2026.01.15
đź“° News & Discussions
Peter van Hardenberg - Ink and Switch, Automerge | devtools.fm (podcast episode)
"This week we're joined by Peter van Hardenberg (PVH), director of the Ink and Switch research lab and co-author of the seminal Local First Software paper. Peter shares the origin story of local-first software, from his realization on a San Francisco train to his work at Heroku and beyond. We dive deep into Automerge, Ink and Switch's local-first sync engine built on CRDTs (Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types), exploring how it enables real-time collaboration while keeping data on your computer. We discuss the technical challenges of building distributed systems, the philosophy behind local-first software, and how projects like Key Hive are pushing the boundaries of decentralized data access. Peter also shares his vision for the future of computing, where software ownership and interoperability become fundamental principles rather than afterthoughts."
I built my entire smart home without touching the cloud (video)
"So, I decided to rebuild a smart home that works locally, without relying on any cloud services. That meant using devices with no mandatory accounts or servers necessary to turn on a device or run an automation. And the result was a system that’s been a game-changer, more responsive and predictable."
Use Local LLMs Already! (video)
"I'm sharing my experience using local GenAI for 1.5 years: for learning, research, coding, technical troubleshooting, generating images and more"
ChEffect - Part 13 (video)
"A Local-First App built with Effect & LiveStore By Maxwell Brown & Tim Smart"
It’s time to change your database | Theo - t3.gg (video)
"There's a reason everyone's moving from Firebase, Supabase, and all the other dbs, straight to Convex"
Vibe Coding Challenge: The Art and The Skill
"The Architecture: Local-First Workflow Model: Blober isn’t just a CLI wrapper. It uses a persistent Workflow/Task model backed by a local SQLite DB:"
Teamtype on becoming independent of big corporations and their cloud servers
"So we built in local-first support, using the Automerge library, which uses data structures called CRDTs (conflict-free replicated data type) to enable that kind of synchronisation with offline support."
🛠️ Tools & Resources
Basic likes feature with LiveStore
"At its core, LiveStore combines event sourcing with a reactive SQLite database. User actions commit events that get stored in a local eventlog and immediately turned into queryable state in SQLite. The magic happens in sync: LiveStore pushes and pulls events between clients and a central sync backend, but the materialized data stays local - each client rebuilds its own SQLite state from the shared event history."
How to Build a Database without a Server
"Alex Seaton discusses the architecture of ArcticDB, a high-performance Python/C++ library that replaces traditional database servers with a thick-client model. He explains how to achieve atomicity on object storage through bottom-up writes and shares deep insights into conflict-free replicated data types (CRDTs). He also explores the pitfalls of clock drift and distributed locking."
Fast Eventual Consistency: Inside Corrosion, the Distributed System Powering Fly.io
"Somtochi Onyekwere explains the architecture of Corrosion, a distributed system designed for low-latency state replication. She shares how Fly.io transitioned from Consul to a gossip-based SQLite solution to handle global machine data. By discussing CRDTs, the SWIM protocol, and QUIC, she shares how to build resilient systems that prioritize speed while managing the complexities of CAP theorem." See also podcast episode
Durable Sessions — the key pattern for collaborative AI
"This post introduces the Durable Session pattern and shows how you can implement it using Durable Streams and TanStack DB." See also demo video
✨ Apps
Hazel Chat
"A modern, real-time collaborative chat platform built with Effect-TS, ElectricSQL, TanstackDB, React, and PostgreSQL."
Trilium Notes
"Trilium is an open-source solution for note-taking and organizing a personal knowledge base. Use it locally on your desktop, or sync it with your self-hosted server to keep your notes everywhere you go."
Asset Hoard
"Asset Hoard is a local-first asset manager for indie game developers and artists. One library for everything you've made, bought, and downloaded. Always yours."
Obskura: Automatic DVR for Your Favorite Streamers
"I built a local-first desktop app called Obskura that auto records livestreams: you add channels/URLs, it checks for 'live', records when they go live, and organizes everything locally with logs + statuses."
Asterex
"I’ve been building Asterex, a local-first password manager for iOS and iPadOS, with a strong focus on zero-knowledge encryption, privacy, and native system integration." "By default, all data is encrypted and stored on-device. There’s no required cloud sync. Data only leaves the device if a user explicitly enables encrypted iCloud backups or exports locally."
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