Understanding Story Feeds

The Hacker News MCP Server provides access to multiple story feeds, each serving a different purpose. The three primary feeds are top stories, new stories, and best stories. Top stories represent the current front page of Hacker News—submissions that have gained significant traction through community voting. New stories show the latest submissions as they arrive, regardless of votes. Best stories highlight content that has demonstrated lasting value over time.

To retrieve any of these feeds, simply ask your AI assistant in natural language. For example, you might say "Show me the top stories on Hacker News" or "What are the newest submissions?" The server will fetch the current feed and present the results in an easy-to-read format.

What Information You'll Receive

When you retrieve stories, the server returns comprehensive data about each submission. This includes the story title, the URL it links to (if applicable), the current score (number of upvotes), when it was submitted, and who posted it. You'll also see the number of comments each story has received, which can indicate how much discussion a topic has generated.

This structured data makes it easy to quickly scan what's trending in the tech community or identify stories worth deeper exploration.

Retrieving Specific Stories

If you come across a story ID from Hacker News (usually a number), you can request that specific story directly. Simply provide the ID to your assistant, and the server will fetch detailed information about that particular submission. This is useful when following up on previously seen stories or when someone shares a specific Hacker News item with you.

Practical Usage Tips

For staying current with tech news, regularly checking top stories gives you a curated view of what the community values most. If you're researching a specific topic, retrieving new stories can help you catch relevant submissions before they become widely discussed.

You can also combine story retrieval with comment access to get the full picture—not just what articles are being shared, but how the community is responding to them. The discussions often provide context, critique, and additional resources that enhance the original submission's value.

The server handles all technical details automatically, so you can focus on consuming and analyzing the content rather than worrying about API calls or data formatting.