Run scripts with a simple UI

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. A free ActiveBatch is asked twice.

1. Jul 2025Wants hosted Python background jobs: push code, run many jobs, get webhooks, with retries handled. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Is there a better way to write background tasks?”
2. Apr 2024Wants to upload a container or script and get a tokened API with queuing and rate limits. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Is there a service to quickly build APIs from Docker containers?”
3. Feb 2024Wants a Zapier alternative for scheduled authenticated REST calls chained between APIs, without maintaining a tiny cloud function. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Is There a Zapier for APIs?”
4. Jan 2024Describes automated document inflow workflows using ActiveBatch with drag-and-drop steps and failure handling, praising such batch automation. Read it: a comment in “27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process”
5. Jul 2022Wants a mid-level Python job scheduler with persistence, filling the gap between cron scripts and enterprise ETL tools. Read it: a comment in “Red Engine: modern scheduling framework for Python applications”
6. May 2022Dislikes Airflow's code-as-config, complexity and wrapper operators, and wants a simpler framework with config in JSON or XML. Read it: a comment in “Lessons learned from running Apache Airflow at scale”
7. Aug 2020Is building a personal flow-based workflow runner in JS and asks how data should pass between nodes. Read it: a comment in “Netflix Conductor: Open-source workflow orchestration engine”
8. Aug 2020Wants a free or cheap ActiveBatch-like job orchestrator that is easier to set up than Ansible. Read it: a comment in “Netflix Conductor: Open-source workflow orchestration engine”
9. Jul 2020Wants a dashboard to centralize and run their growing pile of Python and Bash scripts. Read it: a post: “Recommendations for command center/dashboard to centralize scripts”
10. Jun 2020Wants a proper background job tool, tired of using database event handlers as a stand-in. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: What are you guys using for background workers nowadays?”
11. Sep 2019Wants a GUI where non-technical teammates see script status, output and next cron run without SSH. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: How to manage long running scripts?”
12. Jun 2018Asks for a free service that runs a handful of scheduled curl calls weekly. Read it: a comment in “Show HN: Posthook – Job Scheduling as a Service”
13. Feb 2013Wants a service that fires a saved API call when they send an email or visit a page. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Is there a service that will submit an API request on my behalf?”