# SmallDocs

21 Hacker News commenters recommended SmallDocs and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A browser-based, Markdown-first document tool that works offline and suits giving AI agents a format to write in. Critics object to its license and that it is not open source.

## Why people recommend it

- Gives AI agents a format to express themselves (5 comments): "It's an office suite for AI agents - but my main use case is giving a cli based LLM the canvas to express itself" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48835331)) "it's good for creating (and optionally sharing) agent created analysis" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49692572)) "an office suite AI agents (and humans - including SWEs!) like to use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48809004))
- Markdown editing with rendered slides (4 comments): "I like it a lot, only feedback is it should be a bit more intuitive on how to start the slides" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49084184)) "It's all Markdown, but it always renders (100% privately) on the SmallDocs site." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49529252)) "converted it into a slideshow which serves it to you in bitesized ideas" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083910))
- Browser-based, no install, works offline (2 comments): "Going browser first means you’re not required to install anything to get a great experience." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48091340)) "The offline service worker part is great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47795933))
- Helps stay in touch with LLM code (2 comments): "It's actually very useful if you develop with a terminal based coding agent and sometimes want to get out of the terminal view" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49235567)) "I use this a lot to stay in touch with the code the LLM is producing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49155497))

## What people warn about

- License is restrictive and not open source (2 comments): "Your project looks cool and you've clearly put a lot of thought into making it useful, but the license makes it a non-starter for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48812874)) "It is not open source unfortunately." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48814318))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [OpenKnowledge](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openknowledge.md): 20 recommend
- [Typora](https://hackerapproved.com/p/typora.md): 19 recommend
- [Margin Markdown editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/markdown-editor-for-mac-ios-and-web.md): 15 recommend
- [iA Writer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ia-writer.md): 14 recommend
- [Ferrite Markdown editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ferrite.md): 14 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SmallDocs", https://hackerapproved.com/p/smalldocs/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).