What You'll Need

Before connecting to the Hacker News MCP server, ensure you have Brave installed and configured to work with MCP servers. No API keys or authentication credentials are required—the Hacker News server connects directly to the public Hacker News API.

Setting Up the Connection

To connect to the Hacker News MCP server in Brave, you'll need to add the server configuration to your MCP settings file. Locate your MCP configuration file (typically found in your Brave settings directory) and add the Hacker News server entry.

The server configuration should specify the server type and any necessary connection parameters. Once added, save the configuration file and restart Brave to establish the connection.

Verifying the Connection

After restarting Brave, the Hacker News server should appear in your list of active MCP servers. You can verify the connection by checking the MCP server status in Brave's settings or by attempting a simple query.

Try asking Brave to show you the current top stories on Hacker News. If the connection is working properly, you'll receive a list of trending posts with titles, scores, and submission details.

Basic Usage

Once connected, you can interact with Hacker News through natural language queries. Here are some examples to get started:

• Browse stories: Ask for top stories, new submissions, or best-rated posts
• Read discussions: Request comment threads for specific stories to see community reactions
• Research users: Look up user profiles to view their contribution history and karma
• Track topics: Monitor discussions about specific technologies, companies, or trends

The server translates your requests into API calls and returns formatted results that are easy to read and analyze.

Tips for Best Results

Be specific in your queries to get the most relevant information. Instead of asking for "stories," specify whether you want top stories, new posts, or content about a particular topic.

When exploring comment threads, you can ask for summaries of the discussion or drill down into specific comment chains. The server maintains the hierarchical structure of conversations, making it easy to follow discussion threads.

For research purposes, combine multiple queries—for example, retrieve a user's profile and then explore their most popular submissions to understand their areas of expertise.

Troubleshooting

If you're not receiving responses from the Hacker News server, verify that the server configuration is correct and that Brave has been restarted since adding the configuration. Check that no firewall or network restrictions are blocking access to the Hacker News API.