Ask HN: Are vibe-coded self-contained HTML apps the future of personal tools?

[meistertigran]

I came across this post today - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44937991 and also myself created https://htmlsync.io and wonder if there are other people who now choose to use vibe-coded self-contained HTML apps to replace other personal tools they were using.

Do you think these self-contained HTML apps in one form or another are going to replace most personal tools?

If not, what do you think is the big limiter?

[codingdave]

No, because vibe coded apps break. And if you are not someone who can write your own tools without vibe coding, you'll hit a wall and stop doing it when they break on you. FWIW, even the link you got your inspiration from is not actually a single HTML page, it is a full node server with a front-end framework... that happens to only output a single HTML page.

I will grant that it is possible that AI-assisted coding will make people who are already software devs create their own tools more often. But not the vibe coding thing, no.

[meistertigran]

I share your opinion about the quality of vibe coded apps. It's definitely not something you can pull off with 0 programming knowledge at this moment. I don't know how the quality of LLM written code will change in the future, but I do believe a lot of custom apps that basically just store and display data can already be easily one-shotted.

The more complex the app becomes, the harder it will be to maintain it with vibe coding. Personally I have chosen to just create specialed apps, that do one thing well, to avoid that complexity.

[rickcarlino]

I want this to be true, but I think a big limiter is patchy support for things like a file system API as well as some special rules that place extra restrictions on HTML files versus webpages served over HTTPS. I have not tried it in a long time but I remember not being able to access things like the location API or the microphone via local file. This puts local files at a disadvantage over web applications. If anyone knows of a definitive list of these restrictions, I would love to see it.

[sejje]

You could still put your single file on a web server.

[rickcarlino]

You could, but I wouldn’t call that a self-contained HTML app anymore. It requires a server, SSL certs, uploads, continued hosting even at rest (unlike a file on local storage media).

[sejje]

I would -- to me self contained just means one file. Inline styling, inline JavaScript.

[al_borland]

I often use single file HTML to make little tools for myself. I did this before vibe coding was a thing. There are obviously limits to what can be done with a single file, but I like keeping things simple so it’s less to manage.

I’ve vibe coded a few little tools like this, but because of the lack of real investment, they don’t stick around like the ones I make myself.

[Disposal8433]

All the vibe-coded "applications" I have seen are simple web pages where the JS is broken beyond repair. Those who hype AI do not show their code for mysterious reasons...

Last but not least, it's delusional to think that a web site can replace an efficient and well tested CLI tool. It's the same issue with those who believe that we will all self-host in the future.