# Show HN: Y – A malleable coding-agent desktop app built with Electron > Source: > Published: 2026-06-24 00:15:31+00:00 **y** is a self-modifying desktop coding-agent app. It is built around a simple idea: software should become malleable while you use it. The main interface is a chat, but the app can reshape its own UI through a protected Modify surface. You can ask y to change how y itself works, keep the change if it renders safely, or roll it back if it does not. y is not a new agent model. It is a local, chat-first workspace for the coding agents you already use: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, and other CLI-native agents over time. Most coding-agent apps are fixed products. You can use them, configure them, maybe install plugins, but the product itself still belongs to someone else. y is different. It treats the app as malleable software: **Chat first.** The default surface is a focused conversation, not an editor clone.**Self-modifying.** The Modify rail can edit the live Userland UI while the protected Kernel stays locked.**Local agents.** Claude Code and Codex run as official local CLIs with the user's own login.**Parallel work.** Chats can use isolated workspaces so agents can work in parallel without stepping on the same files.**Diff-gated changes.** UI changes compile, render, show a diff, and can be kept or discarded.**Rollback built in.** The app keeps known-good snapshots so broken UI changes can recover. y is split into two parts: | Layer | What it does | |---|---| Protected Kernel | Auth, local engine adapters, app state, safety rails, filesystem boundaries, terminal bridge, Modify rail, and rollback runway. | Mutable Userland | The chat UI and app surface that can be edited live by the user or by Modify. | This split lets y feel self-modifying without giving the modification agent control over the protected core. The app can change its own interface, but the Kernel still owns the trust boundaries. y runs coding agents locally instead of proxying them through a hosted account. **Claude Code** uses the official Claude Code CLI.**Codex** uses the official Codex CLI.- Model and effort settings stay visible in the composer. - Multiple chats can run against different engines. - Isolated workspaces let parallel agents work without interfering with each other. The user's local CLI auth remains the source of truth. y orchestrates the experience; it does not replace the agent providers. The latest macOS build is published on GitHub Releases: Current release target: **macOS Apple Silicon**. ``` cd app pnpm install pnpm dev ``` Useful checks: ``` pnpm typecheck pnpm test:ui ``` Build a local macOS bundle: ``` pnpm build:mac ``` The generated app artifacts are written to `app/dist/` and are intentionally not committed. y keeps the coding workflow local. Project files, terminal commands, and agent prompts are not sent to y's product analytics. Product analytics are for app usage health: sign-in state, feature usage, feedback, and missing-brick requests. Missing-brick reports are structured and should describe the missing capability, not the user's private prompt or source code. y is under active development. The current focus is launch-readiness for macOS: packaging, auth, analytics, local app-state durability, and the self-modifying Modify workflow. MIT. See [LICENSE](/y-times-y/y/blob/main/LICENSE).