Show HN: I created a spreadsheet in a plain text file
I built a plain-text spreadsheet format and an app for working with it. It began with small tasks like tracking my dog's health records and organizing records for tax season. Full spreadsheet apps always felt excessive, while Markdown tables don't support formulas. Also, its compact and readable syntax lets AI read and edit a workbook directly, without spreadsheet-specific tools. You can try the in-app agent on the desktop version with ChatGPT sign-in. Ordinate is now open source and available t
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Source record
Recorded metrics
points · 4 votes
2026-10-30 21:00:26.352Z
cumulative since publication
Research analysis
What changed
Source account: I built a plain-text spreadsheet format and an app for working with it. It began with small tasks like tracking my dog's health records and organizing records for tax season. Full spreadsheet apps always felt excessive, while Markdown tables don't support formulas. Also, its compact and readable syntax lets AI read and edit a workbook directly, without spreadsheet-specific tools. You can try the in-app agent on the desktop version with ChatGPT sign-in. Ordinate is now open source and available t
Version & cost evidence
Source votes: 4 votes (Oct 30, 2026 UTC; cumulative since publication); previous same-scope observation: 4 (Oct 30, 2026 UTC). These observations do not establish demand growth. Recent records to compare: “Show HN: Askaboard – A canvas your AI agent can draw on” (Hacker News, Nov 9, 2026); “千问办公2.0发布，首个支持多人与Agent协作的Team Agent来了” (量子位, Nov 9, 2026). Shared themes are navigation hints; they have not been verified as the same need or independent corroboration.
Who is affected
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Missing comparison points
Missing checks: old versus new behavior, affected plans and regions, availability date, compatibility, rollback path and cost under the same workload.
Migration check
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