Daniel Vaughn · 2026-08-20 · notable
Huzzah — an editor where you write pseudocode and an LLM fills in the code
Huzzah is an experimental editor where you write pseudocode in .hz files and an LLM turns it into real source code. Each edit sends only the pseudocode diff as the prompt, and the pseudocode stays on disk as a record of intent.
Write pseudocode instead of a paragraph of English, and Huzzah syncs it into working code.
What is it?
Huzzah replaces the chat box with a pseudocode file. You write informal pseudocode in a .hz file — function calls, loops, conditionals and object shapes — and on save the editor generates the matching source code. Daniel Vaughn showed it on Hacker News on August 20, 2026, where it reached 165 points, and calls it a proof of concept that is still experimental.
How does it work?
When a .hz file changes, the editor captures the diff and sends only that diff to the model as the prompt, instead of restating the whole instruction. Source maps tie each piece of pseudocode back to the code it produced. Model access runs through Pi, so Anthropic, OpenAI or Google credentials all work, and the generated code runs in a Web Worker.
Why does it matter?
Prompts to coding agents are long, imperative and thrown away when the session ends; the pseudocode Huzzah keeps is short, declarative and saved, so intent becomes something you edit rather than re-explain. Vaughn describes it as a condensed distillation of human intent. Hacker News readers split on it, with several asking how it differs from writing a spec or a careful commit message.
Who is it for?
developers tired of writing long prompts
Try it
git clone https://github.com/danielvaughn/hz && npm install && npm run dev