Hacker News API

Use the official Hacker News API via direct curl calls to fetch stories, comments, and user data.

Official docs: https://github.com/HackerNews/API

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• •Fetch top/best/new stories from Hacker News
• •Get story details including title, URL, score, comments
• •Retrieve comments and discussion threads
• •Look up user profiles and their submissions
• •Monitor trending tech topics and discussions

输出格式

当向用户展示 Hacker News 内容时，必须将英文标题翻译成中文（不显示英文原标题）。

格式要求（Telegram 移动端优化）：

📅 YYYY-MM-DD HN 热榜

1️⃣ [中文标题](URL)
   xxx 分 · xxx 评

2️⃣ [中文标题](URL)
   xxx 分 · xxx 评

示例：

📅 2026-02-05 HN 热榜

1️⃣ [谷歌发布新一代 AI 模型 Gemini 2.0](https://blog.google/...)
   892 分 · 423 评

2️⃣ [OpenAI 推出新版 API 定价策略](https://openai.com/...)
   756 分 · 312 评

格式规范：

翻译注意：准确传达原意，技术术语保留英文（如 API、GPU、LLM），专有名词保持原样（如 OpenAI、Claude）。

Prerequisites

No API key required! The Hacker News API is completely free and open.

Base URL: https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0

Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

bash

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"'

How to Use

1. Get Top Stories

Fetch IDs of the current top 500 stories:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json"' | jq '.[:10]'

2. Get Best Stories

Fetch the best stories (highest voted over time):

bash -c 'curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/beststories.json"' | jq '.[:10]'

3. Get New Stories

Fetch the newest stories:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/newstories.json"' | jq '.[:10]'

4. Get Ask HN Stories

Fetch "Ask HN" posts:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/askstories.json"' | jq '.[:10]'

5. Get Show HN Stories

Fetch "Show HN" posts:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/showstories.json"' | jq '.[:10]'

6. Get Job Stories

Fetch job postings:

bash -c '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:

8. Get Multiple Stories with Details

Fetch top 5 stories with full details. Replace <item-id> with the actual item ID:

bash -c '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:

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

bash -c '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)

bash -c '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

bash -c '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

Guidelines

1. •No rate limits documented: But be respectful, add delays for bulk fetching
2. •Use jq for filtering: Filter JSON responses to extract needed data
3. •Cache results: Stories don't change frequently, cache when possible
4. •Batch requests carefully: Each item requires a separate API call
5. •Handle nulls: Some fields may be null or missing (e.g., url for Ask HN)
6. •Unix timestamps: All times are Unix timestamps, convert as needed