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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.

2026-09-21

2026-09-21

112

Radius is a newly launched community platform introduced on Hacker News that serves as a modern alternative to Meetup.com. The service allows users to discover local events based on shared interests, join nearby activities, or create their own community groups.

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49

A new online competition features a ranked ladder for small neural networks competing in strategy games across weight classes starting at 8 KiB. Developers can train a model, write an adapter, and upload their files to test their AI's efficiency and strategic gameplay.

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2026-09-20

119

CUA-S1 is a new open-source System One model designed to scale autonomous computer-use capabilities across multiple operating systems. The project provides developers with open-source drivers, cross-OS fleet management, and comprehensive benchmarks for training, evaluation, and data generation.

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2026-09-19

244

Cactus Needle 3 is a new ultra-compact AI foundation model designed for edge devices that matches the extraction capabilities of DeepSeek V4 Flash despite its tiny 8 to 29 MB footprint. The model also outperforms competitors ten times its size in mobile tool calls, marking a significant advancement for resource-constrained smart automation.

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224

A new Show HN project called LiveWorld aggregates all 24/7 live YouTube cameras onto a single interactive globe. The platform allows users to virtually teleport across the world to watch live feeds and chat with other people viewing the same camera.

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2026-09-18

71

Snapdrop is a newly featured web tool on Hacker News that enables instant file sharing between devices without requiring any account registration or software installation. This frictionless approach provides users with a quick, effortless, and completely setup-free solution for cross-device file transfers.

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41

A newly launched community tool allows users to share, explore, and compare their personal AI workflows and tool setups. The platform uniquely integrates AI agents to help individuals analyze notes and learn from the evolving practices of others in the tech community.

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2026-09-17

178

A new Raspberry Pi project uses an e-ink frame and fully local AI to detect birds by their audio calls in real time. When a bird is identified, the device displays the species as a vintage, hand-cut 1800s illustration, seamlessly blending modern edge computing with classic natural history artwork.

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2026-09-16

369

A new Raspberry Pi project features an e-ink frame that uses fully local AI to identify birds by their audio in real time. Upon detecting a bird call, the device displays the corresponding species as a vintage, hand-cut illustration reminiscent of 1800s artwork.

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158

Capsule is a new tool that packages entire web applications, including UI, assets, and SQLite data, into a single portable file. It allows developers to build and share fully functional apps without relying on cloud infrastructure or user accounts, ensuring all data remains local and self-contained.

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60

Hardware enthusiasts are hacking inexpensive 4G LTE hotspots and dongles to create custom texting devices, private cellular network nodes, and headless Android setups. The community is also actively discussing extensive physical modifications to these budget gadgets, particularly focusing on upgrading their internal batteries with modular, high-capacity cells for significantly extended usage.

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41

Pizza Bot is a newly released open-source inbox designed to manage and monitor long-running AI agents operating in the background. Built using DeepAgents and LangGraph, the local-first tool provides developers with a centralized interface for handling autonomous tasks.

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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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2026-09-21