Val Town
Dev tools
cloud scripting environment
SHOW HN2023
332points
71comments
#122of 3,109 in 2023
Top 4%of 2023 by points
How HN took it
LovedMost comments that take a side are positive
24 positive, 17 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 4 critical, out of 45 comments about the project. Thread score +0.50.
Idea: 13 for, 2 againstDesign: 2 for, 1 againstExecution: 1 for, 1 againstPricing: 2 for, 0 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Simple, clicks immediately; useful for notifications and cron-style scripts
From 3 comments
Congrats on the launch! I love this idea. It’s so simple but it immediately clicks. My instant reaction was thinking of the various ways I’d totally use this (and gladly pay for…
jay-barronville on HNQuick start - click "new val" type `console.email("hello from valtown", "valtown");` , see email in about 10 seconds, and the val link has a log of emails sent new val, `export…
dustingetz on HNThis is super awesome. A cloud cron builder and workflow builder is something the world really needs. If you add secrets and user accounts you're off to the races here.
ninjaa on HN
Social, shareable vals that others can fork and reuse
From 2 comments
I love the import/export model, it feels like one big living codebase everyone can contribute too.
brap on HNI love the whole "town" vibe with the ability to reference code written by other people. Echoing others in this thread who say we'd love to pay for it. I think introducing…
TobyTheDog123 on HN
Objections
Security of running untrusted code on the server
From 2 comments
Seems very cool! I gotta say hosting someone else's code seems very ballsy. Building a service like this is something I've considered before but always wonder, how do you make…
warent on HNThis is really interesting, but... if you don't mind me asking, how do you prevent people from running malicious code on your server? Are you literally evaluating this code…
noduerme on HN
Unclear need for a hosted tool when self-hosting scripts is simple
From 1 comment
I don't really see the utility of a tool like this + self hosting. If you want to self host your scripts just...open a text editor and start writing.
paxys on HN
Domain name may limit broader appeal
From 1 comment
I love the concept and will definitely try this out. Quick piece of feedback though – the "val.town" domain name isn't going to help with broader appeal for the product.
paxys on HN
Requests
Paid plans and pricing suggestions
From 2 comments
Congrats on the launch! I love this idea. It’s so simple but it immediately clicks. My instant reaction was thinking of the various ways I’d totally use this (and gladly pay for…
jay-barronville on HNThis is super nice. Please let me pay so you don't disappear. Are there any other services that make it this easy? DigitalOcean functions have a UI for quick prototyping but…
factsaresacred on HN
User secrets and accounts
From 2 comments
Congrats on the launch! I love this idea. It’s so simple but it immediately clicks. My instant reaction was thinking of the various ways I’d totally use this (and gladly pay for…
jay-barronville on HNThis is super awesome. A cloud cron builder and workflow builder is something the world really needs. If you add secrets and user accounts you're off to the races here.
ninjaa on HN
Self-hosting option
From 1 comment
This looks really cool, I find the mix between Zapier and Code to be :chef-kiss: Do you plan to allow for self-hosting? eg. An org that wants to have a private version of this,…
DavyJone on HN
npm imports
From 1 comment
Big fan of the idea! I've been using Google Apps Script[1] for similar use cases but the limited feature set has been frustrating. Glad to see something more modern come up! I…
elbajo on HN
Questions
How is it free and how are servers paid for
From 2 comments
this seems super cool! how is this free?
jalino23 on HN100$/month for a site that runs random people's code seems great ! Do you mind sharing some details ? What does your architecture look like ? How many "vals" do you have, and how…
lovasoa on HN
How is abuse and runaway code prevented
From 2 comments
This is really interesting, but... if you don't mind me asking, how do you prevent people from running malicious code on your server? Are you literally evaluating this code…
noduerme on HNFair enough. I guess a more basic question than how you're preventing people from probing for nodejs packages they could misuse would be the more pedestrian problem of how do you…
noduerme on HN
Alternatives named
Windmill
From 1 comment
Take a look at https://windmill.dev
rubenfiszel on HN
Pipedream and Autocode
From 1 comment
How do you plan to compete against https://autocode.com/ https://pipedream.com/ https://modal.com https://telefunc.com/ ?
KRAKRISMOTT on HN
Deno Deploy
From 1 comment
It seems similar to Deno Deploy, is that true? If so, how does it compare?
triyambakam on HN
Google Apps Script
From 1 comment
Big fan of the idea! I've been using Google Apps Script[1] for similar use cases but the limited feature set has been frustrating. Glad to see something more modern come up! I…
elbajo on HN