Overview

The Hacker News MCP Server provides several tools for accessing story content and feeds. This guide will walk you through retrieving different types of stories, from top-rated submissions to the latest posts, helping you stay connected with the most relevant discussions in the tech community.

Understanding Story Feeds

The server offers access to three primary story feeds, each serving a different purpose:

Top Stories represent the most popular submissions currently on Hacker News' front page. These stories have earned their position through community upvotes and engagement, reflecting what the community finds most valuable right now.

New Stories show the latest submissions as they arrive on the platform. This feed is ideal when you want to discover emerging content before it gains widespread attention or when monitoring for specific topics in real-time.

Best Stories highlight submissions that have demonstrated sustained value and quality over time. This feed uses Hacker News' ranking algorithm to surface content with lasting relevance rather than just recent popularity.

Retrieving Story Feeds

To access any of these feeds, simply request them through your AI assistant using natural language. For example:

• "Show me the top stories on Hacker News"
• "What are the latest new submissions?"
• "Get the best stories from Hacker News"

The server will return a structured list of stories, typically including the title, URL, author, score, submission time, and number of comments for each item. By default, you'll receive multiple stories in each feed, giving you a comprehensive view of current activity.

Working with Story Data

Each story includes rich metadata that helps you understand its context and significance. The score indicates how many upvotes the story has received, while the timestamp shows when it was submitted. The comment count reveals the level of discussion happening around the topic.

You can use this information to identify trending topics, find high-quality content, or discover what's generating the most conversation. For deeper investigation, you can retrieve the full comment threads for any story that interests you.

Practical Tips

When monitoring Hacker News, consider checking new stories for emerging topics, top stories for current community focus, and best stories for high-quality content discovery. Combine story retrieval with comment access to get the full picture of community sentiment and expert perspectives on any given topic.