Getting Started with Natural Language Requests

Your AI assistant can now access Hacker News directly through natural language conversations. Instead of navigating the website manually or writing code, simply ask your assistant what you want to know, and it will retrieve the information for you using the Hacker News MCP server.

Understanding What You Can Ask

The server responds to requests about Hacker News content in plain English. You don't need to know technical commands or API syntax—just phrase your questions naturally, as you would ask a colleague.

Finding Stories

Ask your assistant to show you what's trending on Hacker News right now. Request top stories to see what the community has voted to the front page, or ask for new submissions to catch the latest posts. You can also request "best" stories to find content that has demonstrated lasting value over time.

Example requests:

• "What are the top stories on Hacker News right now?"
• "Show me the newest submissions"
• "Find the best stories from Hacker News"

Exploring Comments and Discussions

Comments often contain the most valuable insights. Ask your assistant to retrieve discussion threads for specific stories, or request comment details to understand community perspectives on particular topics.

Example requests:

• "Show me the comments on this story"
• "What are people saying about [topic] on Hacker News?"
• "Get the discussion thread for story #12345678"

Researching Users

Learn about contributors to the community by asking about specific users. Your assistant can retrieve profile information, including karma scores, submission history, and user activity.

Example requests:

• "Show me the profile for user [username]"
• "What has [username] been posting about lately?"
• "Find information about this Hacker News user"

Tips for Effective Requests

Be conversational and specific about what you're looking for. If you want recent stories about a particular topic, mention both the recency and the topic. If you're interested in highly-voted discussions, specify that you want popular or top-ranked content.

The assistant understands context, so you can ask follow-up questions naturally. After viewing top stories, you might ask "show me the comments on the third one" without repeating the entire context.

Working with Results

Your assistant will present information in a readable format, summarizing key details like story titles, scores, authors, and timestamps. You can ask for more detail about specific items or request different information based on what you see.