Summary
Connects Claude to Hacker News through two straightforward tools: get_top_stories pulls the current front page with scores, authors, and comment counts, while get_item fetches individual stories or comments by ID with full text and replies. Runs as a hosted service through Pipeworx's gateway at gateway.pipeworx.io, so no local setup required. The ask_pipeworx wrapper lets you skip manual tool calls and just ask questions in plain English. Useful when you want to pull HN discussions into your workflow, track trending topics, or grab story details without opening a browser. Part of a larger gateway offering 673+ data sources if you need to expand beyond HN.
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Public tool metadata for what this MCP can expose to an agent.
6 tools
HACKERNEWS_GET_FRONTPAGEGet the frontpage posts of Hacker News.1 params
Get the frontpage posts of Hacker News.
Parameters* required
min_pointsintegerMinimum points a post must have to be included in the response. It returns at most 50 posts.default: 40
HACKERNEWS_GET_ITEM_WITH_IDGet a specific item from Hacker News using its ID. Limits response size to prevent context overflow.4 params
Get a specific item from Hacker News using its ID. Limits response size to prevent context overflow.
Parameters* required
item_idstringThe ID of the item to retrieve from Hacker News.
max_childrenintegerMaximum number of direct children comments to include.default: 10
max_depthintegerMaximum depth of nested comments to include.default: 2
truncate_textbooleanWhether to truncate long text content.default: true
HACKERNEWS_GET_LATEST_POSTSGet the latest posts from Hacker News based on optional filters. Results can be limited using the size parameter.3 params
Get the latest posts from Hacker News based on optional filters. Results can be limited using the size parameter.
Parameters* required
pageintegerPage number for pagination.default: 0
sizeintegerLimit the number of results returned. If not specified, returns all results from the page. Use 0 to return all results.default: 5
tagsarrayFilter on a specific tag. Available tags: story, comment, poll, pollopt, show_hn, ask_hn, front_page, author_<USERNAME>, story_<ID>.
HACKERNEWS_GET_TODAYS_POSTSGet today's posts from Hacker News.1 params
Get today's posts from Hacker News.
Parameters* required
min_pointsintegerMinimum points a post must have to be included in the response. It returns at most 1000 posts.default: 200
HACKERNEWS_GET_USERGet a specific user from Hacker News using their username.1 params
Get a specific user from Hacker News using their username.
Parameters* required
usernamestringThe username of the Hacker News user to retrieve.
HACKERNEWS_SEARCH_POSTSGet relevant posts from Hacker News based on a full-text query and optional filters. Results can be limited using the size parameter.4 params
Get relevant posts from Hacker News based on a full-text query and optional filters. Results can be limited using the size parameter.
Parameters* required
pageintegerPage number for pagination.default: 0
querystringFull-text query to filter the posts.
sizeintegerLimit the number of results returned. If not specified, returns all results from the page. Use 0 to return all results.default: 5
tagsarrayFilter on a specific tag. Available tags: story, comment, poll, pollopt, show_hn, ask_hn, front_page, author_<USERNAME>, story_<ID>.
mcp-hackernews
Hacker News MCP — search and retrieve stories from Hacker News
Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1476+ live data sources.
Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
search_hn | Full-text search Hacker News via Algolia. Pass query plus optional tags filter (story, comment, ask_hn, show_hn; default: story). Returns title, URL, score, author, comment count, and timestamp. |
get_top_stories | Fetch the current live top-ranked Hacker News stories from the Firebase API. Returns up to count stories (default 10) with title, URL, score, author, comment count, and Unix timestamp. |
get_stories | Fetch Hacker News stories of a given TYPE: top (default), new (newest), best, ask (Ask HN), show (Show HN), or job (jobs/hiring). PREFER for "newest HN stories", "top Ask HN posts", "Show HN", "HN job postings / who is hiring". Returns title, URL (or self-text for Ask/Show), score, author, comment count, and timestamp. |
get_item | Fetch a Hacker News story or comment by ID (e.g., "42153809"). Returns full text, score, author, timestamp, and child replies. |
get_hn_comments | Fetch the discussion (top-level comments, actual text) on a Hacker News story by its item ID. PREFER OVER WEB SEARCH for "what are people saying about ", "HN discussion / developer sentiment on X". get_item returns only comment IDs; this resolves them to text. Find a story ID via get_top_stories or search_hn. Returns each top comment author, text, time, and reply count. |
Quick Start
Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):
{
"mcpServers": {
"hackernews": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/hackernews/mcp"
}
}
}
What this endpoint actually serves
tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/hackernews/mcp returns the tools in the table
above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx,
discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.
This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.
Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pipeworx": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
}
}
}
Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1476+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx
reaches all of them from either one.
Using with ask_pipeworx
Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Hackernews data" })
The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.
More
License
MIT
Featured
Plug Mailtrap into your AI workflow and let it handle the email.
Connect Mailtrap MCP →Agent, run crypto. Access onchain data & trade routes via 1inch.
Install now →Make coding agent sessions - Searchable, Shareable, Vendor-neutral & Scored.
Try For Free →Your agent targets a perfect 10 Code Health score. Deterministic. Every commit.
Try For Free →Integrate web data into your AI product. One API to scrape website & brand data.
Get API Key Now →belt cli automatically finds the best tools and skills for your agent. image, video, music, tts...
one prompt install →