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deevus

1,035 karma · joined September 11, 2012

Email: simon (at) simonhartcher.com

[ my public key: https://keybase.io/deevus; my proof: https://keybase.io/deevus/sigs/-wnsIXenqN71kNC0UDL6iwYXTLSinFIXSyP39tEKsP8 ]

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deevus··on Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles
I tried to post a Show HN on here and got auto-modded, even though I hand-wrote my post. To be honest it triggered my rejection sensitivity and I haven't posted here since.
deevus··on Show HN: Forge – Guardrails take an 8B model from 53% to 99% on agentic tasks
This is fantastic. I haven't got any local inference as I can't afford it right now, but tool calling has been a concern for me with these smaller models through OpenRouter.

I've been working on a pytest-first acceptance testing framework called Dokimasia (do-kee-ma-see-ah) that I'd love to get your thoughts on: https://github.com/deevus/dokimasia

Acceptance testing might not be what you need for Forge, but since you're deep in AI tool building I thought you may have opinions.

deevus··on DeepSeek V4 Pro at 75% off until 31 May
I'm using Pi: https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/tree/main/packages/codin...
deevus··on DeepSeek V4 Pro at 75% off until 31 May
I've been using DeepSeek V4 a lot in the last week and I am very happy with it. If you have a really gnarly bug, you might need a SOTA model like Opus. For most things it is very very good, and costs significantly less (even without the discount).

I've been using it as part of a complex DOS game decompilation project[0]. I'm working on refactoring the software rendering pipeline so that we can add GPU rendering. The hardest part of this so far is converting the 90's polygon rendering from screen to world space.

It spun its wheels a few times doing a large mostly mechanical change. After resetting and improving my prompts it was able to get through it. I'm using Matt Pocock's skills[1] for this work, which has been quite nice.

[0]: https://github.com/FatalDecomp/ROLLER

[1]: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills

deevus··on Write some software, give it away for free
I would love to write open source software for a living. So far, I haven't worked out how.
deevus··on Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (May 2026)
Location: Wollongong, Australia

Type: Contract or FT

Remote: Yes

Willing to relocate: No

Technologies: Python, Zig, Rust, Go, TypeScript, Laravel/PHP, Django, AWS, Terraform, Docker; Tauri, Flutter; Ghidra/reverse engineering, cryptography (OpenSSL, libsodium)

Resume: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deevus/

GitHub: https://github.com/deevus (~5,000 contributions in the last 12 months)

Email: simon (at) simonhartcher.com

I run a solo consultancy out of Wollongong. Recent work: built a zero-trust key management system in Zig with a Python middleware layer for Byterix Labs (Singapore, scam prevention), spent twelve months on SwitchDin's platform team optimising Python ETL and Django (Newcastle, distributed energy resources), and ship a cross-platform Rust + React desktop disk cleaner called Reclaimr. Before that, eight years at Bonjoro: first senior engineering hire through to CTO, running a team of six on AWS Lambda + MySQL Aurora + Redis. Co-founder of gdzig (Zig bindings for Godot, 180 stars) and co-founding maintainer of Scoop (24k+ stars). Two front-page HN posts this year on Apple Silicon vs Framework laptops and applying Andrew Kelley's "Programming Without Pointers" technique to a real Zig project.

deevus··on The agent harness belongs outside the sandbox
I’ve been working on a sandboxing tool that uses Incus. Originally it was only to run LLMs inside a sandbox, but recently I added MCP so that an agent could spin one up and do work that way.

It currently only exposes a rudimentary set of tools which I’d like to expand. The sandboxes created by MCP are generally ephemeral. The daemon will clean them up after an hour of no usage.

But it’s so cool that they get their own IP and you can ssh straight in. I can see that being very useful when you want to share with a colleague and then close your laptop (assuming it’s running on a remote instance).

https://github.com/deevus/pixels

deevus··on Show HN: Winpodx – run Windows apps on Linux as native windows
Demo? Video? That's the first thing I want to see.
deevus··on Scoring Show HN submissions for AI design patterns
Thanks for this.
deevus··on Show HN: The Mog Programming Language
If you think this is bad, visit Lobsters.
deevus··on Agent Safehouse – macOS-native sandboxing for local agents
For this specific problem I built pixels: https://github.com/deevus/pixels

It supports running on a TrueNAS SCALE server, or via Incus (local or remote). I'm still working on tightening the security posture, but for many types of AI workflows it will be more than sufficient.

deevus··on Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (March 2026)

  Location: Wollongong, Australia (UTC+10/+11)
  Remote: Yes
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: Zig, C, Terraform, Docker, Linux, Go, Python, Laravel, Node, React, TypeScript, Flutter/iOS, Godot, PostgreSQL, AWS
  Resume/CV: https://github.com/deevus
  Email: See GitHub profile
  LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/deevus
Solo consultant (Simon Hartcher Services) and former startup CTO. Co-founding maintainer of Scoop (23k+ stars). True full-stack developer comfortable at every level of the stack.

