Hacker News (YC) MCP server for Claude & AI assistants. Browse HN stories, search posts, read comments, analyze users.
HN-MCPA Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables Claude Desktop and other AI assistants to browse Hacker News, search discussions, and analyze tech trends. Clean, fast, and actually works - no API keys required.
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"hn": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["hn-mcp"]
}
}
}
That's it! HN-MCP is now available in Claude.
Ask your AI assistant to:
browse_storiesBrowse posts from Hacker News by category.
- Types: top, new, best, ask (Ask HN), show (Show HN), job
- Limit: 1-100 stories (default: 30)
- Returns: Title, score, author, comments, URL
search_hnSearch across all Hacker News content.
- Query: Your search terms
- Filter by: Type, date range, author
- Sort by: relevance or date
- Uses: Algolia's HN Search API
get_story_detailsGet a story with all its comments.
- Input: Story ID
- Returns: Full story + nested comment threads
- Options: Max comments, thread depth
user_analysisAnalyze a Hacker News user's profile.
- Username: Any HN user
- Returns: Karma, account age, recent submissions
- Insights: Activity patterns, top posts
hn_explainGet explanations of HN terms.
- Terms: karma, flagged, dupe, Show HN, Ask HN, etc.
- Returns: Definition + context
Easiest method - One-click install for Claude Desktop:
hn-mcp.mcpb from latest releaseThat's it! HN-MCP will be available immediately.
# Claude Desktop - add to config (see Quick Start above)
npx hn-mcp
# HTTP mode for testing
HN_MCP_HTTP=true npx hn-mcp
npm install -g hn-mcp
hn-mcp # Run in stdio mode
HN_MCP_HTTP=true hn-mcp # Run in HTTP mode
# Quick start - HTTP mode for API access
docker run -e HN_MCP_HTTP=true -p 3000:3000 karanb192/hn-mcp:latest
# stdio mode for development
docker run -it karanb192/hn-mcp:latest
# With docker-compose
docker-compose up
git clone https://github.com/karanb192/hn-mcp.git
cd hn-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm link
| API | Official Limit | Our Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HN Firebase | None ✅ | 300/min | Self-imposed for courtesy |
| Algolia Search | None ✅ | 300/min | Max 1000 results per query |
@someone/hn-something is hard to rememberhn-mcp"What are the top posts about GPT-4 today?"
→ search_hn with query="GPT-4", dateRange="last24h", sortBy="relevance"
"Show me what's trending on Hacker News"
→ browse_stories with type="top", limit=10
"What are people saying about this article?"
→ search_hn with the article URL to find discussions
"Analyze the user dang"
→ user_analysis with username="dang"
"Get the comments from HN story 12345678"
→ get_story_details with id="12345678"
"Command not found" error
# Ensure npm is installed
node --version
npm --version
# Try with full npx path
$(npm bin -g)/hn-mcp
Connection issues
Search returns max 1000 results
Configure HN-MCP using environment variables. See .env.example for detailed documentation.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
HN_MCP_HTTP | Run as HTTP server instead of stdio | false |
HN_MCP_PORT | HTTP server port | 3000 |
HN_MCP_NO_CACHE | Disable caching for real-time data | false |
HN_MCP_RATE_LIMIT | Override rate limit (requests/minute) | 300 |
Quick setup:
# Copy example file
cp .env.example .env
# Edit with your preferences
nano .env
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Run in development
npm run dev
# Build
npm run build
# Run tests
npm run typecheck
# Deploy locally
./deploy-server.sh # Port 3000
./deploy-server.sh -p 8080 # Custom port
# Docker build
docker build -t karanb192/hn-mcp .
docker run -e HN_MCP_HTTP=true -p 3000:3000 karanb192/hn-mcp
# Docker development with hot reload
docker-compose --profile dev up
PRs welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
We keep things simple:
MIT - Use it however you want!
Made with ❤️ for the MCP community by the creator of reddit-mcp-buddy. No venture capital, no tracking, just a good MCP server.
FAQs
Hacker News (YC) MCP server for Claude & AI assistants. Browse HN stories, search posts, read comments, analyze users.
The npm package hn-mcp receives a total of 20 weekly downloads. As such, hn-mcp popularity was classified as not popular.
We found that hn-mcp demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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