Hey HN,

I’m experimenting with an idea that’s been on my mind for a while — what if developers could jump into a shared codebase without being overwhelmed by everything at once?

I’ve built a prototype called Shiproom — a local, browser-based IDE where access to files and folders is controlled at a granular level. Instead of seeing the whole project, each user only sees the parts they’re allowed to. No setup, no distractions, no access to sensitive stuff like .env or core business logic unless it's needed. What Shiproom (Prototype) Does: Simulates a cloud dev environment with instant onboarding.

    Uses a mock file system with user-based access control.

    You can switch between users to see how their file access differs.

    Files are fully hidden if not allowed, or marked read-only if view-only.

    Runs Monaco Editor (like VS Code in the browser) entirely locally.

    Includes a dummy 2-page app to simulate real-world modular projects.

Why?

Most cloud IDEs today give you the entire repo the moment you're onboarded — which can be overwhelming for juniors, unnecessary for interns, and risky in security-sensitive environments.

With Shiproom, the idea is simple: show people only what they need — and nothing more.

This could be useful for:

    Dev teams onboarding new engineers

    Bootcamps giving students a focused coding view

    Secure contract development environments

    Even pair programming with role separation

What It Isn’t (Yet)

This is just a prototype — there’s no real authentication, no server-side isolation, and no actual code execution. It’s a simulation of the experience, running locally on Node.js + Vanilla JS. But it shows how the concept could work.

Would love feedback or thoughts. Does this use case resonate with anyone? If it’s useful, I’m thinking of turning it into a real service with:

    Auth, Git integration, isolated containers

    Team-based permissions

    Developer onboarding templates

Thanks!

Show HN: Shiproom – A Browser-Based Cloud IDE with File-Level Access Control