Are.na Tools and Toys

Playing with the are.na API to make small fun things. A work in progress.

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Screenshot from are.na hypernormalisation

Are.na Hypernormalisation

Pull images and text from are.na and combine them into a strangely familiar documentary critique of late capitalism. Good for full screen ambient displays, or just staring into the void. (h/t to Tom Scott and Dan Williams.)

↗ repo Try it
are.na palette screenshot

Are.na Palette

Generate colour palettes from images pulled from your favourite are.na channels. Export as hex, .ase, css, gimp or procreate palettes, or fancy pngs.

↗ repo Try it
Are.na picks screenshot

Are.na Picks

A homepage that shows random blocks from one or more are.na channels. Lock the ones you want to keep, then shuffle again, or export a zip file of the best combos. Good for inspiration and serendipitous juxtaposition.

↗ repo Try it
Are.na logos, mergeing

Are.na Merge

Add every block from one channel into another in one go. Optional dry-run, optional remove-from-source. For tidying up your own channels — needs a personal access token with write access.

↗ repo Try it
Are.na Palimpsest showing a block's fields, metadata and the channel it is connected to

Are.na Palimpsest

Paste a block URL or ID and see everything are.na knows about it: its fields, its metadata, and the channels it lives in. Read-only, and handy for seeing what other tools have written onto your blocks. Public blocks work without a token.

↗ repo Try it
Are.na Duplicate Finder, showing its six steps and the Connect to are.na screen

Are.na Duplicate Finder

Find blocks you have saved more than once, such as the same Pinterest or Instagram image imported again and again. Pick the one to keep and the rest are moved onto it and marked. It has a dry run, and it needs a token that can write.

↗ repo Try it

Good channels to play with

Images

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About

These toys were (slightly sheepishly) vibe coded by Kim Plowright. Found a bug? Let me know in GitHub issues. Be kind - I never learned to code in a way that means I could hand-build things like this, so AI agents are tiny miracles for me.

Want to know more? Find me on Are.na, Instagram, Bluesky, get my Newsletter or come to my drawing classes in Canterbury or Ramsgate, UK.