Understanding User Profiles

Every Hacker News user maintains a public profile that contains valuable information about their contributions and standing within the community. Through this MCP server, you can access user profiles to view karma scores, account age, biographical information (if provided), and links to all submissions and comments made by that user.

To look up a user profile, simply ask your AI assistant about a specific Hacker News user by their username. For example, you might say "Show me the profile for user pg" or "What's the karma score for user tptacek?" The server will retrieve the user's public profile information and present it in an easy-to-understand format.

Accessing Activity History

User activity history is one of the most powerful features for understanding how individuals contribute to the Hacker News community. Each profile provides access to:

• Submission History: All stories and links the user has posted to Hacker News
• Comment History: Every comment the user has made across all discussions
• Karma Metrics: The cumulative score reflecting community appreciation for their contributions

To explore a user's activity, you can request their recent submissions or comments. Try queries like "What has user dang posted recently?" or "Show me the latest comments from user patio11." The server retrieves this data directly from Hacker News, ensuring you're seeing current information.

Practical Applications

Looking up user profiles and activity serves several useful purposes:

Identifying Experts: Find users with deep knowledge in specific technical domains by examining their comment history and the topics they engage with regularly.

Research Contributors: When you encounter insightful comments or valuable submissions, investigate the author's other contributions to discover more high-quality content.

Understanding Context: Before engaging with or citing a user's perspective, review their history to understand their background and expertise level.

Community Analysis: Track how influential community members discuss emerging technologies or industry trends over time.

Making Effective Queries

When requesting user information, be specific about what you want to know. Instead of broad requests, try targeted queries like "What are the top-rated comments from user X?" or "Has user Y submitted anything about machine learning?" This helps the AI assistant retrieve exactly the information you need without overwhelming you with data.

The user profile and activity features make Hacker News's collective knowledge more accessible, helping you identify trusted voices and valuable perspectives within the technology community.