The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Product decision · 2023
Heynote bets devs want a block scratchpad over IDE tabs; 1063-point Show HN
Free scratchpad for developers: one persistent buffer split into language-tagged blocks; a 1,063-point Show HN on 2023-12-22, still live in 2026.
Heynote
What the business is
Heynote is a free desktop scratchpad for developers and power users: a large persistent text buffer divided into blocks, each with its own language, syntax highlighting and auto-format; math blocks with variables, units and currency conversion; inline images with annotation; and multiple buffers that map to files on disk, on Mac, Windows and Linux.
How it started
The creator, jonatanheyman on Hacker News, built Heynote for his own use: for years he kept an Emacs instance running with the scratch buffer open even after moving to modern IDEs. He liked the simplicity of one big scratch buffer but wanted to separate the different things he jotted down without using tabs; blank-line separators failed because Ctrl-A still selected the entire buffer. That led to the 'blocks' concept, which he said worked well for his use cases. 'I decided to release Heynote, thinking it might be useful to others' — the Show HN post disclosed no company, funding or monetization plan, only a free tool.
What happened
The 2023-12-22 Show HN drew 1,063 points and 303 comments, and the maker iterated inside the thread: he fixed buffer flushing on exit and reload within hours, explained that buffers live in a data file in the app directory (on a Mac under ~/Library/Application Support/Heynote), confirmed math blocks run on math.js with daily-updated currency rates, and fielded requests for Linux ARM builds, proportional fonts, vim bindings, timestamps, collapsible blocks and Flatpak packaging. Commenters described replacing random VS Code or Sublime tabs and Slack DMs with Heynote, compared it with Soulver, Fend and VimWiki, and one said they would pay for it once vim bindings and better file handling arrived.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Heynote is a free desktop scratchpad for developers and power users, available for Mac, Windows and Linux. Its core is one large, persistent text buffer divided into blocks: Ctrl-Enter creates a block, Ctrl-A selects only that block, and each block can carry its own language — JavaScript, JSON, Markdown and more — with syntax highlighting, auto-format, a math/calculator mode with unit and currency conversion, and inline images that can be annotated and copied back out. Multiple buffers map to files on disk.
The product came from a personal ritual rather than a market study. The maker had kept an Emacs instance running with its scratch buffer open for years, even after switching to modern IDEs, but wanted to separate what he jotted without tabs. Blank lines did not work because selecting the buffer selected everything, so he invented blocks and found the result suited his use cases. He released Heynote on 2023-12-22 with a Show HN that disclosed no company, funding or pricing — just a tool he thought might help others.
Reception was immediate and large: the Show HN drew 1,063 points and 303 comments, among the strongest developer-tool launches of that season. The thread mixed feature requests with fixes the author shipped during the discussion — including a buffer-flush fix within hours — and users mapped Heynote onto their own workflows: replacing random IDE tabs, Slack DMs, Soulver for math and VimWiki-style scratch files.
As of 2026-09-05 Heynote is still live: heynote.com is up with 2.9.1 as the latest listed release, 11 releases shown, and a GitHub repository describing the app as 'a dedicated scratchpad for power users' with search, language auto-detection, multi-cursor editing, custom keybindings and spellchecking added to the launch feature set. The material discloses no revenue, funding or user numbers, so the verified record is a free indie tool with an enormous launch that remains maintained and distributed.
What has to be true
- Verifiable attention: 1,063 points and 303 comments on the 2023-12-22 Show HN (item 38733968), confirmed through the Algolia API.
- A concrete product bet: one block-split persistent buffer beats tabs, files and DMs for scratch work — the design decision the entire app stands on.
- Documented iteration: the maker shipped fixes inside the launch thread (buffer flush on exit, Linux builds) and explained data storage openly, showing a working product loop.
- Still-live artifact: heynote.com and the GitHub repository were reachable on 2026-09-05 with 2.9.1 as the latest listed release, and no revenue or funding claims are invented.
What can be applied
Build for the habit users already have: Heynote gave the Emacs scratch-buffer ritual a modern home rather than inventing a workflow, so one obvious window beat another notes app.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-05 Heynote is still running as a free product: heynote.com is live with 2.9.1 as the latest listed release, and the GitHub repository describes the app as a scratchpad for developers and power users on Mac, Windows and Linux, with features added since 2023 such as search, language auto-detection, multi-cursor editing and custom keybindings. No pricing, funding, company structure or user numbers are disclosed, so the record is a free indie tool with a 1,063-point launch that remains maintained in 2026 — not a verified business outcome.
Sources
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