{"slug": "observable", "name": "Observable", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 9, "warners": 0, "score": 4.354, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2026-01-17", "latest": "2026-09-16", "why": "start with literate programming tools like Jupyter notebooks or Observable.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 6, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "start with literate programming tools like Jupyter notebooks or Observable.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "observablehq.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://observablehq.com/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Observable"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 786343760, "item_id": 49146485, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49146485", "by": "thadk", "date": "2026-08-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "fil's AirOcean projection on the original ObservableHQ is a fun starting point", "excerpt": "fil's AirOcean projection on the original ObservableHQ is a fun starting point for rendering your own such map in Javascript from scratch: https://observablehq.com/@fil/airocean-projection The source data is down for my vector tile remix of it but here is a screenshot: https://static.observableusercontent.com/thumbnail/0fac8a9289b9569a35f9d8072690a714330051764d186fba15dffef89e205480.jpg and the code: https://observab", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Folding Paper Globes"}, {"id": 778734081, "item_id": 48670880, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48670880", "by": "donaldihunter", "date": "2026-06-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "start with literate programming tools like Jupyter notebooks or Observable.", "excerpt": "Yes, I think the best avenue for exploration in this space would be to start with literate programming tools like Jupyter notebooks or Observable. https://new.observablehq.com/@observablehq/notebooks-2-0-system-guide", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mixing Visual and Textual Code"}, {"id": 763531204, "item_id": 47720700, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47720700", "by": "data-ottawa", "date": "2026-04-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "after being spoiled by Observable and Pluto.jl", "excerpt": "I started using marimo for the reactive execution, after being spoiled by Observable and Pluto.jl Being able to plug directly into Altair charts and tables was a huge boon. Then I discovered anywidget, which has been a game changer. Now I use Claude to generate anywidgets for controls I need, and just focus on the heavy lifting with python, it's great. Being able to just have this all run in one flow with pair should", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Marimo pair \u2013 reactive Python notebooks as environments for agents"}, {"id": 749745872, "item_id": 46859117, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46859117", "by": "saneefansari", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I do work a lot on ObservableHQ.com with data visualizations", "excerpt": "SEEKING WORK | REMOTE | US/Europe/Asia | Designer & Frontend Developer | Product design, Frontend Development, Data visualization I\u2019m a product designer and frontend developer (HTML/CSS/JS/D3.js). I\u2019ve worked with clients like Asian Development Bank, JUXT, Gojek, Pratham Books, Zoho, and Razorfish. Planning, conceptualizing, IA, user experience design, user interface design, and frontend development are some things I", "context": "product designer and frontend developer", "use_case": "data visualizations and generative art", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (February 2026)"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "saneefansari", "context": "product designer and frontend developer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47228520", "date": "2026-03-02"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["interactive visualization notebooks", "javascript notebooks", "data visualization, generative art", "data visualizations and generative art", "notebook programming"], "compared": [{"slug": "pluto", "name": "Pluto", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "jupyter", "name": "Jupyter", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "marimo", "name": "marimo", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49712185", "title": "How big are factorials?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093845", "title": "Folding Paper Globes", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49054010", "title": "Show HN: I mapped every US golf course \u2013 16k+ courses, free, no signup", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48667560", "title": "Mixing Visual and Textual Code", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48377496", "title": "Pluto.jl 1.0 release \u2013 reactive notebook for Julia", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47678844", "title": "Show HN: Marimo pair \u2013 reactive Python notebooks as environments for agents", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 795714224, "item_id": 49732139, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49732139", "by": "ikesau", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I once made a little tool for getting more intuitive spatial scales for things in the universe at https://observablehq.com/@ikesau/scale-to-the-universe", "excerpt": "Holy hell, this is great. I once made a little tool for getting more intuitive spatial scales for things in the universe at https://observablehq.com/@ikesau/scale-to-the-universe I feel like you could do something similar for these sorts of \"fathom this large number\" recipes.", "context": "", "use_case": "Interactive visualization notebooks", "switched_from": "", "story": "How big are factorials?"