are working towards a self-hosted option, but for now, the focus is on receiving quick feedback with our cloud setup.

Thank you so much for checking it out. Honestly, it means a lot!

ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
Thanks! That is a consideration. Similar to how n8n does it.
ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
updated, thank you
ewf··on Show HN: My affordable solution to costly workflow automation: Embed Workflow
working on custom workflow software for almost a decade. I built a lean solution with no fluff - and it is free.

I am looking for feedback. Anything helps!

ewf··on I ditched pricey iPaaS to build my own workflow tool
I was sick of expensive iPaaS solutions and decided to build an affordable and highly customizable embedded workflow product. After developing custom workflow solutions for seven years and many lessons learned, I created Embed Workflow. This solution takes minutes to set up and provides startups with the necessary automation capabilities to succeed.

I’d love for you to check it out at embedworkflow.com and let me know if you’d ever consider using it.