Why Early Access? The Hummingbird Philosophy and Microservice Independence

The Journey to Tightly Integrated Collaboration

At Superthread, we are building collaborative software that contains an issue tracker and documentation software, both tightly integrated together. We are currently looking for early access subscribers, and I want to share a few reasons why you should sign up to try the platform when we release.

1. The Hummingbird Philosophy: 17ms Speed

Superthread is lightning fast. If you’ve noticed our logo, it has a hummingbird on it. We chose the hummingbird because it can flap its wings 60 times per second. That is the exact refresh rate of the Chrome browser, meaning one frame takes roughly 17 milliseconds.

Our aim is to create a web app that is so instant that when you click on something, it shows up within 17 milliseconds, as fast as Chrome can possibly render.

2. Delightful, Not Austere

We are creating software that feels like a nice place to be. It shouldn't feel slow, clunky, or ugly; it should feel beautiful. The best analogy is gaming. When you open some games, the interface just feels right. Delightfulness is a top priority for us.

3. Ultra-Flexibility

Most issue trackers try to impose a philosophy on you and tell you how to organize yourself. We stay absolutely neutral. Superthread is designed to be molded precisely to how your organization fits. A tool shouldn't be in your way; only you can make yourself organized.

4. Data Isolation

If you are an organization in Germany or England, you can choose exactly where your database sits geographically. If you are a UK company, you can ensure your database is located in a data center in London. This is critical for data sovereignty.

Technical Update: Microservices and Databases

Here is what has been happening behind the scenes over the past few weeks.

Avoiding the 'Distributed Monolith'

We’ve been working heavily on our microservices to ensure they are as independent as possible. Many teams make microservices talk to each other using something like gRPC. We try to avoid that as much as humanly possible.

If your microservices are constantly dependent on each other to function, you just have a distributed monolith. We want them completely separate. A true microservice shouldn't need a huge team; it should be something one person can build in a couple of weeks.

Database Strategy and Caching

We’ve also been mulling over our database options, SQL, NoSQL, or NoSQL with SQL features. There are no 'right' answers, only pros and cons.

The real secret isn't just the database; it’s the ultra-fast caching system that sits in front of it. We’ve spent a lot of time perfecting how the database works with our cache to maintain that 17ms goal.

Breaking the Bubble

We are nearly finished 'skinning' the app and perfecting the design. We hope to launch in the next month or two. Developing in a bubble is a solitary activity, and we need more feedback, not just from startups, but from medium and large companies.

We want to see how Superthread works inside your organization.

Experience a workspace designed for 17ms speed.

Stop fighting clunky tools. Join our Early Access and see what a truly integrated, lightning-fast workspace feels like. Sign up for Superthread.

Further Reading & Resources

• The Anti-Bloat Philosophy: Why we prioritize speed over complex features.

• Superthread vs. Jira: Why teams are switching to a faster, unified alternative.