Muddy: the browser that makes teamwork easy
Muddy (YC-backed) was the browser that made teamwork easy. It integrated a browser and a chat app into one. Previously known as Sail, the company set out to change how we use computers with each other and make a dent in productivity software. Although Muddy got some early traction, the company eventually winded down after struggling to find product-market fit. I learned a ton along the way—about building products 0 to 1, pushing browser technology, crafting complex frontends, prototyping and talking to users, dealing with pivots, and where software might go.
As a Founding Engineer, I worked end-to-end from initial concept through prototype to production deployment. I owned the front-end architecture and real-time chat system, moving fast with full ownership alongside a senior designer and one other engineer. I transformed rough sketches and icons into a cohesive design system that scaled across the entire application. The tech stack pushed boundaries: React, Recoil, GraphQL, Redis, and MongoDB, plus a custom Chromium fork with C++/JS bindings to unlock new browser capabilities. I paired closely with product and design to bring the product to life.
Browser Capabilities
Muddy was built on top of the Chromium browser, meaning it had all the features of a modern web browser, like extensions, web apps, and compatibility with all websites. Special C++ and JavaScript APIs were implemented on a custom Chromium fork to enable access of browser capabilities through web UI. This allowed us to create a new browser by using a traditional React front-end stack with a custom build process.
Chat where you work
In Muddy, we built a chat feature right into the browser. This meant you could talk to your team without having to leave your work or open a new app. To make this happen, we implemented a real-time chat system using graphql subscriptions, redis pub/sub, and Ably RealTime API for presence features. This allowed us to create a chat system that was fast and reliable.
Easy Sharing in one App
Muddy featured a sidebar for your team projects and a "dock" for your personal tabs, simplifying the process of sharing tabs with your team. The app incorporated multiple drag-and-drop interactions to facilitate easy sharing and organization of work.
See what’s important and what’s happening
On your Muddy dashboard you got one view to see what projects others were focused on, what files they were using across your projects, and what was most important across the team right now. We implemented a custom event system to track user activity and displayed it in a meaningful way for the user.
Search
Search across all your tabs and messages. Because Muddy was a browser and chat app in one, we could search across all your tabs and messages at once. This made it easy to find what you were looking for without having to switch between apps. We implemented a custom search index using Elasticsearch along with a custom search ranking algorithm for your browser history and chat messages.