{"slug": "show-hn-i-m-16-y-o-and-built-the-only-ai-agent-for-hardware-and-software-dev", "title": "Show HN: I'm 16 y/o and Built the only AI Agent for Hardware and Software Dev", "summary": "A 16-year-old developer, Aarav, released Sprocket, an AI agent that creates hardware designs and writes code, and can autonomously purchase parts or SaaS subscriptions from any website. The tool, available via npm as @spikonado/sprocket and as a desktop app from GitHub Releases, retrieves web context for reliability and supports commands like `sprocket serve` and environment variables for customization. Sprocket aims to be the world's best platform for hardware and software development.", "body_md": "**Goal**: To make the world's best platform for developing hardware and software.\n\nSprocket is a lightweight agent that can create hardware designs and write code.\n\nSprocket retrieves best-in-class context from the web for everything it does. It is therefore incredibly reliable. In terms of hardware design, Sprocket can make beautiful schematics in React, create your BOM, and create detailed assembly instructions.\n\nAnd here's the best part: Sprocket can (on its own) buy anything from any website when you tell it to do so. From hardware parts to SaaS subscriptions.\n\nNote\n\nYou can run Sprocket using any of the ways defined below with no impact on Sprocket's capabilities or performance. The desktop app may take more RAM than using Sprocket through your browser.\n\n```\nnpx @spikonado/sprocket\n```\n\nThe above runs Sprocket through your browser unless you have the desktop app installed.\n\nInstall it for your OS from the latest [GitHub Release Artifacts](https://github.com/spikonado/sprocket/releases) and run it.\n\n```\nnpm i -g @spikonado/sprocket\nsprocket\n```\n\nThe above runs Sprocket through your browser unless you have the desktop app installed.\n\nTo always open a tab in your browser when using Sprocket, use the `--web`\n\nflag:\n\n```\nsprocket --web\n```\n\nPass a directory to open or reconnect that workspace in a new thread:\n\n```\nsprocket .\nsprocket --web ../my-robot\n```\n\nSprocket remembers attached workspaces and local server sessions between launches.\nLocal state lives in `$HOME/.sprocket`\n\n(or `%USERPROFILE%\\.sprocket`\n\non Windows when `HOME`\n\nis unset).\nOverride with `SPROCKET_DATA_DIR`\n\n.\n\n| Command | Behavior |\n|---|---|\n`sprocket serve` |\nRun the local server in the foreground without launching a client. |\n`sprocket serve --api-only` |\nServe only `/api` ; intended for development (see\n|\n\nRun `sprocket --help`\n\nor `sprocket serve --help`\n\nfor all options.\n\nCommon Sprocket server overrides are available as environment variables:\n\n| Variable | Purpose |\n|---|---|\n`SPROCKET_DATA_DIR` |\nDirectory for pairing, sessions, and workspace state. |\n`SPROCKET_PORT` |\nLocal server port; defaults to `17731` for installed use. |\n`SPROCKET_HOST` |\nBind host; defaults to `127.0.0.1` . |\n`SPROCKET_DESKTOP_EXECUTABLE` |\nFull path to the desktop executable to be used by the Sprocket CLI. |\n`PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL` |\nConvex deployment used by the agent runtime. |\n`SPROCKET_STATIC_DIR` |\nWeb build to serve instead of the bundled build. |\n\n- Bun 1.x, version 1.3.9 or newer\n- Node.js 24.x, version 24.14 or newer\n- A current stable Rust toolchain\n\nInstall dependencies:\n\n```\nbun install\n```\n\nStart the browser development environment:\n\n```\nbun dev\n```\n\nAfter creating a convex deployment and configuring authkit following the instructions, configure the Convex deployment with the API key for each model provider you want to enable.\n\nThis runs Vite at `http://localhost:5173`\n\nand the Rust API at `http://127.0.0.1:7731`\n\n, with development state kept in `.sprocket-dev`\n\ninside the repository.\nTo develop against Electron instead, run:\n\n```\nbun dev:desktop\ncargo test\nbun run test\nbun run build\nprek run -a\n```\n\nCreate a local Electron installer package with:\n\n```\nbun run build:release\n```\n\nArtifacts are written to `apps/desktop/dist/`\n\nas `sprocket-desktop-*`\n\n(`.AppImage`\n\n/ `.dmg`\n\n/ `.exe`\n\ndepending on the host OS).\nPublished installers come from GitHub Releases; the `sprocket`\n\nCLI is published separately on npm.\n\n- If\n`17731`\n\nis already occupied, set`SPROCKET_PORT`\n\nbefore launching. - If\n`sprocket`\n\nopens the browser instead of the desktop app, install`sprocket-desktop`\n\nfrom[GitHub Releases](https://github.com/spikonado/sprocket/releases)onto`PATH`\n\n, or set`SPROCKET_DESKTOP_EXECUTABLE`\n\n. - Unsigned macOS and Windows desktop builds may need a Gatekeeper / SmartScreen override the first time you open them.\n- Contact\n[aarav@spikonado.com](mailto:aarav@spikonado.com)for help.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-i-m-16-y-o-and-built-the-only-ai-agent-for-hardware-and-software-dev", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/spikonado/sprocket", "published_at": "2026-08-02 23:04:53+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-02 23:52:41.087652+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-agents", "ai-products", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["Sprocket", "Aarav", "Spikonado", "GitHub", "npm", "Convex", "Bun", "Node.js"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-i-m-16-y-o-and-built-the-only-ai-agent-for-hardware-and-software-dev", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-i-m-16-y-o-and-built-the-only-ai-agent-for-hardware-and-software-dev.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-i-m-16-y-o-and-built-the-only-ai-agent-for-hardware-and-software-dev.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-i-m-16-y-o-and-built-the-only-ai-agent-for-hardware-and-software-dev.jsonld"}}