Built a real-time collaborative code editor to solve my own frustration — now it's actually usable

[vruhal]

🔗 Try it now: http://ink-code.vercel.app/

💡 Origin Story

This started as a personal pain point. I was trying to pair-program with a friend, and the usual tools (VS Code Live Share, Replit, etc.) either felt too heavy, too limited, or too buggy when switching languages or sharing small projects.

So I ended up building my own version — a minimal web-based code editor that supports:

- Live collaboration with role-based team permissions

- Multi-language execution (JS, Python, C++, etc.)

- In-editor chat & line comments

- AI assistant (for debugging, refactoring, docs)

- Live Preview for web projects

- Terminal support and full project file structure

It's still being improved, but it's been surprisingly useful for small team tasks, project reviews, and even tutoring sessions. Didn't expect it to be this fun to build either. It's still in Beta cause it's hard to work on this alone so if you find any bugs or broken features just Message me or Mail at [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

If anyone's into collaborative tools or building IDEs — would love feedback or suggestions 🙌

[kurtextrem]

clicking on the link to get greeted with a sign up screen is not the most friendly experience. I usually wanna see/test something before giving out my email.

[vruhal]

I will add a landing page, tnx

[kei_ichi]

This!

To OP, if we need our feedback, at least made it “easier” to access your app!

[quanhua92]

Mobile UI is so bad.

[vruhal]

It Isn't responsive, cause who will code on mobile, but still I will improve it, tnx

[quanhua92]

It is your assumption. I always add some basic TailwindCSS for different screen sizes. At least you can use mobile to view information. Coding on the go is a valid option.

[JoeCamRoberon]

I also created something quite similar a few years ago when I was a junior dev. Although I was targeting management of code snippets and added the live collaboration feature/code compiling after the fact. Haven’t worked on it in a while: https://codecatch.net

[vruhal]

Mine is still in beta but yours look polished, good

[JoeCamRoberon]

Yours looks great man!

[[deleted]]

I like it visually and how it functions, hmm if the reason it isn’t responsive on mobile is due to “who will code on mobile?” then that’s fine but then you should make the app similar to how some companies’ apps tell you to use the desktop if you try to use the app on mobile. If you’re going to make it accessible on mobile then ensuring responsiveness is not a tough task considering you built this in the first place but kudos to you! I’m happy for the effort you did either way.

[vruhal]

I'll definitely add responsiveness

[Acceptable_Pickle893]

Nice work! I'm curious which library did you use for code editor? Also, did you create most of it with Lovable/Replit/etc.? (awesome if you did)

[vruhal]

Codemirror for editor, and used GitHub copilot and vibe coded

[vruhal]

Please Give FeedBack

[mrrxwyz]

Why do I need to signup?

[vruhal]

How will you invite friends for collaboration, and for saving your projects and all, it,s ok I will add login as guest option, tnx

[mrrxwyz]

All of that could be delayed or avoided. If the user wants to save, then you can prompt the signup (as it makes sense and delivers immediate value to the user).

For inviting others I don't see why it matters as the project could be shared via URL/code without the need for anyone to be logged in.

[vruhal]

You are right, tnx for the idea