What is the Hacker News MCP Server?

The Hacker News MCP Server connects your AI assistant directly to Hacker News, one of the tech community's most influential discussion platforms. Instead of manually browsing the site, you can now ask your AI assistant to retrieve stories, read comments, look up user profiles, and track trending discussions—all through simple conversational requests.

Setting Up Your Connection

To begin using the Hacker News MCP Server, you'll need to configure it within your MCP-compatible application (such as Claude Desktop or other AI tools that support the Model Context Protocol). The server requires no API keys or authentication credentials, making setup straightforward. Simply add the server configuration to your application's settings, and you're ready to start exploring Hacker News content.

Once connected, the server runs in the background, translating your natural language requests into API calls and returning structured data from Hacker News.

Core Capabilities

Browsing Stories

Ask your assistant to show you what's currently trending on Hacker News. You can request top stories (the front page), new submissions as they arrive, or "best" stories that have demonstrated lasting community value. Each story includes the title, URL, score, author, and timestamp—everything you need to understand what's capturing the community's attention.

Reading Comments

Hacker News discussions often contain insights as valuable as the articles themselves. Request comment threads for any story to explore what the community is saying. You can dive into specific conversations, follow discussion branches, and identify expert commentary on technical topics.

Looking Up Users

Query user profiles to see someone's submission history, comment activity, karma score, and bio. This is particularly useful for identifying subject matter experts or understanding the perspective of frequent contributors.

Practical Applications

Use the server to monitor emerging tech trends by tracking which stories gain traction. Conduct research by gathering community perspectives on specific technologies or companies. Discover high-quality technical content that's been vetted by the community's voting system. Track real-time discussions about topics relevant to your work.

The server handles all technical complexity behind the scenes, letting you focus on extracting insights rather than wrestling with APIs or data formatting.