Understanding User Profile Access

The Hacker News MCP Server provides comprehensive access to user profiles and their complete activity history. This functionality enables you to research individual contributors, track expert discussions, and analyze engagement patterns within the community.

Accessing User Profiles

To retrieve a user's profile information, simply ask your AI assistant about a specific Hacker News user by their username. The server will return their complete profile, including their karma score (accumulated points from upvotes), account creation date, and any biographical information they've shared. This basic profile data gives you immediate insight into a user's standing and tenure within the community.

Viewing Activity History

Each user profile includes access to their complete activity history on Hacker News. This encompasses two primary categories:

Submissions: All stories and links the user has posted to Hacker News. This shows what content they've chosen to share with the community and which topics they find important enough to submit.

Comments: The user's complete comment history across all discussions. Comments often reveal more about a user's expertise and interests than their submissions, as they showcase their knowledge, opinions, and engagement style.

Practical Applications

Identifying Subject Matter Experts

When researching a specific technology or topic, you can examine users who frequently comment on related stories. Their comment history and karma score help you identify individuals with deep expertise and credibility within the community.

Understanding Perspectives

Before engaging with a discussion, review the activity history of key participants to understand their background and viewpoints. This context helps you interpret their comments more accurately and assess the weight of their opinions.

Tracking Thought Leaders

Follow the activity of influential community members by periodically checking their profiles. This helps you stay informed about topics they're discussing and content they're sharing.

Making Requests

You can request user information through natural language queries like "Show me the profile for user [username]" or "What has user [username] been commenting about recently?" The server handles the technical details of retrieving and organizing this information.

The user profile and activity history features transform how you research and engage with the Hacker News community, making it simple to understand who's contributing, what they care about, and where valuable expertise resides.