hackernews
Hacker News API for stories and comments. Use when user mentions "Hacker News", "HN", "Y Combinator", or asks about tech news.
- Installs
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- Security
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/okou-ai/okou-skills --skill hackernews- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads hackernews automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
How to Use
1. Get Top Stories
Fetch IDs of the current top 500 stories:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json" | jq '.[:10]'
2. Get Best Stories
Fetch the best stories (highest voted over time):
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/beststories.json" | jq '.[:10]'
3. Get New Stories
Fetch the newest stories:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/newstories.json" | jq '.[:10]'
4. Get Ask HN Stories
Fetch "Ask HN" posts:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/askstories.json" | jq '.[:10]'
5. Get Show HN Stories
Fetch "Show HN" posts:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/showstories.json" | jq '.[:10]'
6. Get Job Stories
Fetch job postings:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/jobstories.json" | jq '.[:10]'
Item Details
7. Get Story/Comment/Job Details
Fetch full details for any item by ID. Replace <item-id> with the actual item ID:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/<item-id>.json"
Response fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
id | Unique item ID |
type | story, comment, job, poll, pollopt |
by | Username of author |
time | Unix timestamp |
title | Story title (stories only) |
url | Story URL (if external link) |
text | Content text (Ask HN, comments) |
score | Upvote count |
descendants | Total comment count |
kids | Array of child comment IDs |
8. Get Multiple Stories with Details
Fetch top 5 stories with full details. Replace <item-id> with the actual item ID:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json" | jq '.[:5][]' | while read id; do
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/${id}.json" | jq '{id, title, score, url, by}'
done
9. Get Story with Comments
Fetch a story and its top-level comments. Replace <story-id> with the actual story ID:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/<story-id>.json" | jq '{title, score, descendants, kids}'
Then for each comment ID in the kids array, replace <comment-id> with the actual comment ID:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/<comment-id>.json" | jq '{by, text, score}'
User Data
10. Get User Profile
Fetch user details. Replace <username> with the actual username:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/user/<username>.json"
Response fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
id | Username |
created | Account creation timestamp |
karma | User's karma score |
about | User bio (HTML) |
submitted | Array of item IDs submitted |
11. Get User's Recent Submissions
Fetch a user's recent submissions. Replace <username> with the actual username:
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/user/<username>.json" | jq '.submitted[:5]'
Real-time Updates
12. Get Max Item ID
Get the current largest item ID (useful for polling new items):
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/maxitem.json"
13. Get Changed Items and Profiles
Get recently changed items and profiles (for real-time updates):
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/updates.json"
Practical Examples
Fetch Today's Top 10 with Scores
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json" | jq '.[:10][]' | while read id; do
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/${id}.json" | jq -r '"\(.score) points | \(.title) | \(.url // "Ask HN")"'
done
Find High-Scoring Stories (100+ points)
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json" | jq '.[:30][]' | while read id; do
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/${id}.json" | jq -r 'select(.score >= 100) | "\(.score) | \(.title)"'
done
Get Latest AI/ML Related Stories
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json" | jq '.[:50][]' | while read id; do
curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/${id}.json" | jq -r 'select(.title | test("AI|GPT|LLM|Machine Learning|Neural"; "i")) | "\(.score) | \(.title)"'
done
API Endpoints Summary
| Endpoint | Description |
|---|---|
/v0/topstories.json | Top 500 stories |
/v0/beststories.json | Best stories |
/v0/newstories.json | Newest 500 stories |
/v0/askstories.json | Ask HN stories |
/v0/showstories.json | Show HN stories |
/v0/jobstories.json | Job postings |
/v0/item/{id}.json | Item details |
/v0/user/{id}.json | User profile |
/v0/maxitem.json | Current max item ID |
/v0/updates.json | Changed items/profiles |
Guidelines
- No rate limits documented: But be respectful, add delays for bulk fetching
- Use jq for filtering: Filter JSON responses to extract needed data
- Cache results: Stories don't change frequently, cache when possible
- Batch requests carefully: Each item requires a separate API call
- Handle nulls: Some fields may be null or missing (e.g.,
urlfor Ask HN) - Unix timestamps: All times are Unix timestamps, convert as needed
FAQ
What does the hackernews skill do?
Hacker News API for stories and comments. Use when user mentions "Hacker News", "HN", "Y Combinator", or asks about tech news.
How do I install hackernews?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/okou-ai/okou-skills --skill hackernews in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/hackernews/ (personal) or .claude/skills/hackernews/ (project).
Which AI agents can use hackernews?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is hackernews safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains hackernews?
It is published by okou-ai in okou-ai/okou-skills. It has 3,176 recorded installs.
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