}, {"id": 786343760, "item_id": 49146485, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49146485", "by": "thadk", "date": "2026-08-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "fil's AirOcean projection on the original ObservableHQ is a fun starting point", "excerpt": "fil's AirOcean projection on the original ObservableHQ is a fun starting point for rendering your own such map in Javascript from scratch: https://observablehq.com/@fil/airocean-projection The source data is down for my vector tile remix of it but here is a screenshot: https://static.observableusercontent.com/thumbnail/0fac8a9289b9569a35f9d8072690a714330051764d186fba15dffef89e205480.jpg and the code: https://observab", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Folding Paper Globes"}, {"id": 784874992, "item_id": 49054687, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49054687", "by": "cheeaun", "date": "2026-07-25", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I made this few years ago for Singapore", "excerpt": "Polygon areas would be cool to see how big they are. I made this few years ago for Singapore https://observablehq.com/@cheeaun/golf-courses-in-singapore", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I mapped every US golf course \u2013 16k+ courses, free, no signup"}, {"id": 778734081, "item_id": 48670880, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48670880", "by": "donaldihunter", "date": "2026-06-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "start with literate programming tools like Jupyter notebooks or Observable.", "excerpt": "Yes, I think the best avenue for exploration in this space would be to start with literate programming tools like Jupyter notebooks or Observable. https://new.observablehq.com/@observablehq/notebooks-2-0-system-guide", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mixing Visual and Textual Code"}, {"id": 774172434, "item_id": 48385777, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48385777", "by": "staplung", "date": "2026-06-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Observable's Notebooks (Javascript) work the same way: output above the code that produces it.", "excerpt": "Pluto is great. I use it all the time. If you like the reactivity/reproducibility but are wedded to Python, you might want to check out Marimo, which is also great. [https://marimo.io/] It too puts the output of a cell above the code so if you're unable to adapt to things that are different it's also probably not for you. FWIW, Observable's Notebooks (Javascript) work the same way: output above the code that produces", "context": "", "use_case": "JavaScript notebooks", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pluto.jl 1.0 release \u2013 reactive notebook for Julia"}, {"id": 763531204, "item_id": 47720700, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47720700", "by": "data-ottawa", "date": "2026-04-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "after being spoiled by Observable and Pluto.jl", "excerpt": "I started using marimo for the reactive execution, after being spoiled by Observable and Pluto.jl Being able to plug directly into Altair charts and tables was a huge boon. Then I discovered anywidget, which has been a game changer. Now I use Claude to generate anywidgets for controls I need, and just focus on the heavy lifting with python, it's great. Being able to just have this all run in one flow with pair should", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Marimo pair \u2013 reactive Python notebooks as environments for agents"}, {"id": 755656320, "item_id": 47228520, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47228520", "by": "saneefansari", "date": "2026-03-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I do work a lot on ObservableHQ.com with data visualizations and generative art.", "excerpt": "SEEKING WORK \u00b7 Designer & Frontend Developer \u00b7 REMOTE: Available for meetings on US/Europe/Asia Timezones Expertise: Product design, Frontend development, Data visualization I\u2019m a product designer and frontend developer (HTML/CSS/JS/D3.js). I\u2019ve worked with clients like Asian Development Bank, JUXT, Gojek, Amartha, Zoho, and Razorfish. Planning, conceptualizing, IA, user experience design, user interface design, and ", "context": "product designer and frontend developer", "use_case": "data visualization, generative art", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (March 2026)"}, {"id": 751901026, "item_id": 46993814, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46993814", "by": "chaps", "date": "2026-02-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the observable is mid-iteration", "excerpt": "Sure -- it's something I figured out during the 2020 protests for some reporting work I was doing which led to this reporting: https://thetriibe.com/2020/12/hundreds-of-chicago-police-made-arrests-without-body-cameras-during-2020-uprisings/ This reporting was made possible because it's surprisingly easy to export recording start/stop time, file size, duration, notes, cop badge and model name from the underlying syste", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Text classification with Python 3.14's ZSTD module"}, {"id": 749745872, "item_id": 46859117, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46859117", "by": "saneefansari", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I do work a lot on ObservableHQ.com with data visualizations", "excerpt": "SEEKING WORK | REMOTE | US/Europe/Asia | Designer & Frontend Developer | Product design, Frontend Development, Data visualization I\u2019m a product designer and frontend developer (HTML/CSS/JS/D3.js). I\u2019ve worked with clients like Asian Development Bank, JUXT, Gojek, Pratham Books, Zoho, and Razorfish. Planning, conceptualizing, IA, user experience design, user interface design, and frontend development are some things I", "context": "product designer and frontend developer", "use_case": "data visualizations and generative art", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (February 2026)"}, {"id": 746531952, "item_id": 46658247, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46658247", "by": "tlarkworthy", "date": "2026-01-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "is actually very good at notebook programming", "excerpt": "Yeah, this upsert_cell tool does it https://observablehq.com/@tomlarkworthy/forking-agent#upsert_cellsTool format: { type: \"grammar\", syntax: \"regex\", definition: cellsRegex }, Where cellRegex is cellsRegex = { const CELL_OPEN = String.raw`<cell>\\s`; const INPUTS_BLOCK = String.raw`<inputs>.*<\\/inputs>\\s*`; const CODE_BLOCK = String.raw`<code><!\\[CDATA\\[[\\s\\S]*\\]\\]>\\s*<\\/code>\\s*`; const CELL_CLOSE = String.raw`<\\/ce", "context": "", "use_case": "Notebook programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "LLM Structured Outputs Handbook"}]}