What You'll Need

Before connecting the Hacker News MCP server to your AI assistant, ensure you have the MCP-compatible application installed (such as Claude Desktop, Cline, or another MCP-enabled tool) and basic familiarity with editing JSON configuration files.

Installation Steps

Locate Your Configuration File

Find your AI assistant's MCP configuration file. For Claude Desktop, this is typically located at:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the Server Configuration

Open the configuration file in a text editor and add the Hacker News MCP server to the mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hackernews": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-hackernews"]
    }
  }
}

If you already have other MCP servers configured, simply add the hackernews entry alongside them, ensuring proper JSON formatting with commas between entries.

Restart Your Application

Close and reopen your AI assistant application completely. This ensures the new server configuration is loaded properly.

Verifying the Connection

Once restarted, you can verify the connection by asking your AI assistant a question like "What are the top stories on Hacker News right now?" If configured correctly, your assistant will access live data from Hacker News and present current top stories.

What You Can Do

With the server connected, you can:

• Browse stories: Request top, new, or best stories currently on Hacker News
• Read discussions: Access comment threads and explore community conversations
• Research users: Look up user profiles, karma scores, and contribution history
• Track topics: Monitor discussions about specific technologies, companies, or trends

Simply ask your AI assistant in natural language what you'd like to know about Hacker News content, and the server will handle retrieving and formatting the data.

Troubleshooting

If the connection isn't working, double-check your JSON syntax for errors like missing commas or brackets. Ensure you have Node.js installed on your system, as the server requires it to run. Check your application's logs for specific error messages that might indicate configuration issues.