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Cool Software Projects

Some of the most inventive software comes from individual developers and small teams sharing what they built. This section gathers those projects, presented by their creators, covering open-source libraries, developer tools, productivity apps, games, and technical experiments that push familiar ideas in new directions.

Typical entries include command-line utilities, self-hosted alternatives to popular services, clever browser extensions, programming language experiments, and side projects that solve a niche problem unusually well. Many come with source code, a live demo, and creators answering questions about how they built them.

These projects are a reliable source of practical tools and fresh ideas. Developers discover libraries worth adopting, makers find inspiration for their own work, and anyone curious about software gets an early look at projects that may grow into widely used products.

2026-09-15

2026-09-15

341

A new open-source project called fcbnerd enables macOS users to map and execute custom macros using a Behringer FCB1010 MIDI pedalboard. The tool repurposes the musical foot controller into a hands-free automation device for everyday computer tasks.

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93

Redis City is a new interactive 3D visualization tool that allows developers to explore the internal mechanics of a single Redis instance. By navigating through core components like the command path, data structures, memory allocator, and persistence layers, users can intuitively understand how the database operates under the hood.

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9

Neobrutalism.dev, a collection of neobrutalism-styled UI components built on shadcn/ui, has released a new update. The latest version introduces support for Base UI and includes a brand new color theme for developers.

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2026-09-14

336

Developer Antoine Leclair has shared a new open-source project on Hacker News titled Is It Greg? The GitHub repository is currently active and inviting community members to contribute to its ongoing development.

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66

A new project shared on Hacker News explores the integration of prediction markets with social networking platforms. The initiative aims to merge the forecasting mechanics of crowd-sourced betting with the community engagement typical of modern social media. By combining these two domains, the project seeks to create a more interactive and socially driven environment for event prediction.

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2026-09-13

76

A new Show HN project allows users to visualize audio through their webcams, though early testers report it struggles with voice detection. Users noted that the tool generates random visual patterns in quiet rooms because webcam microphones use auto-gain to amplify background noise. Despite these sensitivity issues, the application reportedly works well for capturing other distinct sounds.

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2026-09-12

261

ResolveHQ is a newly launched open-source helpdesk and shared support inbox for small teams that was recently showcased on Hacker News. The application features a fully cloud-native architecture built entirely on the Cloudflare ecosystem, leveraging Workers, D1, R2, and Queues.

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184

A new open-source project called Graphify C# equips LLM coding agents with compiler-accurate find usages capabilities. By replicating the advanced code navigation of JetBrains Rider, the tool allows AI assistants to better analyze codebases while fully supporting C# 15 syntax.

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67

A new Show HN project titled Bodily Oddities has launched to showcase a curated collection of fascinating but normal human physical phenomena. The site explores various bodily quirks, including involuntary reflexes, optical illusions, unusual sounds, and rare physical abilities. It provides an entertaining and educational resource for users interested in the strange capabilities of the human body.

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2026-09-11

11

Vertumnus is a new tool that generates printable posters showing the seasonal availability of produce at local farmers markets. The platform provides region-specific data with week-level granularity to help consumers easily track what fresh foods are currently in season.

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2026-09-10

371

A newly released special relativity simulator allows users to experience a world where the speed of light is reduced to a walking pace of five kilometers per hour. This unique tool makes complex physics phenomena like Lorentz contraction, aberration, and the Doppler shift easily observable at everyday human speeds.

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327

A new browser-based tool computes degree-n polynomials twice as fast by reducing the required multiplications to roughly half. Users can select from multiple mathematical fields to instantly generate optimized evaluation chains formatted as math equations, C code, or digital circuits.

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2026-09-09

147

A new tool shared on Hacker News provides an interactive visualization of the attention mechanisms within large language models. This project allows developers and researchers to visually track how models process and weigh input tokens, offering deeper insights into their underlying behavior.

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24

Copperhead is a new open-source AI agent that designs, documents, and validates real printed circuit boards directly from text prompts. Billed as the Cursor for circuit boards, the tool aims to significantly streamline the hardware design process by translating natural language into fully functional PCB layouts.

