Understanding Real-Time Monitoring

The Hacker News MCP Server provides direct access to live discussions happening across the Hacker News platform. Real-time monitoring means you're viewing current data as it appears on the site, not cached or outdated information. This capability is essential for tracking breaking news, emerging trends, and time-sensitive discussions within the technology community.

Accessing Live Story Feeds

To monitor emerging discussions, start by querying the different story feeds available through the server. You can request:

• Top Stories: Articles and discussions currently on the front page, ranked by community votes
• New Stories: The latest submissions as they arrive, before community voting elevates them
• Best Stories: High-quality submissions that have demonstrated sustained community interest

Simply ask your AI assistant to retrieve these feeds using natural language. For example, "Show me the top stories on Hacker News" or "What are the newest submissions?" The server returns structured data including titles, URLs, scores, submission times, and authors.

Tracking Specific Topics

To monitor discussions around specific subjects, regularly query relevant story feeds and filter by keywords or themes. Since the server provides real-time access, you can check periodically to identify when new stories appear about topics you're tracking—whether that's a specific technology, company, or industry trend.

Monitoring Comment Activity

Emerging discussions often unfold in comment threads rather than just story submissions. Request comment data for stories of interest to see how conversations develop. The server allows you to access entire comment trees, letting you follow discussion threads as they evolve and identify when expert commentary or important perspectives emerge.

Identifying Rising Trends

Watch for stories that move from the "new" feed to the "top" feed quickly—this indicates rapidly growing community interest. By periodically checking story scores and rankings, you can identify which topics are gaining momentum before they become widely discussed.

Practical Monitoring Workflow

Establish a monitoring routine by regularly requesting story feeds, focusing on either new submissions for early awareness or top stories for established trends. When you spot relevant discussions, dive deeper by retrieving the full comment threads to understand community sentiment and gather detailed perspectives. Use user profile queries to identify and follow influential community members whose submissions consistently generate valuable discussions.