Overview

The Hacker News MCP Server provides access to user profile information and activity history, allowing you to research individual contributors, track community members' engagement, and analyze participation patterns. This functionality is essential for identifying subject matter experts, understanding user influence, or conducting research on community dynamics.

Accessing User Profiles

To retrieve a user's profile information, simply ask your AI assistant for details about a specific Hacker News username. The server will return structured data including the user's karma score, account creation date, biographical information (if provided), and links to their activity.

For example, you might ask: "Show me the profile for user 'pg'" or "What's the karma score for user 'tptacek'?" The server handles the request and returns comprehensive profile data.

Viewing User Activity

Each user profile includes access to their complete activity history on Hacker News. This encompasses both submissions (stories and Ask HN posts) and comments they've made across the platform. Activity history is particularly valuable for:

• Expert Identification: Find users who consistently contribute insights on specific technologies or domains
• Engagement Patterns: Understand how active and influential a user is within the community
• Historical Research: Track how perspectives or discussions around certain topics have evolved over time

Understanding Profile Data

User profiles contain several key data points:

• Karma: The cumulative score earned from upvotes on submissions and comments, indicating community appreciation
• About Section: User-provided biographical information, often including expertise areas, contact details, or personal websites
• Account Age: When the user joined Hacker News, providing context for their community tenure
• Submission History: All stories and posts the user has submitted to Hacker News
• Comment History: The complete record of comments made across various discussions

Practical Applications

Use user profile queries to research thought leaders before reaching out, verify expertise claims, or understand the background of commenters in important discussions. This capability is especially useful when evaluating technical advice, identifying potential collaborators, or understanding who drives conversations on specific topics.

The real-time nature of the server ensures you're always accessing current profile information, including recent submissions and comments, making it reliable for time-sensitive research or monitoring purposes.