I like to throw a bunch of text into my local LLM (currently a Devstral-Small-2-24B-Instruct) and have it cluster the contents. I like to do it for polarizing topics like politics, just to get a feel for how many people on a website seem to support or oppose a thing. And here I did it for the (monthly?) “What are you working on?” thread:

Notes: The quotes the LLM produces are often not verbatim, but correct in meaning and tone. The percentages do not add up to 100%, which either means that either the LLM is sloppy, or simply not good enough, or that there is overlap between the clusters.

PROMPT: analyse and cluster, what general ideas are people following, give memorable quotes for each cluster and quantify it somehow compared to others.

ANSWER:

Analysis of “Ask HN: What Are You Working On?” Thread

Here’s an analysis and clustering of the general ideas people are following based on the “Ask HN: What Are You Working On?” thread. I’ve categorized the projects into themes, provided memorable quotes for each cluster, and quantified their prevalence compared to others.

1. AI & Coding Agents (Most Common Theme)

Memorable Quote: “I’m building a tool that turns my 1970s text editor into a futuristic language-learning platform with LLMs.”

Quantification: ~30% of responses (e.g., OpenClaw alternatives, AI coding frameworks, LLM integration).

Projects:

• grith.ai: Syscall-level security for AI agents.
• hebbs: Memory engine for agents.
• Swival: Local AI coding assistant.

2. Personal Productivity & Habits

Memorable Quote: “A simple script that deducts money from my bank if I spend too much time on Instagram.”

Quantification: ~15% of responses.

Projects:

• Screenleash: Deduction for time-wasting.
• Book Reading Habit: Micro-sessions for reading.
• Pingmebud: Meeting fatigue alerts.

3. Creative Tools & Games

Memorable Quote: “You’re a dog left at home alone getting up to mischief in a 3D top-down Zelda-style game.”

Quantification: ~10% of responses.

Projects:

• Doggy Don’t Care: 3D dog mischief game.
• Nonodle: Daily nonogram puzzles.
• MadHatter: Knitting/crochet design tool.

4. Education & Language Learning

Memorable Quote: “Forget flashcards—save ‘muddy puddles’ as Peppa Pig jumping into a video moment.”

Quantification: ~10% of responses.

Projects:

• YouLingua: Video-based language learning.
• KPT: Verb conjugation for hard languages.
• Free Math Sheets: Worksheet generator.

5. Developer Tools & Infrastructure

Memorable Quote: “A lightweight alternative to Twilio Voice Intelligence—$0.30/hour vs $1.50/hour.”

Quantification: ~10% of responses.

Projects:

• FunctionalTodo: Malleable software with AI.
• DB Pro: Collaborative database client.
• Canine: Kubernetes PaaS.

6. Niche SaaS & Community

Memorable Quote: “An auction site for schools without exploitative fees—because who needs that?”

Quantification: ~10% of responses.

Projects:

• Aucly: School auction platform.
• SocialProof: Testimonial collector.
• Uruk: EU-based Kagi alternative.

7. Hardware & IoT

Memorable Quote: “A ‘Smart Dealer Poker Button’ with time-sync’d IoT displays for blind draws.”

Quantification: ~5% of responses.

Projects:

• Hoopi Pedal: Music effects + recording.
• rainy-city.com: Ambient rain sound generator.
• LTE sensors for horticulture.

8. Open Source & Experiments

Memorable Quote: “I trained a tiny LLM to answer ‘What is life?’ with ‘It is.’”

Quantification: ~15% of responses.

Projects:

• fesh: Binary compression with LLM.
• Cranpose: Rust port of Jetpack Compose.
• JRECC: Java remote caching.

9. Health & Fitness

Memorable Quote: “A tracking app for my son’s 1000 books before kindergarten.”

Quantification: ~5% of responses.

Projects:

• BebiLog: Premature baby tracking.
• HeartRoutine: Cardiologist-friendly tracking.

10. Miscellaneous

Memorable Quote: “A PWA habit tracker that sends your money to charities if you fail.”

Quantification: ~10% of responses.

Projects:

• Euzoia: Charity-based habits.
• Jello: Photo-based games.
• Statphone: Emergency family calls.

Quantitative Breakdown

Cluster	% of Responses	Keywords/Tools
AI & Coding Agents	30%	LLMs, MCP, OpenClaw
Productivity	15%	Habits, time management
Creative/Games	10%	3D, puzzles, art
Education	10%	Language, math, coding
Dev Tools	10%	Databases, APIs, CI/CD
Niche SaaS	10%	Marketplaces, auctions
Hardware/IoT	5%	Sensors, IoT
Open Source	15%	Rust, Go, Python
Health/Fitness	5%	Tracking, reminders
Miscellaneous	10%	Charities, games

Observations:

• AI agents and developer tools dominate (~45% combined).
• Education and productivity tools are growing niches.
• Hardware/IoT projects are rare but highly specialized.