What You'll Need

Before diving in, ensure you have the Hacker News MCP server installed and configured in your Semgrep environment. The server connects directly to Hacker News APIs, so no additional authentication or API keys are required—just add it to your MCP configuration and you're ready to start exploring.

Basic Usage

Once configured, interact with the server through natural language queries to your AI assistant. The beauty of this integration is its simplicity: you don't need to remember API endpoints or construct complex queries. Just ask what you want to know.

Try these example requests to get started:

• "Show me the top stories on Hacker News right now"
• "What are the latest new submissions?"
• "Get comments for story ID 12345"
• "Show me the profile for user 'pg'"

The server translates your requests into appropriate API calls and returns structured, easy-to-read results.

Exploring Stories

Stories are the heart of Hacker News. Access different story feeds depending on what interests you:

Top Stories: These are the most popular submissions currently on the front page, ranked by community votes and engagement.

New Stories: See the latest submissions as they arrive, perfect for catching breaking news or emerging trends before they hit the mainstream.

Best Stories: Access posts that have demonstrated lasting value, combining recency with sustained community interest.

Each story includes essential metadata like title, URL, score, author, and submission time, giving you complete context at a glance.

Reading Comments

Hacker News discussions often rival the articles themselves in value. Request comment threads for any story to access the community's insights, critiques, and technical discussions. Comments are returned in tree structure, allowing you to follow conversation threads naturally.

Researching Users

Look up any Hacker News user to see their karma score, submission history, comments, and profile information. This feature is particularly useful for identifying subject matter experts or understanding who's contributing to specific discussions.

Practical Tips

Start broad, then narrow down. Begin by browsing top or new stories to get a feel for current discussions, then drill into specific threads or users that catch your interest.

The server works with real-time data, so repeated queries may show different results as stories move up or down based on community voting.

Use story IDs to reference specific submissions when diving deeper into comments or tracking particular discussions over time.