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Products that do what Minimal, no-JS web forum software does

Hello HN! I've found my SQL knowledge to be lacking, so I made a project that uses SQLite as a backend. As it is intended for self-hosting I aim to make it easy to set up and maintain. Getting it up & running takes no more than a few commands (bar setting up a proxy such as nginx, which is out of scope). I've set up a "demo" site at https://forum.agreper.com/ if you want to try out the UI.

  1. 1MA

    I am happy to announce my minimalist zero-dependency web framework, Minum, is out of beta. http://github.com/byronka/minum You will be hard-pressed to find another modern project as obsessively minimalistic. Other frameworks will claim simplicity and minimalism and then, casually, mention they are built on a multitude of libraries. This follows self-imposed constraints, predicated on a belief that smaller and lighter is long-term better. Caveat emptor: This is a project by and for developers who know and like programming (rather than, let us say, configuring). It is…

    2023 · github.com

  2. 2CN

    Hi HN, I have been making this Cozo database since half a year ago, and now it is ready for public release. My initial motivation is that I want a graph database. Lightweight and easy to use, like SQLite. Powerful and performant, like Postgres. I found none of the existing solutions good enough. Deciding to roll my own, I need to choose a query language. I am familiar with Cypher but consider it not much of an improvement over CTE in SQL (Cypher is sometimes notationally more convenient, but not more expressive). I like Gremlin but would prefer something more declarative. Experimentations…

    2022 · github.com

  3. 3SW

    i'm building this minimalistic framework mostly for myself. it's really just a project template + a tiny library that adds file based routes to express and persistent task queues. i wanted something that: 1. is a single long-running process to deploy and manage (thanks sqlite!) 2. has type-safe database queries and type-safe server rendered React-like `.tsx` components 3. addresses 80% of common full-stack concerns like emails, task queues and routing 4. doesn't have a frontend build process curious to hear what you think!

    2024 · plainweb.dev

  4. 4OS

    We just launched Outerbase Studio, the open-source version of our core database offering. It works in your browser or as a desktop app and supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. What it does: • Connects to MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite databases. • Spin up local databases directly through the UI, even if you don’t have one running. • Manage and query your data in a lightweight, intuitive interface. • Completely open source. Why we built it: We wanted to share the core Outerbase experience with the developer community as a free, open-source tool. It’s simple, fast, and removes the barriers…

    2024 · github.com

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  6. 6SO

    Hello HN! My name is Paras and I am building this project called Slashbase. It's an open-source collaborative IDE for databases in browser. Connect to your database, browse data, run a bunch of queries or share queries within your team, right from your browser. Works with two types of databases: PostgreSQL and MongoDB. It's written in Golang and Nextjs React Framework and runs as a single binary. Features: - Cloud based: Setup on your server. Works in browser. - Easy to use: with minimal interface it is simple to use. - Collaborative: Works with your teams. Easy sharing queries within team.…

    2022 · github.com

  7. 7AM

    First, I'm by no mean a programmer. Second, I am reading HN for years, just registered to make this public and see if it can be useful for someone. I have nothing to gain monetary. A while ago, I decided that no blogging system was simple enough and I looked for a small wiki to use as a CMS/blog. Found WikWiki on C2.com and I mixed it with some basic Markdown syntax, a minimal template and added password protection. The result is a single php file, no database and no dependencies. Code is a mess, not modulable, probably wrong in so many ways, but it can probably used by some as personal…

    2022 · mindwi.se

  8. 8

    Low code self-hosted backend API to build web apps

    2023

  9. 9SB

    Hey Hacker News! I wanted to share the open source project I have been working on during the last year: SQLPage, a tool to build small web applications entirely in SQL. Building web applications with just SQL isn't as crazy as it seems. Most simple applications can be expressed declaratively as just data queries that fill pre-defined web components. I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts on it. Would you potentially use it? How can it be improved? Website: https://sql.ophir.dev/ Github: https://github.com/lovasoa/SQLpage Example app:…

    2023 · sql.ophir.dev

  10. 10SN
  11. 11GI

    Graphweaver is an open-source GraphQL API Server that can connect many data sources to create a single API. Create a headless CMS, API Gateway, BaaS or use it as a BFF.

