John Cox

Blogs · @wyome

Tagged opensource · everything

GitHub

rover-001/checkmate: Goal-driven mode for AI coding agents. Reach the user's win condition in the fewest moves.

Checkmate is a rule set for AI coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode, Codex) that pushes them to identify the win condition silently, take the shortest path, skip preambles, menus and unrequested files, and verify before saying "done." It's enforced through a SessionStart hook rather than a passive skill file, since agents rarely self-invoke skills, and comes with lite/full/ultra modes plus review, help and gain companion skills. Its own 40-task benchmark claims a higher pass rate than baseline (98.3% vs 86.7%) at roughly half the output tokens and steps, with medians computed only over passing runs and a shared-task comparison to limit survivorship bias. It positions itself as a broader successor to "ponytail," optimizing moves to goal rather than lines of code.

Permalink productivityprogrammingaitools

optimAIzr

optimAIzr - spend fewer tokens on the same work

This is the landing page for optimaizr, a free, open-source MIT-licensed CLI that reads token counts from the usage files Claude Code, Codex and opencode already write, then prices wasted tokens in dollars and applies accepted fixes such as compacting conversations earlier. Its headline evidence is the author's own profile: 55% of a $1,020 API-equivalent bill went to re-reading conversation context, and compacting at 200K reportedly cut cost per prompt by 26%, at the price of about seven minutes a day waiting for summaries. The page distinguishes "clear waste" from "likely" and "up to" savings and states that usage data stays on the machine, which is what sets it apart from other cost-tracking tools.

Permalink aiclaudeopensource

context-snap-ashen.vercel.app

ContextSnap

ContextSnap is a Windows and macOS utility that, when you press a shortcut, collects the visible text of your active window, open app names, basic Git state, and system details into a redacted Markdown snapshot on your clipboard for pasting into an AI assistant. The page stresses that it runs only on demand, processes everything locally, keeps no history, and redacts secrets by pattern, while warning that the redaction is imperfect and window titles or file names can still leak what you are working on. It is worth keeping as a concrete example of a privacy-conscious "context capture" tool, with its explicit scope limits and its unsigned-build and checksum caveats spelled out.

Permalink productivityprivacysoftwareopensource

insomnia.rest

Insomnia REST Client

This is a marketing page for Insomnia, an API development platform that combines design, testing, and debugging tools with AI capabilities and tight integration with Kong's API management suite. It emphasizes features like API mocking, automated testing, MCP (Model Context Protocol) server support, and flexible data storage options (local, Git, or cloud) to appeal to both individual developers and enterprises managing governance and compliance requirements. The platform positions itself as an alternative to similar tools by highlighting native Kong Konnect integration, AI-powered workflows, and collaboration features that work across all pricing tiers including a free tier.

Permalink developmentmactoolsopensource

secretive.dev

Secretive

Secretive is a macOS application that stores SSH keys in the device's Secure Enclave, making them impossible to export and thus protected from malware that might steal key files stored on disk. Version 3 adds support for post-quantum cryptographic keys, improves security through out-of-process request handling and application hardening, and redesigns the interface with new management features for better usability.

Permalink securitytoolsmacosopensource

GitHub

xaraya

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Permalink programmingdevelopmentopensourceframework

SourceForge

Xaraya download | SourceForge.net

Xaraya is a PHP-based open-source CMS framework that emphasizes security through strict input validation and granular permission controls, allowing administrators to grant or deny access at both broad and specific levels. The platform provides extensibility through modules and blocks, a custom templating system called BlockLayout, and dynamic data objects that users can create or customize without deep technical knowledge. Built-in multilingual support and a robust API make it suitable for developers building scalable, localized web applications across multiple cloud providers.

Permalink developmentopensourcecmsframework

GitHub

Releases · glouel/AerialCompanion

Aerial 4, a macOS screensaver, has been released with support for macOS Tahoe and fixes for numerous long-standing bugs. The update is available through the project's official website and GitHub repository, with additional details about the changes available on the developer's blog.

Permalink softwaremacosopensource

How-To Geek

These 5 legendary free, open-source apps are better than their expensive paid alternatives

This How-To Geek piece by Dibakar Ghosh argues that free and open-source software has matured enough to beat paid alternatives, and it makes the case through five picks: Nextcloud, Blender, OBS Studio, Bitwarden, and Super Productivity. Each entry explains why its free version is competitive, from Nextcloud's self-hosted cloud replacement to Blender's use in the Oscar-winning film Flow. The piece is worth keeping as a practical shortlist of mature FOSS tools that could replace recurring subscriptions, with honest caveats such as Nextcloud's bring-your-own-storage requirement and Bitwarden's freemium limits.

