What Are Story Types?

Hacker News organizes its content into different story feeds, each serving a distinct purpose. When using the Hacker News MCP Server, you'll encounter three primary story types: Top Stories, New Stories, and Best Stories. Understanding the differences between these feeds helps you access the most relevant content for your needs.

Top Stories

Top Stories represent what's currently trending on Hacker News. This feed contains submissions that have recently gained significant traction through community upvotes and engagement. Stories appear here based on a combination of factors including vote count, submission time, and comment activity.

When you request top stories, you're seeing what the Hacker News community considers important right now. This feed updates dynamically throughout the day as stories rise and fall based on community interaction. It's ideal for:

• Staying current with breaking tech news
• Understanding what topics are generating buzz
• Monitoring real-time community interests
• Catching trending discussions while they're active

Top stories typically remain visible for several hours to a day, depending on their momentum and the volume of new submissions.

New Stories

New Stories shows the most recent submissions to Hacker News in chronological order, regardless of votes or engagement. This feed displays everything as it's submitted, giving you the earliest possible access to content.

This unfiltered view is valuable when you want to:

• Discover content before it becomes popular
• Monitor specific topics as soon as they're posted
• Track all submissions without editorial filtering
• Catch niche discussions that might not reach the front page

Keep in mind that new stories haven't been vetted by the community yet, so quality and relevance can vary significantly.

Best Stories

Best Stories represents Hacker News' algorithmic assessment of the highest-quality content over a longer timeframe. This feed identifies submissions that have demonstrated sustained value through consistent engagement and positive community reception.

Unlike top stories which reflect current trends, best stories surface content with lasting merit. Use this feed to:

• Find thoroughly vetted, high-quality content
• Access important discussions you might have missed
• Discover evergreen technical resources
• Research topics with comprehensive community input

Best stories often include in-depth articles, significant announcements, and thoughtful discussions that continue generating value beyond their initial posting.

Choosing the Right Feed

Select your story type based on your objective: top stories for current awareness, new stories for comprehensive monitoring, and best stories for quality over timeliness. You can query any of these feeds through natural language requests to access exactly the content you need.