Understanding Story Feeds

The Hacker News MCP Server provides access to multiple story feeds that represent different views of community content. Each feed serves a distinct purpose and surfaces content based on different criteria, allowing you to access the exact type of information you need.

Top Stories represent the most highly-ranked submissions currently on Hacker News' front page. These stories have gained significant upvotes from the community and are actively being discussed. This feed is ideal when you want to know what's capturing the attention of the tech community right now.

New Stories shows the most recent submissions as they arrive on the platform, regardless of voting or engagement. This feed is perfect for staying ahead of trends or monitoring specific topics as they first appear in the community.

Best Stories highlights submissions that have demonstrated lasting value and quality over time. These stories typically have high scores and sustained engagement, making this feed excellent for discovering high-quality content you might have missed.

Retrieving Story Information

To access any story feed, 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 on Hacker News?"

The server returns comprehensive information about each story, including:

• Title and URL: The story headline and link to the external content
• Score: The number of upvotes the story has received
• Author: The Hacker News username of the submitter
• Timestamp: When the story was submitted
• Comment count: How many discussions the story has generated

Working with Retrieved Stories

Once you've retrieved a story feed, you can dive deeper into individual submissions. Ask for specific details about stories that interest you, request comment threads to read community discussions, or look up information about the submitter's profile.

You can also combine story retrieval with other queries. For instance, after viewing top stories, you might ask to see comments on a particular submission, or request more stories from a specific author whose content you find valuable.

Best Practices

For time-sensitive information, use the top or new stories feeds to stay current with ongoing discussions. When conducting research or looking for quality resources, the best stories feed often surfaces more substantial and well-vetted content.

Remember that story rankings change frequently as the community votes and new content arrives, so the results you receive reflect real-time community activity.