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GitHub's status page reports a widespread outage affecting GitHub.com and related services. The incident is under investigation, and the company is working to restore normal operations as soon as possible.

Related: Rebecca Heineman has died - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45960368

The article discusses OrthoRoute, an open-source tool for computing optimal routes for orthogonal robots, which can be used in various applications, such as automated warehousing and factory automation. The tool utilizes a novel algorithm to find the shortest path for robots moving in a grid-like environment while avoiding obstacles.

The article explores the Gemini protocol, a lightweight alternative to the World Wide Web that emphasizes simplicity, minimalism, and privacy. It discusses the history, technical details, and potential future developments of the Gemini ecosystem.

The article discusses the recent legal actions taken by major font companies against small businesses and individuals for alleged font licensing violations. It highlights the complex and often confusing nature of font licensing, and the concerns raised about the aggressive enforcement tactics used by the font industry.

Claude Code is great, but it’s focused on coding. The missing piece is a native way to build and run custom background agents for non-code tasks. We built RowboatX as a CLI tool modeled after Claude Code that lets you do that. It uses the file system and unix tools to create and monitor background agents for everyday tasks, connect them to any MCP server for tools, and reason over their outputs.

Because RowboatX runs locally with shell access, the agents can install tools, execute code, and automate anything you could do in a terminal with your explicit permission. It works with any compatible LLM, including open-source ones.

Our repo is https://github.com/rowboatlabs/rowboat, and there’s a demo video here: https://youtu.be/cyPBinQzicY

For example, you can connect RowboatX to the ElevenLabs MCP server and create a background workflow that produces a NotebookLM-style podcast every day from recent AI-agent papers on arXiv. Or you can connect it to Google Calendar and Exa Search to research meeting attendees and generate briefs before each event.

You can try these with: `npx @rowboatlabs/rowboatx`

We combined three simple ideas:

1. File system as state: Each agent’s instruction, memory, logs, and data are just files on disk, grepable, diffable, and local. For instance, you can just run: grep -rl '"agent":"<agent-name>"' ~/.rowboat/runs to list every run for a particular workflow.

2. The supervisor agent: A Claude Code style agent that can create and run background agents. It predominantly uses Unix commands to monitor, update, and schedule agents. LLMs handle Unix tools better than backend APIs [1][2], so we leaned into that. It can also probe any MCP server and attach the tools to the agents.

3. Human-in-the-loop: Each background agent can emit a human_request message when needed (e.g. drafting a tricky email or installing a tool) that pauses execution and waits for input before continuing. The supervisor coordinates this.

I started my career over a decade ago building spam detection models at Twitter, spending a lot of my time in the terminal with Unix commands for data analysis [0] and Vowpal Wabbit for modeling. When Claude Code came along, it felt familiar and amazing to work with. But trying to use it beyond code always felt a bit forced. We built RowboatX to bring that same workflow to everyday tasks. It is Apache-2.0 licensed and easily extendable.

While there are many agent builders, running on the user's terminal enables unique use cases like computer and browser automation that cloud-based tools can't match. This power requires careful safety design. We implemented command-level allow/deny lists, with containerization coming next. We’ve tried to design for safety from day one, but we’d love to hear the community’s perspective on what additional safeguards or approaches you’d consider important here.

We’re excited to share RowboatX with everyone here. We’d love to hear your thoughts and welcome contributions!

—

[0] https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs124/kwc-unix-for-poets.pdf [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2405.06807 [2] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.10132

The U.S. Department of Energy, under the Trump administration, has granted a $1 billion loan to a Microsoft partner to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor, which was shut down in 2011 after a partial meltdown.

The article discusses the challenges faced by users in getting Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging to work on their mobile devices. It explores the complex ecosystem of RCS, the role of carriers and device manufacturers, and the efforts to improve the user experience.

The European Union is proposing a new 'chat control' regulation that would require tech companies to monitor private communications for potential child abuse content. Privacy experts warn that this could create a dangerous backdoor for surveillance and undermine encryption protections.

C# 14 introduces several new features, including pattern matching improvements, new lambda expression syntax, and relaxed switch expressions. These updates aim to enhance the programming experience and provide developers with more concise and expressive code.

