---
title: "BetterIDEa"
url: "https://ankush.one/projects/2023.betteridea/"
description: "A developer tooling suite for the Arweave/AO ecosystem, born from a hackathon project and acquired by Forward Research."
author: "Ankush Singh"
date: 2023-12-01
lastmod: 2026-10-12
tags: ["arweave","developer-tools","hackathon"]
website: "https://betteridea.arweave.net"
repository: "https://github.com/betteridea-dev/ide"
links:
  - {"archived":false,"label":"Website","url":"https://betteridea.arweave.net"}
  - {"archived":false,"label":"GitHub","url":"https://github.com/betteridea-dev/ide"}
  - {"archived":false,"label":"IDE","url":"https://hyper_betteridea.arweave.net"}
  - {"archived":false,"label":"GitHub: ao-package-manager","url":"https://github.com/betteridea-dev/ao-package-manager"}
---

# BetterIDEa

Links:

- [Website](https://betteridea.arweave.net)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/betteridea-dev/ide)
- [IDE](https://hyper_betteridea.arweave.net)
- [GitHub: ao-package-manager](https://github.com/betteridea-dev/ao-package-manager)

**BetterIDEa is a developer tooling suite for the Arweave/AO ecosystem that began as a hackathon project—and grew into a key part of the ecosystem, ultimately being acquired by Forward Research.**  


<!-- 🔗 **GitHub:** https://github.com/betteridea-dev   -->
<!-- 🔗 **Global Launch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9snJSH9CdUs   -->

[YouTube video](https://youtu.be/9snJSH9CdUs)


## 🏆 Hackathon Origins
- Built during **Arweave India’s first hackerhouse**
- Won **1st place** for its initial MVP: a simple, web-based IDE for Arweave
- Post hackathon, it expanded beyond basic editing into a full development environment  

## 🌍 Global Debut
- **Made its public debut alongside the global launch of AO**  
- Featured during the official AO launch event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9snJSH9CdUs

## 🧩 Evolving Into a Dev Suite
- Introduced **npm packages, CLI tools, and integrations** for a seamless developer experience  
- Refined into a cleaner and more intuitive interface for decentralized development

## 📈 Impact & Adoption
- Adopted by builders entering the Arweave/AO ecosystem  
- Simplified the workflow of developing on permanent storage and compute

## 🤝 Acquisition
- **Acquired by Forward Research**, the core team behind AO  
- I joined as an **Entrepreneur in Residence** to continue advancing developer tooling in the ecosystem