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Cover image for Proteus: The AI-native editor for multimodal creation
gezilinll
gezilinll

Posted on • Originally published at github.com

Proteus: The AI-native editor for multimodal creation

#webdev #programming #opensource #ai

I'm building Proteus, an open-source multimodal editor (think Figma meets Notion, but AI-native) where AI writes most of the code while I focus on architecture, technical decisions, and quality control.

Why this matters:

In 2025, tools like Cursor and Claude can write good enough code in 80% of scenarios. The question isn't "Can AI code?" but "What becomes valuable when AI can code?" I believe it's system design, technical decision-making, and end-to-end ownership—not just knowing APIs.

What makes this different:

  • AI-native from day one: Every architectural decision prioritizes AI-friendliness. This isn't AI bolted on later—it's designed for AI collaboration from the first line.
  • Fully transparent: All code, architecture decisions, and lessons learned are public. I'm documenting the entire journey in weekly technical articles.
  • Real editor, not a toy: Phase 1 is complete with a working demo. You can create shapes, text, images, transform them, copy/paste, undo/redo—all the core editor capabilities.
  • Learning resource: If you want to understand how editors work (scene graphs, rendering, interaction systems) or how to structure code for AI collaboration, this is a live case study.

Current status:

✅ Phase 1: Core editing (scene graph, rendering, interaction, tools)

🚧 Phase 2: Multimodal elements (video, audio, web embeds)

📋 Phase 3: AI Agent integration (natural language → editor actions)

📋 Phase 4: Real-time collaboration

Try it: Live Demo

Code: GitHub

Articles: Tech Blog (4 articles so far, covering architecture, rendering, interaction design)

The experiment: What happens when you stop reviewing AI's code and instead focus entirely on architecture, problem diagnosis, and guiding AI through testing and context-building? That's what I'm exploring here.

Would love feedback from the HN community—especially from those building complex frontend apps or thinking about AI-native development workflows.

Alternative Shorter Version (if character limit is an issue)

Title: Proteus: An AI-native multimodal editor where AI writes 80% of the code

Description:

Building an open-source editor (Figma + Notion, AI-native) where AI writes most code while I focus on architecture and decisions.

Why: In 2025, AI can code—so what becomes valuable? System design, technical decisions, and ownership.

What's different:

  • AI-native from day one (not bolted on)
  • Fully transparent (all code + articles public)
  • Real editor (Phase 1 complete, working demo)
  • Learning resource (how editors work, AI-native architecture)

Status: Phase 1 ✅ | Phase 2-4 🚧

Demo: https://proteus.gezilinll.com/

Code: https://github.com/gezilinll/Proteus

Articles: https://github.com/gezilinll/Proteus/tree/main/articles

Experimenting with: What happens when you stop reviewing AI code and focus on architecture + problem diagnosis?

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