# AntiBrainRot: GPUI Active-Recall Engine for Engineers

> A native Rust and GPUI desktop application that turns hand-maintained engineering markdown notes into spaced-repetition review cards.

- Client: Internal Product
- Year: 2026
- Disciplines: Rust, GPUI Desktop, Markdown Parser, FSRS Scheduling, Developer Tooling
- Page: https://ponkster.me/case-studies/antibrainrot
- Studio: ponkster.me (https://ponkster.me)
- Contact: origin.ponkster@gmail.com

## Challenge

As engineers delegate more implementation work to AI coding assistants, conceptual retention and low-level language fluency erode unless deliberately exercised.

## Approach

We designed AntiBrainRot as a native desktop application in Rust on top of GPUI Kit. A zero-UI-dependency syllabus crate parses hand-edited markdown curricula, checklists, and cross-language translation tables while preserving exact source line numbers so graded exercises and FSRS review schedules write cleanly back to disk.

## Outcome

Delivered a sub-millisecond markdown workspace parser guarded by 48 unit and document-integration tests, paired with a distraction-free IBM Plex Sans and Mono desktop shell.

## Results

- Hardware-accelerated native desktop UI built in Rust with GPUI Kit
- Line-preserving markdown parser for bidirectional checklist and ledger write-back
- 48 unit and real-document integration tests running in milliseconds

## Optional

- [Studio overview and all case studies](https://ponkster.me/llms.txt)