Understanding Story Feeds

The Hacker News MCP Server provides access to several curated story feeds that reflect different aspects of community activity. Each feed serves a distinct purpose and helps you stay informed about what's happening in the tech community.

Top Stories represent submissions that have risen to prominence through community voting. These are the stories currently featured on Hacker News's front page, having accumulated significant upvotes and engagement. Top stories reflect what the community considers most important or interesting at this moment.

New Stories show the most recent submissions as they arrive on the platform. This feed gives you early access to content before it gains traction, allowing you to spot emerging trends or be among the first to engage with fresh discussions.

Best Stories highlight submissions that have demonstrated lasting value and strong community engagement over time. This feed uses Hacker News's ranking algorithm to surface content that has proven particularly worthwhile.

Retrieving Story Feeds

To access any story feed, simply ask your AI assistant using natural language. The server processes your request and returns structured information about each story.

For example, you might ask:

• "Show me the current top stories on Hacker News"
• "What are the newest submissions?"
• "Get the best stories from Hacker News"

Each story result includes essential details: the title, URL to the original content, the author's username, submission time, current score (upvotes), and the number of comments. This information gives you a complete picture of each story's reach and engagement.

Working with Story Data

Once you retrieve a story feed, you can explore individual stories in greater depth. Each story has a unique identifier that allows you to access its full comment thread, track its score over time, or research the author's profile.

Story feeds typically return multiple results, allowing you to scan what's trending or newly submitted. You can request specific numbers of stories or let the server return its default set of results.

The real-time nature of these feeds means you're always seeing current data. Scores, comment counts, and story rankings update continuously as the Hacker News community interacts with content, ensuring you're working with the latest information available.

Practical Applications

Use top stories to understand what's capturing the tech community's attention right now. Monitor new stories to catch emerging discussions early. Review best stories when seeking high-quality, community-vetted content on technical topics. By combining these different feeds, you gain a comprehensive view of Hacker News activity suited to your specific needs.