Haystack Editor - Code Editor on a Big Whiteboard

Haystack Editor puts your code on a giant whiteboard IDE concept instead of file tabs. Made by a Y Combinator S24 company that got tired of hunting through file trees to understand how shit connects. The infinite canvas approach is becoming popular for code exploration tools.

I tried it on a React project for a week. The canvas idea is actually pretty clever - when you click on a function, it draws lines to everything that calls it. No more guessing which component uses what. This kind of code visualization helps with navigating large codebases - a common pain point for developers.

How It Actually Works

Instead of file tabs, everything lives on one big scrollable canvas. Files show up as boxes you can drag around. When you open a function, it draws lines to show what calls it and what it calls. Kind of like debugging with console.log everywhere, except visual.

The canvas saves your layout, so when you come back tomorrow your organized chaos is still there. Handy for those "what the fuck was I working on?" moments. This visual approach is similar to React Flow but specifically designed for understanding existing code rather than building new diagrams.

The Reality Check

Has 1.2k+ stars on GitHub which is solid growth for a new editor. Still in active development - they just dropped a major release on September 10th, and push updates weekly like clockwork. This aligns with modern JavaScript IDE development practices for maintaining user engagement.

Memory usage is higher than VS Code but not IntelliJ-level ridiculous. Takes about 5-10 seconds to load a medium-sized project, which feels like an eternity when you just want to fix one damn line. The canvas gets laggy with huge codebases, but they're working on it. This is a common challenge with Electron-based editors - they trade performance for cross-platform compatibility.

When It's Actually Useful

Works best when you're trying to understand someone else's code or planning new features. The visual connections helped me figure out a gnarly Redux flow that would've taken hours with normal file jumping. Perfect for situations where traditional code analysis tools fall short.

Not great for day-to-day coding yet - still missing a lot of IDE features. But for exploring and understanding code architecture? Actually pretty useful. This fills a gap in the React development toolchain where most editors focus on writing code, not understanding it.

Supports TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Rust, and the usual web stuff. Built with Electron so it runs everywhere but uses more RAM than native editors. For serious TypeScript development, you might still prefer specialized IDEs.

The Canvas Thing

Everything happens on this infinite whiteboard concept. Drag files around, draw connections between functions, organize your code however makes sense to you. Your layout saves automatically which is a godsend when you accidentally close the editor (like I do constantly). This approach is similar to visual collaboration tools but focused specifically on code.

But here's the thing - the canvas gets cluttered fast if you're not organized. I opened a Next.js project and after 30 minutes it looked like a spider web drew by a drunk engineer. Takes some discipline to keep it clean. This is a common challenge with code visualization approaches - they can become overwhelming without proper organization.

Navigation Works Two Ways

Has a normal file tree on the side for when you just want to open shit quickly. Click a file in the tree and it jumps to it on the canvas. Click something on the canvas and the file tree updates. Pretty smooth integration.

Keyboard shortcuts mostly work like VS Code. Cmd+P still does fuzzy file search, Cmd+Shift+F still searches across files. The muscle memory transfers.

AI Code Generation (Meh)

The "Generate Function" thing is hit or miss. When it works, it's pretty clever - draw some boxes on the canvas and it'll generate function stubs that connect them. When it doesn't work, you get generic TypeScript interfaces that need heavy editing. This is typical of current AI code generation tools - they're great for boilerplate but struggle with complex logic.

Only useful for planning new features. Don't expect it to write production code for you. Unlike advanced AI assistants like GitHub Copilot or enhanced autocomplete systems, Haystack's AI feels more like a sketch tool than a serious coding partner.

Language Support Reality

Supports the usual suspects: TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Rust, CSS, HTML. TypeScript support is solid since that's what they built it with. Python support is basic - syntax highlighting and imports, but no fancy IntelliSense.

If you're doing Java or C#, stick with IntelliJ. This thing is aimed at web developers who live in TypeScript land. The language support follows modern TypeScript IDE standards but lacks the deep integrations you'd find in specialized IDEs.

Performance Issues You'll Hit

Built with Electron which means it's a RAM hog, because of course it is. Expect 300-500MB memory usage for a medium project. Large codebases (10k+ files) make the canvas laggy as shit. The visual connections start dropping frames when you have too many. This is a common Electron performance challenge - you're trading native speed for cross-platform compatibility.

Loading projects takes 5-15 seconds depending on size. Not VS Code fast, but not IntelliJ slow either. For context, typical Electron apps start at 500MB just to run, so Haystack's usage is actually reasonable. The Electron memory optimization tips suggest this is about as good as it gets without major architectural changes.

They push updates weekly which is good for fixes but bad for stability. I've had it crash twice in the past month during file imports. Both times I lost about 10 minutes of canvas organization, which sucked. This highlights common Electron stability issues that developers face.

What's Missing

No integrated terminal (you'll still need iTerm/Terminal). Debugging is basic - set breakpoints but no fancy debugging features. Git integration is minimal - shows file status but no blame or history view.

Plugin ecosystem doesn't exist yet. If you depend on VS Code extensions, you're out of luck. For complex software architecture visualization, you might need dedicated diagramming tools alongside Haystack.

Licensing Gotcha

Source-available license means free for personal use but you might need to pay for commercial projects. Read the fine print before using it at work. This is different from traditional open source licenses - you can see the source but can't use it commercially without permission. The source-available model is becoming more common for funded startups who want to protect their business model while staying somewhat open.