Recent work and open source:

- Scoop - Windows CLI installer (https://github.com/ScoopInstaller/Scoop)

- TrueNAS Terraform provider and Go client: https://github.com/deevus/terraform-provider-truenas

- Pixels - disposable Linux containers for AI coding agents: https://github.com/deevus/pixels

- Cryptographic protocol implementation in Zig (OpenSSL FFI) for fraud prevention

- Godot bindings for Zig: https://github.com/gdzig/gdzig

- compile_flagz (C/C++ IDE integration for Zig builds): https://github.com/deevus/compile_flagz

- Games on itch.io (https://doubleword-labs.itch.io), developing Parasite Attack 1984 for Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/3245960/Parasite_Attack_1...). Siligong Valley game-dev organiser

Looking for: contracts (short or long-term) or full-time remote. Interested in infrastructure tooling, dev tools, systems programming, or anything Zig-adjacent. 4-day workweek is a plus.

deevus··on I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard
> All these things are just managed in our heads subconsciously.

I'm glad that works for you. My (and my wife's) ADHD brains put these directly into "the void".

deevus··on How I use Claude Code: Separation of planning and execution
Apologies. I saw it as a reply to me personally.
deevus··on How I use Claude Code: Separation of planning and execution
I'm using the in-built features as well, but I like the flow that I have with superpowers. You've made a lot of assumptions with your comment that are just not true (at least for me).

I find that brainstorming + (executing plans OR subagent driven development) is way more reliable than the built-in tooling.

deevus··on How I use Claude Code: Separation of planning and execution
I'll give this a try. Thanks for the suggestion.
deevus··on How I use Claude Code: Separation of planning and execution
This is what I do with the obra/superpowers[0] set of skills.

1. Use brainstorming to come up with the plan using the Socratic method

2. Write a high level design plan to file

3. I review the design plan

4. Write an implementation plan to file. We've already discussed this in detail, so usually it just needs skimming.

5. Use the worktree skill with subagent driven development skill

6. Agent does the work using subagents that for each task:

  a. Implements the task

  b. Spec reviews the completed task

  c. Code reviews the completed task
7. When all tasks complete: create a PR for me to review

8. Go back to the agent with any comments

9. If finished, delete the plan files and merge the PR

[0]: https://github.com/obra/superpowers

deevus··on Is Show HN dead? No, but it's drowning
I feel this. I recently posted a Show HN for a tool I've been working on, and it got 2 points. Honestly I think I posted it too early.
deevus··on I want to wash my car. The car wash is 50 meters away. Should I walk or drive?
I tried with Opus 4.6 Extended and it failed. LLMs are non deterministic so I'm guessing if I try a couple of times it might succeed.
deevus··on Gwtar: A static efficient single-file HTML format
Could it be solved with a viewer program? Any static HTML server?
deevus··on Show HN: Reclaimr – An offline crossplatform desktop app for cleaning dev caches
I’ve seen a few signups and downloads coming through. Thanks
deevus··on Show HN: Reclaimr – An offline crossplatform desktop app for cleaning dev caches
This definitely won’t delete your home folder.
deevus··on Ask HN: What are you working on? (February 2026)
I've been working on an offline cross-platform application currently called Dev Cleaner.

> Dev Cleaner is a desktop application for scanning and cleaning development cache files and build artifacts. It helps developers reclaim disk space by identifying and safely removing caches like node_modules, .cargo/registry, .npm, and other build artifacts.

It's closed source, as I am planning to sell a license. But if you email me, I am happy to provide a build.

deevus··on Show HN: Ghidra MCP Server – 110 tools for AI-assisted reverse engineering
I don't know about anyone else but "production ready" in READMEs triggers me.
deevus··on Somebody used spoofed ADSB signals to raster the meme of JD Vance
I had a few chuckles reading that. Thanks.
deevus··on [dead]
3k at least. My wife shakes her head at me.
deevus··on [dead]
That's fair. It made a catchy title. It feels like 10,000 hours.
deevus··on [dead]
Author here. Disclaimer: I know that there are not 10k hours in a year. :)
deevus··on Show HN: Use Terraform to manage to your TrueNAS apps
Yep I spent a lot of time trawling through the midclt and webui source code to understand how to work with it. Are you using this in a professional context or homelab only?

All of the existing terraform providers for TrueNAS can't create apps with the latest version that uses docker, not kubernetes.

Please tell me what you need by creating issues on the repo

deevus··on My Projects in 2025
Author here. If any of the projects that I talked about in the post are interesting feel free to ask any questions and I will answer them here.
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