The article explores how the middle-class shoppers are pulling back on spending, which could be a warning sign for the economy. It highlights the impact on home improvement retailer Home Depot, which is seeing a slowdown in customer demand.

The article discusses the decline in imports and exports at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with both the import and export volumes down year-over-year. The article examines the potential reasons for this trend, including the ongoing supply chain challenges and the broader economic conditions.

The article discusses a proposed Republican-led overhaul of broadband infrastructure permitting laws, which cities oppose but cable companies support. The changes aim to streamline the process for deploying broadband networks, but critics argue it would limit local control and reduce consumer protections.

The article explores the potential risks and benefits of a new artificial intelligence system, known as an 'AI curator,' that can help organize and recommend content on streaming platforms. It discusses the concerns around AI-driven curation and the need to ensure transparency and user control in such systems.

Hi HN,

We’re Ruben, Afnan, and Theo, and we’re building Davia to make documenting and understanding codebases easier. Generating internal docs takes too long, diagrams are essential to grasp structure, and editable visuals are often missing from existing tools. Plus, most solutions aren’t open source.

Davia is an open source tool. Point it at your codebase, and it automatically generates an editable wiki. Text can be edited in a Notion-like editor, while diagrams live on whiteboards and are fully editable too. Everything can be explored and modified either in your IDE or in the editor.

The project is still early, and we’d love feedback, ideas, or experiences from anyone documenting code internally.

GitHub: https://github.com/davialabs/davia

The article explores the connections between Jeffrey Epstein, Ariane de Rothschild, Ehud Barak, and a Swiss bank, focusing on the involvement in the development of Israeli cyberweapons. It delves into the complex web of relationships and business dealings between these individuals and entities.

This article explores the key elements of good execution, emphasizing the importance of clear vision, effective planning, delegation, and accountability in driving successful outcomes within an organization.

A new study found that microplastics have a greater negative impact on the arteries of male mice compared to females, potentially increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. The research highlights the need for further investigation into the sex-specific effects of microplastic exposure on human health.

The article discusses the shortage of skilled mechanics in the automotive industry, highlighting Ford's struggle to find qualified workers to fill high-paying roles. It suggests that the lack of interest in trade jobs, combined with the technical skills required, contributes to the ongoing challenge of finding suitable mechanics.

The Problem

"Vibing" with LLMs is often too shallow for complex logic, while writing full specifications is cognitively expensive and slow. We need a middle ground that mimics how human programmers gather context—scanning structure before diving into details.

The Solution: Outline Driven Development (ODD)

I've built a "batteries-included" kit for Gemini/Claude/Codex that uses AST analysis to understand code structure rather than just raw text. This relies on a hyper-optimized Rust toolchain (`ast-grep`, `ripgrep`, `jj`, etc.) to feed precise, structural context to the agent.

1. The Prerequisites (The Toolchain) Core utilities are installed with `target-cpu=native` for maximum local performance.

- Linux/macOS: ```bash export RUSTFLAGS="-C target-cpu=native -C opt-level=3 -C codegen-units=1 -C strip=symbols"

cargo install lsd ast-grep ripgrep fd-find git-delta tokei cargo install --locked bat cargo install --locked --bin jj jj-cli ```

- Windows (PowerShell): ```powershell $env:RUSTFLAGS="-C target-cpu=native -C opt-level=3 -C codegen-units=1 -C strip=symbols -C link-arg=/LTCG -C link-arg=/OPT:REF"

cargo install lsd ast-grep ripgrep fd-find git-delta tokei cargo install --locked bat cargo install --locked --bin jj jj-cli ```

2. Integration Kits I've prepared pre-configured extensions that leverage these local tools for the major AI coding agents. You can install them manually (config injection) or via the CLI wrappers:

- Gemini CLI: https://github.com/OutlineDriven/odin-gemini-cli-extension

- Claude Code: https://github.com/OutlineDriven/odin-claude-plugin

- Codex CLI: https://github.com/OutlineDriven/odin-codex-plugin

- Gemini CLI Quick Installation: `gemini extensions install https://github.com/OutlineDriven/odin-gemini-cli-extension`

- Claude Code Quick Installation: `claude plugin marketplace add OutlineDriven/odin-claude-plugin && claude plugin install odin-claude-plugin@odin-marketplace`