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Show HN: Prism.Tools – Free and privacy-focused developer utilities (blgardner.github.io)

380 points by BLGardner ↗ HN
Hi HN, I'm Barry and I've built Prism.Tools (https://blgardner.github.io/prism.tools/) – a collection of client-side developer utilities that respect your privacy.

Many of these tools were used way back in the days when I ran a BBS and started my communities first ISP, serving three local communities with Dial-Up Internet, Web Hosting etc. The tools have been refined to reflect the changes in tech since then and designed for the Novice and Pro alike. As I locate more tools others may find useful I will refine and add them to the collection. Use them, Share them, or not. They will be here if you need them...

40+ dev tools (JSON formatters, regex tester, base64 encoder, Git command helper, etc.) that run entirely in your browser. Zero tracking, zero analytics, zero data collection – everything processes locally. Self-contained HTML files with no build process or frameworks.

I realized I had a lot of tools/utilities I've built over the years for my own use. I lothe having to 'sign-up' just to access/use simple utilities that I can create myself. I've refined them and put them in one safe place so I could easily access them if/when needed. I decided to make them available via Github Pages for anyone that may find them useful. Prism.Tools is the result.

Each tool is a standalone HTML file with embedded CSS and JavaScript. No frameworks, no npm packages, no build steps – just open the file and it works.

The entire toolset:

- 100% client-side processing – your data never leaves your browser.

- No external dependencies except for specific libraries from cdnjs.cloudflare.com (marked.js for markdown, exifr for image metadata, etc.)

- Consistent dark UI – every tool follows the same design language for familiarity.

- Vanilla JS where possible – only reaching for Public CDN Resources when necessary.

The constraint of "single HTML file" was intentional. It forces simplicity and ensures tools remain maintainable. It also means users can inspect, modify, or self-host any tool trivially.

These tools have helped me with debugging production issues, Quick formatting tasks, learning Git commands (the Git command helper has been particularly helpful)

Just visit https://blgardner.github.io/prism.tools/ and try any tool. No signup, no install.

What tools are missing that you find yourself needing? Any performance issues with specific tools? UI/UX friction points?

All tools follow the same privacy-first philosophy... Your data stays in your browser. No accounts, no tracking, no servers processing your information. The project is also a demonstration that you don't always need React, Vue, or complex build pipelines – sometimes vanilla JavaScript in a single HTML file is exactly the right tool for the job.

Vanilla JavaScript (ES6+) CSS3 with CSS Grid Minimal external libraries: marked.js, exifr, highlight.js, sql-formatter (all from CDN) No frameworks, no bundlers, no npm Hosted on Github Pages

Happy to answer questions about the technical implementation, design decisions, or specific tools!

All tools are inspectable – just view source on any page to see exactly how they work!

39 comments

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lukaslukas
Nice! I made something very similar, but with a focus on frequent daily use, means no clicking required, you can only use keys

Look at stringify.cc

rvz
Nice, however:

> Vanilla JavaScript (ES6+) CSS3 with CSS Grid Minimal external libraries: marked.js, exifr, highlight.js, sql-formatter (all from CDN) No frameworks, no bundlers, no npm Hosted on Github Pages

One problem. - "Hosted on Github Pages"

I don't think either using GitHub or hosting it on Github Pages respects the user's "privacy".

A better way is to self-host on your own server + domain instead.

vivzkestrel
- my gripe with most of these tools is that whenever i actually need one, i can never seem to remember their name.

- That kills like half the traffic for you guys.

- For example look at this dude https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef/ This is easily one of the most comprehensive tools I have ever seen anyone build

- I literally bookmarked that site under a tools tag and that is how I am able to find them. I can't ever seem to remember their name when I need these quickly

- Perhaps get a good DOT COM domain name and host your site there. It would make a huge difference in usage.

- Discoverability is the problem. Since these tools I believe are not there to sell subscriptions, that means they don't make much in revenue. Organic marketing is the best way for such tools and an easy to remember name makes a huge difference.

cadamsdotcom
Thanks for making these and for making them available.

A testament to the power of the web, and the power of a motivated individual giving a damn and making something cool for everyone.

