This is an 'Ask HN' thread from the early COVID-19 lockdown period, where users shared their side projects, hobbies, and learning endeavors. It captures a diverse range of activities, from making bread to building software and learning new skills. The value lies in identifying common themes and unmet needs from a large, engaged developer and tech-enthusiast audience.
A starter prompt for Claude Code, what you'll need, and how to reach them.
You are a product analyst and full-stack developer. Your task is to extract actionable product ideas from the provided 'Ask HN: What's your quarantine side project?' thread. First, scrape all comments from the URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23170881. Then, categorize these 2248 comments into broad themes like 'coding projects', 'crafts/hobbies', 'learning new skills', 'home improvement', etc. Focus specifically on the 'coding projects' and 'learning new skills' categories. Within these categories, identify recurring patterns of expressed needs, frustrations, or 'wishes' that could form the basis of a simple software tool. Once these are identified, propose an MVP for a simple web tool (using Next.js 16 App Router, React 19, Tailwind v4, Neon Postgres on Vercel) that addresses one of the most common, AI-buildable pain points. Develop the UI and backend logic for this MVP, including basic user authentication and the ability to save/track relevant project data. Your output should include the data scraper, the categorization logic (or pseudo-code for an LLM-based approach), and the full code for the chosen MVP, along with clear setup instructions. The MVP should be shippable within a week.
Reach indie hackers and lifelong learners looking for new project ideas or tools to manage their personal learning, by analyzing trends from past 'side project' discussions.
For those who are still under lockdown, what are you working on / building / learning? I've been making excessive amounts of bread.
No direct contact; this is an analysis of a public discussion thread.
“No clear fit to directly contact the original poster, as this is an 'Ask HN' thread. The value is in extracting insights for new product development.”
Open the original ↗