Permalink privacysoftwaretoolsopensource

feathericons.com

Jamstack.org

Top Open-Source Static Site Generators - StaticGen

This is a comprehensive list of static site generators organized by popularity and featuring details on each project's language, templating system, and license. The list includes established tools like Next.js, Hugo, and Jekyll at the top with tens of thousands of stars, followed by hundreds of smaller generators written in various languages from Python and Go to Rust, Ruby, and even more esoteric languages like Racket and Elixir, each with different templating approaches suited to different use cases.

Permalink toolsopensourcegeneratorcms

Grav CMS

Grav - A Modern Flat-File CMS | Grav

Grav 2.2 is a flat-file CMS that has been rebuilt with a modern API-first architecture, featuring a new SvelteKit-based admin interface, a stable REST API that powers both the admin and headless applications, and a built-in MCP server for AI agent access—all running on current PHP 8.3+, Symfony 7, and Twig 3 stacks. The update delivers significant performance improvements (2x faster cold starts and 96% less memory on large sites) while maintaining Grav's core appeal of storing content as plain Markdown and YAML files without database lock-in. The system unifies human and AI access through the same permission model and API, making it suitable for blogs, documentation, CI/CD pipelines, and agentic workflows alike.

Permalink aidevelopmentopensourcecms

electron.atom.io

Electron

Electron is a framework that combines Chromium and Node.js to enable developers to build desktop applications using JavaScript and web technologies, running natively across macOS, Windows, and Linux. The framework handles difficult infrastructure tasks like native UI integration, automatic updates, crash reporting, and installer generation, allowing developers to focus on application logic while choosing from popular front-end libraries like React, Vue, or Angular. Electron Forge provides a streamlined toolkit for bootstrapping and publishing apps, while Electron Fiddle offers an interactive environment for experimenting with the framework before committing to full development.

Permalink developmentopensourceframework

GitHub

Hypher - bramstein.com

Hypher is a lightweight JavaScript library for automatic word hyphenation that works in Node.js and as a jQuery plugin, using language-specific pattern files to determine where words can be broken across lines. The core `hyphenate()` method splits words into syllable arrays, while `hyphenateText()` inserts soft hyphens into full text passages and handles compound words. Configuration requires language objects specifying minimum character counts at word edges and hyphenation patterns, with pre-built pattern files available for various languages.

Permalink toolsopensourcejquery

cord.sourceforge.net

CoRD: Remote Desktop for Mac OS X

CoRD was a free, open-source remote desktop application that allowed Mac users to connect to Windows computers via the RDP protocol, offering features like multi-window session management, full-screen mode, clipboard synchronization, and saved server profiles for quick access. The project was discontinued in 2020 with a recommendation that users switch to Microsoft's official clients or the cross-platform FreeRDP alternative.

Permalink remote worktoolswindowsmacos

macgapproject.github.io

MacGap

MacGap is a framework that lets web developers build native macOS applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript instead of Swift or Objective-C, running code within OS X's WebView engine. It provides a lightweight JavaScript API for OS X integration features like native notifications and file system access, while remaining under 1MB in size and fully compatible with Mac App Store submission requirements. The project includes an Xcode template and documentation to help developers get started converting web projects into standalone Mac applications.

Permalink developmentmacosopensourceframework

highlightjs.org

highlight.js

Highlight.js is a syntax highlighting library that can be integrated into projects through multiple methods including CDN, Node.js modules, or Vue plugins, with support for 193 languages. When using it as an ES6 module, you can import all languages by default or selectively load only the languages you need to minimize bundle size. The library provides `highlight()` and `highlightAuto()` functions to colorize code, and when used in HTML, it automatically detects and highlights code within `<pre><code>` tags.

Permalink developmentopensource

octicons.github.com

GitHub

syncthing.net

Syncthing

Syncthing is a decentralized file synchronization tool that allows real-time sharing of files between multiple computers without storing data on central servers, using end-to-end encryption and cryptographic authentication to ensure only authorized devices can access synchronized folders. The software works across major operating systems and requires minimal configuration, automatically handling network details like UPnP port forwarding while allowing users to maintain complete control over their data and sharing permissions.

Permalink privacysecuritytoolsopensource