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2026-09-08

314

A developer has published a reconstructed version of the infamous Stuxnet cyber-weapon source code on Hacker News strictly for educational and research purposes. The recreated malware is configured to run exclusively on older Windows XP and Windows 7 operating systems.

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242

A new interactive tool called NYC MapTap helps users learn New York City neighborhoods and subway routes. Shared on Hacker News, the project has been well received by the tech community, inspiring developers to build similar educational maps for other cities like Chicago.

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231

Jigsaw Haiku is a new browser-based word puzzle game where players assemble haikus using interlocking jigsaw tiles. Community feedback highlighted frustrations with borders obscuring text edges, restrictive piece placement, and choppy dragging performance across different devices. In response, the developer has already fixed the visual clipping issues and is exploring options for free-form piece placement and smoother rendering.

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210

A new interactive web tool called the Tree of Life allows users to explore and compare biological data across 11 distinct scientific trees. The platform enables a detailed examination of ancestry, physical traits, fossils, habitats, and sources to help visualize complex evolutionary relationships.

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2026-09-07

324

Mador is a new lightweight open-source tool that enables developers to make any DOM reactive using a minimal 80-line Proxy state tuple. Recently shared on Hacker News, the project offers a simple way to add reactivity to web interfaces without relying on heavy frameworks. The source code is available for review and contribution on GitHub.

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149

A new social network called GET Together allows users to share updates using only HTTP GET requests instead of traditional POST requests. The developer-focused project playfully subverts standard web protocols to create a unique platform for posting messages.

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2026-09-06

169

Fly By is a new retro 8-bit biplane flight game recently featured in a Show HN post. The game challenges players to pop balloons, dive through barns, dodge airliners, and perform various aerobatic stunts.

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2026-09-05

233

OpenTrailPaper is a new open-source firmware designed for the LilyGO T5S3 4.7-inch e-ink bike computer. It provides cyclists with essential navigation and tracking features, including offline maps, GPX routing, FIT recording, and Bluetooth sensor integration.

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125

Moadim.io is an open-source loop engine that enables developers to schedule and run AI agents such as Claude, Codex, Hermes, and Pi. The platform executes these automated tasks over MCP and REST protocols to seamlessly integrate autonomous AI workflows into existing systems.

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92

A new terminal assistant named TERMy has been introduced as a fast, lightweight alternative to LLM-based command-line tools. It leverages NPC-Forge, a framework designed to build conversational agents that run entirely on the CPU without relying on machine learning.

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2026-09-02

345

A new Safari extension called Weedout automatically filters out YouTube videos labeled as "Made with AI." The tool provides users with a simple way to avoid AI-generated content while browsing the platform.

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184

A new AI-powered tool called HN Match Maker has launched to streamline the job search process using Hacker News monthly hiring threads. The platform automatically connects candidates seeking new roles with employers looking for talent by intelligently matching job postings with applicant profiles.

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133

A new open-source tool called slotstream enables users to run the massive 104GB Qwen3.8-Flash-Next language model on Apple Macs with significantly less RAM. The project achieves this by streaming model experts directly from the SSD, reaching speeds of around 12 tokens per second on a 48GB machine. Built with MLX and Swift, it also provides an Ollama-compatible API for seamless integration.

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2026-09-01

276

A new open-source browser application called Laser Graffiti allows users to create interactive wall art using a laser pointer, a webcam, and a projector. The webcam tracks the laser's movements in real time, prompting the projector to instantly paint the drawn strokes onto the wall.

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2026-08-31

296

A new project features a battery-free PCB business card that harvests NFC energy from a smartphone to power an onboard microcontroller. When tapped, the card draws enough radio frequency power to illuminate 21 animated LEDs without requiring an internal battery.

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2026-08-30

272

A developer has released Defragger, a new Linux filesystem defragmenter built with Rust and a user interface powered by Qt Quick and Kirigami. The project was inspired by the creator's nostalgia for the classic visual of moving blocks seen in older disk optimization tools. It offers a modern, open-source alternative for maintaining Linux storage performance.

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2026-09-15