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A WYSIWYG word processor in Python

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Hi all,Finding a good data structure for a word processor is a difficult problem. My notebook diaries on the problem go back 25 years when I was frustrated with using Word for my diploma thesis - it was slow and unstable at that time. I ended up getting pretty hooked on the problem.Right now I’m taking a professional break and decided to finally use the time to push these ideas further, and build MiniWord — a WYSIWYG word processor in Python.My goal is to have a native, non-HTML-based editor that stays simple, fast, and is hackable. So far I am focusing on getting the fundamentals right. What is working yet is:- Real WYSIWYG editing (no HTML layer, no embedded browser) with styles, images and tables.- Clean, simple file format (human-readable, diff-friendly, git-friendly, AI-friendly)- Markdown support- Support for Python-pluginsThings that I found:- B-tree structures are perfect for holding rich text data- A simple text-based file format is incredibly useful — you can diff documents, version them, and even process them with AI tools quite naturallyWhat I’d love feedback on:- Where do you see real use cases for something like this?- What would be missing for you to take it seriously as a tool or platform?- What kinds of plugins or extensions would actually be worth building?Happy about any thoughts — positive or critical. Greetings

HN · launched Apr 10, 2026 · 91 upvotes (top 12%) · 0 views

Niche: text and document editors · 95 launches, 7 in the last 7 days ▼ -46% · Explore this niche →

Category and tags
  • Horizontal
  • Dev tools
  • Prosumer
  • Not AI
  • Hobby / open-source project

Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗

More like this: all 95 launches in text and document editors →

Could you build this?

No Building a custom WYSIWYG word processor from scratch requires intricate internal document models (piece tables, tree structures), custom font rendering, line breaking, and pagination algorithms.

What it would actually take: A production WYSIWYG word processor requires custom document data structures (e.g., rope/piece-table backed tree hierarchy), hyphenation/Knuth-Plass line-breaking engines, and complex pagination layouts. The stack would typically be Rust/C++ or high-performance Python (PyQt/Skia/HarfBuzz) with tight memory and font rasterization pipelines. Deep expertise in computational typography, text layout engines, and bidirectional undo/redo transactional state is essential.

Discussion

20 comments analyzed.

Competitors mentioned: WordGrinder (terminal-based word processor), Typst (markup language with WYSIWYG editors like Typesetter), Microsoft Word, WordPerfect

Concerns raised: Dark mode GTK theme breaks UI menus, Windows installation complex, rendering quality lower, slow startup, Plugin import/export module missing errors, Markdown format variations and incompatibilities hard to remember

Feature requests: Support for WordGrinder .wg file format, Better Windows optimization and performance, Cross-platform native widget support improvements

Competitors

Other products that read as similar to this one : 124 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.

Attention rank: #16 of 125 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).

Launched 158 days after the earliest competitor.

Related data

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