MarleTangible
Would there be a way to resize the input/output fields?

Current layout only accepts 3 lines which is not sufficient when formatting SQL or JSON.

netdevphoenix
Is the name choice intentional? I wonder if it was inspired by the notorious privacy busting program.
alsetmusic
There are lots of these, but this is the first that I've seen that focused on frontend dev a bit more. I've saved it to my list of tools for reference.

Here's another with a more local / backend / IT flavor: https://it-tools.tech

I have a couple more local apps with similar functions. Here's one that's cross platform[0]. This one appears to be Mac only[1].

Someone else mentioned not being able to remember these sites when needed. I recently started manually keeping track of web tools in html files inspired by a random repo[2] that fit well into a mode of category-abstraction that suited me. I don't recall how I landed there, but I liked the minimalism and adapted it to be a jumping-off point to a personal kbase that I made with another tool[3] some years ago. I have no design skills, so this (start-page) was just the right combo of minimalism and tasteful CSS for what I wanted. Works with markdown, which I also recently started using a lot more.

I ended up writing a lot more than I originally intended because I kept thinking of more links. They may be out of order because of non-linear editing and my having to rearrange them, so heads up. Also, it's early and I might just have made dumb mistakes.

0. https://devtoys.app 1. https://devutils.com 2. https://github.com/oinam/start 3. https://github.com/alanagoyal/docbase

Edit: Oh, looks like the it-tools link came from cruising the repo of start-page or vice-versa. Ha!

lrpe
Can I turn off dark mode?
dinoqqq
Great work! I really appreciate these tools with the privacy angle!
koakuma-chan
I hate these "browser" tools that actually upload your data to their server for processing, and even if you ignore privacy implications, they also obviously have file size limits, even though the actual work can be done entirely on the client.
toastal 

    > Free
    > Privacy-focused


    > GitHub (Microsoft)
    > Cloudflare
Which is it? These US megacorporations are respecting neither users’ privacy nor their freedom. Then on top is a proprietary license stating: “No Re-hosting: You may not host these Tools on other websites or public repositories” even if you wanted to host it locally or your own server.

https://mako.cc/writing/hill-free_tools.html

https://httptoolkit.com/blog/public-cdn-risks/

Also not to be confused with PRISM Break <https://prism-break.org/>, an aggregated list of privacy-focused tools.

BLGardner
The key word here is 'public'... "No Re-hosting: You may not host these Tools on other websites or public repositories” You can host on a local network, modify to suit your needs, point to local libs if CDNs are a concern. Just don't make them Public. The latest versions will be available on Github if they are ever needed.
hersko
This looks great and will definitely check out! I've been using DevToys on my local machine for years but a recent update made it almost unusable.
photon_lines
I love what you have here. Thank you for open sourcing your work -- but why the custom license? Why not just do a standard MIT license?
Sat_P
This website is an absolutely brilliant resource. I've got bookmarks for a few tools that are similar to the ones in your website. But man, this is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing it.
keriati1
I’m not sure why, but the first thing I did was check if HTTP status code 418 was listed.
ahmetomer
I like initiatives like this but the issue I have mostly is that whenever I have a specific need, say, I need to format a piece of JSON, I would directly google "json formatter" instead of remembering that there is a website with a suite of tools that I can go on and find that specific tool I wanted. And I would probably do the same for all of the tools listed there. It's more convenient, I think, to do a quick search and click on one of the first that came up. I've just never come to leave this habit.
belter
How is an account created two days ago able to post a link? Can the mods comment?
likium
I do like the standalone HTML file approach. With coding agents it's quite easy to build a suite of tools for personal use. Additionally if you review the code, you can trust if it's really private/secure.

The ones on mine are more visual focused since cli tools are better at conversion, formatting and such.

tbrannan
I haven’t come across anything else like this. It’s genuinely impressive.
quentinadam
This is super useful ! A few more tools that I use regularly, if you are looking to expand: - Base58 encoding to Hex conversion - Hex to decimal and vice versa - Strlen - Compute SHA-256 of text or hex string - Compute Keccak-256 of text or hex string
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