Understanding Item IDs in Hacker News

Every piece of content on Hacker News—whether it's a story, comment, poll, or job posting—has a unique numeric identifier called an item ID. These IDs are assigned sequentially as content is created, making them reliable references for retrieving specific pieces of content through the MCP server.

When to Use ID-Based Retrieval

Direct retrieval by ID is valuable when you already know which specific item you want to access. This commonly occurs when:

• Following up on a particular story or comment you've previously discovered
• Investigating a specific discussion thread mentioned in another context
• Building automated workflows that track particular items over time
• Accessing items referenced by their URLs (the ID appears in Hacker News URLs)

For example, if you see a Hacker News URL like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38471822, the item ID is 38471822.

Retrieving Items by ID

To retrieve a specific item, simply request it through your AI assistant using the item's ID number. You can phrase your request naturally, such as:

• "Get Hacker News item 38471822"
• "Show me details for HN item 38471822"
• "Retrieve the Hacker News post with ID 38471822"

The server will fetch the item and return all available information, including the title, content, author, timestamp, score, and other relevant metadata.

What Information You'll Receive

The data returned varies based on the item type:

For stories: You'll receive the title, URL (if it's a link post), author username, submission time, current score, and the number of comments. This gives you a complete picture of the submission and its reception.

For comments: The response includes the comment text, author, timestamp, and references to parent and child comments, allowing you to understand the comment's context within the broader discussion.

For other item types: Polls, job postings, and other content types return their specific relevant fields.

Building on ID-Based Queries

Once you've retrieved an item, you can naturally expand your exploration. If you retrieve a story, you might then ask to see its comments. If you retrieve a comment, you might request its parent comment or the full thread. The server handles these follow-up requests seamlessly, letting you navigate the content structure intuitively.

This direct access method is the most precise way to interact with Hacker News content, ensuring you're examining exactly the item you intend to analyze or discuss.