Understanding Story Feeds

The Hacker News MCP server provides access to several curated story feeds that reflect different aspects of community activity. Each feed serves a distinct purpose and offers unique insights into what's happening on Hacker News.

Top Stories represent submissions that have risen to prominence through community voting. These are the articles and discussions that appear on the Hacker News front page, indicating they've resonated with the community and received significant engagement.

New Stories show the most recent submissions as they arrive on the platform. This feed is ideal for staying ahead of trends and discovering content before it gains widespread attention.

Best Stories highlight submissions that have demonstrated lasting value and sustained engagement over time, representing the highest quality content as determined by community interaction patterns.

Retrieving Story Feeds

To access story feeds through the server, simply make natural language requests to your AI assistant. The server handles the technical details of API communication and returns structured data.

For example, ask: "Show me the current top stories on Hacker News" or "What are the latest new submissions?" The server will retrieve the appropriate feed and present the results in an easily readable format.

Each story entry includes essential information such as the title, URL, author, submission time, current score, and the number of comments. This data provides context for understanding each story's significance and level of community engagement.

Working with Individual Stories

Once you've identified a story of interest from a feed, you can retrieve detailed information about it using its unique identifier. Every Hacker News item has a numeric ID that serves as its permanent reference.

Request specific story details by asking about the story by name or by referencing its ID if you have it. The server will return comprehensive information including the full text (for text posts), external links, and metadata about the submission.

Accessing Story Comments

Comments often contain the most valuable insights on Hacker News. After retrieving a story, you can explore its comment thread to understand community perspectives and technical discussions.

Request comments for a specific story, and the server will return the conversation thread with proper hierarchical structure preserved. This allows you to follow discussion branches and identify particularly insightful or highly-voted contributions.

Practical Tips

When exploring story feeds, consider the recency of submissions—Hacker News moves quickly, and top stories can change throughout the day. For research purposes, combining multiple feeds provides a comprehensive view of both trending and emerging topics.

Pay attention to scores and comment counts as indicators of community interest. Stories with substantial discussion often contain valuable insights beyond the original submission.