    2023 · github.com

  12. 12DJ

    TL;DR: dagger.js is a buildless, runtime-only micro-framework that plays nicely with native Web Components. It uses HTML-first directives (e.g. +click, +load) so you can ship a page by dropping a single from a CDN—no bundlers, no compile step. Why I built it Modern stacks are powerful but often heavy: bundlers, compile steps, framework DSLs, local CLIs. For internal tools, small apps, and edge/serverless deployments, I wanted something you can view-source, paste into a page, and ship. What it is: Runtime-only: no build or VDOM compile; hydrate behaviors directly on HTML. HTML…

    Sep 2025 · daggerjs.org

  13. 13NB

    Manipulate your SQLite database like a giant Javascript object. Built with o1.

    2024 · gist.github.com

  14. 14JA

    Hi HN! I’d like to share with you my project: JSDB. Two months ago I had this thought while reviewing a PR on a web application. What if I didn’t have to write code to communicate with my backend or database? It would be fun to just use arrays and objects like you normally do in javascript and have things magically save. That weekend I hacked together something that used proxies and classes to ‘magically’ send data to your backend when you assign or access properties in an object or array. Using the same API you already know. This means you can save data like this: items[x] = {a:2,b:false}…

    2022 · javascriptdb.com

  15. 15FS

    A minimalistic Fluent SQL API for Java built with one compilation unit aimed to resemble the code to your original SQL code

    2013 · github.com

  16. 16AS

    Hi HN, we're Eric and Dean, creators of SchemafreeSQL. Its roots go back to an on-line Web App Development Environment we developed back in 1999. It was comprised of an IDE, Web Server, Object Store, Virtual File System, Template System, and polyglot (Java, JavaScript, and Python). Of course, we named it “.OS”. Then we ended up dropping it. But that's a story for another time. It was the ease of use of the Object Store from .OS that we really missed, which brings us back to SchemafreeSQL. It provides an enhanced API to your SQL Database which allows it to function as a Schemaless…

    2022 · schemafreesql.com

  17. 17ZD

    I have written a from-scratch minimalist Java web framework, called Minum. I'd like to get your thoughts. The driving goal has been achieving characterics of plainness, frugality, performance, maintainability, testability, and ease of use. It has zero dependencies other than Java's SDK, yet provides a web server, routing, authentication, testing, logging, templating, HTML parsing, and a database, in 3800 lines of code, compiling to a 150k binary. It currently supports a web application in production. There are also example projects demonstrating its use, linked in the documentation. As the…

    2023 · github.com

  18. 18SD

    Hi HN, I'm Dean, the non-technical co-founder of SchemafreeSQL. We released our beta version about a year ago. You can see the HN Post here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30291592 Today I am pleased to announce our initial release of our hosted SFSQL offering. A major concern from the HN Beta feedback we received was our longevity. Being a hosted database solution I can see why. We took that to heart and re-engineered our offering. We de-risked it by minimizing the amount of infrastructure under our management, fly.io manages customer's dedicated SFSQL endpoints,…

    2023 · schemafreesql.com

  19. 19MT

    Hey all, I have been building Minimado (spelled mini-meadow) over the past few days It's got a minimalist theme inspired by Project IDX from Google, a command mode where you would use terminal-navigation and shortcuts to use the tool, and it could also be downloaded as a native app for any platform. Best part? It requires no sign-ups and is completely free. I might add sign-ups and make it optional for account sync purposes. Play with it and let me know what you think. It's got a "Feedback" link in the bottom left where you can upvote upcoming features and suggest new ones you might think…

    2025 · minimado.com

  20. 20CO

    https://github.com/turboblack/HamsterCMS No database required! You only need one file to work! Works on PHP 8 without preinstalled frameworks Just copy the files to the server (or hosting). No settings needed. Perfect for a simple home page. The hamster works very quickly. The hamster code is simple and clear! Open source and free! Multi-template Easy to adapt templates.

    2024

  21. 21QJ

    Q.js is a lightweight JS framework that I recently distilled from our in-house Qbix platform that I’ve been building since 2011. It powers many of our social apps, which have all the features of Facebook, LinkedIn, X, etc. We’re not a big company like Google or Meta, so we never released it publicly. Now I’d like to, and thought it would be a good idea to post it on HN and gather some feedback. Q.minimal.js was designed to be dropped into any website. It lazy-loads all your components only as they are needed and appear on the screen. The minimal file is meant as a starting point for…

    2025 · github.com

  22. 22HF

    I've been having a blast making multiple mini apps that run in the browser. I've been trying to see how far I can go without having a backend and relying on other services. I wrote these for fun and wanted to know what folks think.

    Jun 2026 · joeheyming.github.io

  23. 23IB
  24. 241C

    2021 · lightbottle.dev

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