Overview

The Hacker News MCP Server transforms how you conduct trend analysis and research by providing direct access to one of technology's most influential discussion platforms. This guide will help you leverage the server's capabilities to extract meaningful insights, track emerging topics, and conduct thorough research within the Hacker News community.

Identifying Emerging Trends

Start by querying top stories to understand what's currently capturing the community's attention. Request the latest top stories through natural language commands like "Show me today's top Hacker News stories." The server returns structured data including titles, scores, and submission times, allowing you to quickly identify which topics are gaining traction.

To detect emerging trends early, access new submissions as they arrive. This real-time feed helps you spot topics before they reach the front page, giving you a competitive advantage in understanding where discussions are heading. Compare new submissions with top stories over several days to identify patterns in what resonates with the community.

Deep-Dive Research

When researching specific topics, technologies, or companies, retrieve relevant stories and their complete comment threads. Comments often contain technical insights and real-world experiences that provide context beyond the original submission. Ask for specific stories by topic or retrieve items by their ID when you've identified particularly relevant discussions.

User profiles offer another research dimension. Access profiles of frequent contributors or subject matter experts to review their submission history and past comments. This helps you identify thought leaders in specific domains and understand their perspectives across multiple discussions.

Analyzing Community Sentiment

Comment threads reveal how the technical community responds to announcements, products, or ideas. Retrieve full comment trees to understand conversation flow, identify concerns, and gauge overall sentiment. Pay attention to highly-scored comments, as these represent views that resonated strongly with the community.

Building Research Workflows

Combine multiple queries to create comprehensive research workflows. Start with story retrieval to identify relevant discussions, then access comment threads for detailed analysis, and finally review user profiles of key contributors. This systematic approach ensures you capture both broad trends and specific insights.

Best Practices

Focus your queries on specific timeframes or topics to avoid information overload. Use the server's flexible querying to request exactly what you need—whether that's the latest submissions in a category, comments on a specific post, or a user's recent activity. Regular monitoring of key topics helps you track how discussions evolve over time, revealing longer-term trends that single snapshots might miss.