January 13, 2026
Keyboard vs. chaos
Show HN: AsciiSketch a free browser-based ASCII art and diagram editor
ASCII doodles go viral — then the slash war begins
TLDR: A free browser tool for drawing diagrams with text characters hit Hacker News and sparked love, nitpicks, and feature requests. Fans praised the Monodraw-like feel, while debates erupted over erasing, a backslash bug, and whether it needs PowerPoint-style connectors — highlighting how simple tools still matter for quick, shareable visuals.
AsciiSketch just burst onto Hacker News as a free, browser toy for drawing pictures with keyboard characters, and the crowd instantly split between nostalgia and nitpicking. Fans cheered its Monodraw vibes — “same UI, but in the browser,” one user swooned — while others pointed to a rival ASCII Figma-like editor and asked if this newcomer is open source. The tool packs borders, funky text “fonts,” lines, and a pencil — the internet promptly sketched boxes and stars like it was 1998 all over again.
But then came the drama: how do you erase with the pencil? A simple question turned into a mini usability showdown. And the nerdiest beef of the day? A commenter claimed the app’s AI helper, Claude, mixed up the direction of backslashes in circles — a tiny glyph hiccup that sparked a full-on “slash civil war.” Meanwhile, power users demanded presentation-level features: arrows that stick to boxes when you move them, grouping, smart connectors — basically PowerPoint, but made of text. Some argued that might break the charm; others said it’s a must for real diagrams. The vibe: scrappy indie magic meets big expectations, with jokes flying about ASCII being the original design tool and a lot of keyboard-powered swagger.
Key Points
- •AsciiSketch is a free, browser-based ASCII art and diagram editor.
- •Canvas controls let users set width, height, and element position/size (X, Y, width, height).
- •Text tools include alignment, positioning, and multiple ASCII font styles with optional bordered text and padding.
- •Border and line tools offer various styles, orthogonal routing options, and endpoints (arrows, shapes, one/many markers).
- •Utilities include a pencil tool for character drawing, and actions to save, load, export as text, and clear the canvas.