How do I install the Hacker News skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add modbender/hacker-news in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Hacker News skill do?

Search and browse Hacker News with API access to stories, comments, users, and hiring threads. It is listed under Integrations & APIs on SkillMD.

Is Hacker News safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Hacker News?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Hacker News free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Hacker News?

modbender (@modbender) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Hacker News by modbender — Agent Skill

Name: Hacker News
Rating: 4.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
Author: modbender

File contents

Quick Reference

Topic	File
API endpoints	`api.md`
Search patterns	`search.md`

Core Rules

1. Two APIs Available

API	Use Case	Base URL
Official HN API	Single items, real-time	`https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0`
Algolia Search	Full-text search, filters	`https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1`

2. Official API Endpoints

/topstories.json — top 500 story IDs
/newstories.json — newest 500 story IDs
/beststories.json — best stories
/askstories.json — Ask HN
/showstories.json — Show HN
/jobstories.json — job postings
/item/{id}.json — story/comment details
/user/{username}.json — user profile

3. Algolia Search Syntax

/search?query=TERM&tags=TAG&numericFilters=FILTER

Tags (combinable with AND):

story, comment, poll, job, ask_hn, show_hn
author_USERNAME — posts by user
story_ID — comments on story

Numeric filters:

created_at_i>TIMESTAMP — after date
points>N — minimum points
num_comments>N — minimum comments

4. Common Patterns

Request	Endpoint
Frontpage	Official `/topstories.json` → fetch first 30 items
Search posts	Algolia `/search?query=X&tags=story`
User's posts	Algolia `/search?tags=author_USERNAME`
Who is hiring?	Algolia `/search?query=who is hiring&tags=story,author_whoishiring`
Comments on story	Algolia `/search?tags=comment,story_ID`
This week's top	Algolia `/search?tags=story&numericFilters=created_at_i>WEEK_TS`

5. Response Handling

Official API returns IDs → batch fetch items (parallelize)
Algolia returns full objects with hits[] array
Story object: id, title, url, score, by, time, descendants (comment count)
Comment object: id, text, by, parent, time

6. Rate Limits

Official API: No auth required, generous limits
Algolia: 10,000 requests/hour (no key needed)
Always paginate large results (page=N, hitsPerPage=N)

7. Gotchas

url is null for Ask HN/Show HN text posts — use text field instead
deleted and dead items exist — check before displaying
Timestamps are Unix seconds, not milliseconds
Algolia objectID = HN item id (as string)

---name: hacker-newsdescription: Search and browse Hacker News with API access to stories, comments, users, and hiring threads.--- ## Quick Reference | Topic | File | |-------|------| | API endpoints | `api.md` | | Search patterns | `search.md` | ## Core Rules ### 1. Two APIs Available | API | Use Case | Base URL | |-----|----------|----------| | Official HN API | Single items, real-time | `https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0` | | Algolia Search | Full-text search, filters | `https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1` | ### 2. Official API Endpoints - `/topstories.json` — top 500 story IDs - `/newstories.json` — newest 500 story IDs - `/beststories.json` — best stories - `/askstories.json` — Ask HN - `/showstories.json` — Show HN - `/jobstories.json` — job postings - `/item/{id}.json` — story/comment details - `/user/{username}.json` — user profile ### 3. Algolia Search Syntax ``` /search?query=TERM&tags=TAG&numericFilters=FILTER ``` **Tags (combinable with AND):** - `story`, `comment`, `poll`, `job`, `ask_hn`, `show_hn` - `author_USERNAME` — posts by user - `story_ID` — comments on story **Numeric filters:** - `created_at_i>TIMESTAMP` — after date - `points>N` — minimum points - `num_comments>N` — minimum comments ### 4. Common Patterns | Request | Endpoint | |---------|----------| | Frontpage | Official `/topstories.json` → fetch first 30 items | | Search posts | Algolia `/search?query=X&tags=story` | | User's posts | Algolia `/search?tags=author_USERNAME` | | Who is hiring? | Algolia `/search?query=who is hiring&tags=story,author_whoishiring` | | Comments on story | Algolia `/search?tags=comment,story_ID` | | This week's top | Algolia `/search?tags=story&numericFilters=created_at_i>WEEK_TS` | ### 5. Response Handling - Official API returns IDs → batch fetch items (parallelize) - Algolia returns full objects with `hits[]` array - Story object: `id`, `title`, `url`, `score`, `by`, `time`, `descendants` (comment count) - Comment object: `id`, `text`, `by`, `parent`, `time` ### 6. Rate Limits - Official API: No auth required, generous limits - Algolia: 10,000 requests/hour (no key needed) - Always paginate large results (`page=N`, `hitsPerPage=N`) ### 7. Gotchas - `url` is null for Ask HN/Show HN text posts — use `text` field instead - `deleted` and `dead` items exist — check before displaying - Timestamps are Unix seconds, not milliseconds - Algolia `objectID` = HN item `id` (as string)

Frequently asked questions

Hacker News