Understanding Real-Time Updates

The Hacker News MCP Server provides continuous access to live data from Hacker News, ensuring you're always working with current information rather than outdated content. This real-time capability is essential for monitoring breaking tech news, tracking emerging discussions, and staying informed about rapidly evolving topics in the technology community.

Accessing New Submissions

To monitor the latest content appearing on Hacker News, you can request the "new stories" feed through your AI assistant. Simply ask for recent submissions, and the server will retrieve the most current posts as they arrive on the platform. This feed includes all types of submissions—articles, Show HN posts, Ask HN questions, and job postings—giving you a comprehensive view of fresh content entering the community.

New submissions appear in chronological order, allowing you to track what's being shared minute by minute. This is particularly valuable when you need to catch emerging stories before they gain traction or when monitoring specific topics as they develop.

Monitoring Top Stories

The top stories feed provides access to submissions that have risen to prominence through community voting. Unlike static snapshots, the server retrieves the current state of top stories, which shifts throughout the day as new content gains votes and older stories decay in ranking. By periodically requesting top stories, you can observe how the front page evolves and identify which topics are gaining momentum.

Tracking Specific Discussions

When monitoring particular topics or discussions, you can request specific story IDs to retrieve updated information including current scores, comment counts, and the latest comments. As discussions unfold and new perspectives emerge, requesting the same story again will return the most recent state of the conversation, allowing you to follow developing threads in real-time.

Best Practices for Real-Time Monitoring

For effective monitoring, consider requesting updates at regular intervals appropriate to your needs. Breaking news situations might warrant frequent checks, while trend analysis might only require hourly or daily updates. Remember that each request retrieves live data, so you're always seeing the current state rather than cached results.

You can also combine real-time access with user profile queries to track contributions from specific community members or monitor how particular users engage with emerging topics.