# Hacker News Mentions Monitor: Keyword and Domain Alerts (`accountable_eel/hackernews-mentions-monitor`) Actor

Hacker News keyword monitor: alert me when my startup is mentioned on Hacker News, track Hacker News mentions of a domain, plus a new Hacker News comments monitor for a keyword. Stories above minimum points, only-new-since-last-run alerts. Keyword alerts to Google Sheets or n8n. No API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/accountable_eel/hackernews-mentions-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Adriana Voss](https://apify.com/accountable_eel) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 mention returneds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Hacker News Mentions Monitor: Keyword and Domain Alerts

A **hacker news keyword monitor** and **hn brand mention alert** in one actor. Give it keywords
or a bare domain and get one row per matching Hacker News story or comment from the last N days,
with the title, author, link, and (for stories) points. Turn on "only new since last run" to
**track hacker news mentions of a domain** on a schedule, or run it as a **new hacker news
comments monitor**. No API key. You pay per mention returned; a quiet day costs only the start
fee.

This reads Algolia's public Hacker News Search API at request time. It is the same index the
HN search box uses.

### Who it's for

- **Founders and comms teams** who want to know when Hacker News is talking about their product,
  domain, or a competitor, without refreshing `/newest` by hand.
- **Developer-tool marketers** watching "Show HN" and comment threads for a category (LLMs,
  scrapers, a language, a cloud).
- **Analysts and agents** who need a structured mention feed for Clay, n8n, Make, or a spreadsheet.

### Why this one

- **Stories and comments, honestly shaped.** Story hits carry `points` and `numComments`. Comment
  hits do not: those two fields are `null` on every comment row, because Algolia does not send
  them. Comment titles come from the parent story (`story_title`). This is a real shape difference,
  not a missing column.
- **Only-new monitoring.** Tick "Only return mentions that are new since the last run" and you
  are billed only for item ids this watchlist has not returned before. A run with nothing new is
  free besides the start fee.
- **Domain search works.** `apify.com` is a valid line, not only a keyword.
- **No key, no proxy required.** One JSON request per keyword and type (story / comment), paged
  until your cap.

### What you get

One dataset row per mention by default ("One row per mention" is on). Story hits and comment hits
share most columns; **points and comment count are story-only**:

| Field | Story hit | Comment hit |
|---|---|---|
| `title` | The story title | The parent story's title (`story_title`) |
| `url` | The external URL, or the HN permalink if the story has none | The HN thread permalink (`item?id=<story_id>`) |
| `points` | The score | Always `null` (no points field on comment hits) |
| `numComments` | Number of comments on the story | Always `null` (no comment-count field on comment hits) |
| `commentText` | Always `null` | Plain text, first 500 characters |
| `hnUrl` | `news.ycombinator.com/item?id=<objectID>` | Same, for this comment |
| `author`, `createdAt`, `objectID`, `type` | Present | Present (`type` is `comment`) |

`query` and `scrapedAt` are on every row. With monitoring on, `isNew` and `firstSeenAt` say whether
that item id is new to the watchlist.

A keyword with zero matches comes back as `"found": false` and is never charged. A monitoring run
that finds nothing new comes back as a found row with `mentionCount` 0 and is not charged for
mentions.

### How to use Hacker News Mentions Monitor: Keyword and Domain Alerts

1. **In the Apify Console.** Open the actor page and click **Start** — the `queries` field is already pre-filled with a working example. Results land in the run's dataset as soon as each item is found.
2. **Via the API.** Call it directly with a POST request — no Console needed once you have an API token:
   ```bash
   curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~hackernews-mentions-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"queries":["openai"]}'
   ```
3. **On a schedule.** Save this actor as an Apify **Task** with the input you want, then add a **Schedule** (hourly, daily, weekly) so it runs on its own — no server of your own required.

### Input

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "openai"
  ]
}
```

One search per line: a keyword, a phrase, or a bare domain such as apify.com. Each line is searched on Hacker News stories and/or comments. Accepted formats: openai, apify.com, "show hn".

`queries` is a list of keywords or bare domains. Optional: `tags` (stories, comments, or both;
default both), `sinceDays` (default 7), `minPoints` (stories only; has no effect on comment hits),
`maxResults` (default 100 per keyword), `onlyNewSinceLastRun`, `deltaName`.

### Sample output

| query | found | status | mentionCount | mentions | objectID | type | title | url | author | points | numComments | commentText | createdAt | hnUrl | isNew | firstSeenAt | scrapedAt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| openai | true | OK | <mentions returned> | \<all mentions (full list)> | <hacker news item id> | <story or comment> | <title> | <link> | <author> | <points> | <comments on the story> | \<comment text (first 500 characters)> | <posted> | <hacker news permalink> | \<is this mention new?> | <first seen on a run> | 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z |

### Example runs

Three inputs that need no credentials of any kind and return rows as they stand. Paste one into the
Input tab and press Start.

**1. Watch Hacker News for a keyword (stories and comments, last 7 days)**

```json
{
  "queries": ["openai"]
}
```

**2. Track two topics in one run**

```json
{
  "queries": ["openai", "python"],
  "maxResults": 20
}
```

**3. New comments only, as a scheduled alert**

```json
{
  "queries": ["openai"],
  "tags": ["comment"],
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": true,
  "maxResults": 25
}
```

### Pricing

- **Mention returned**: $2 per 1,000 mentions

Plus a $0.002 start fee per run. Each event above is billed independently, only when it actually returns data — misses (`found:false`) are never charged.

Charged once per mention returned. A query with zero matches, or a monitoring run with nothing new,
is never charged.

### Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an AI agent

This actor runs synchronously over plain HTTP — call it directly from a script, a workflow tool, or an AI agent, no Apify Console needed once you have an API token.

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~hackernews-mentions-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queries":["openai"]}'
```

**n8n.** Add an HTTP Request node: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~hackernews-mentions-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body Content Type `JSON`, JSON Body `{"queries":["openai"]}` (swap in an expression from an earlier node for a real value).

**Clay.** Add an "HTTP API" column: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~hackernews-mentions-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body `{"queries":["{{search}}"]}`, mapping the row's search into the `queries` array.

**MCP.** In Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the Apify MCP server, ask for "hacker news mentions monitor: keyword domain alerts" — the agent will find and run this actor.

### vs. the alternatives

Hacker News scrapers on the Store dump newest/frontpage rows at a commodity per-row price and do
not ship an only-new-since-last-run watchlist. This actor is a mention monitor: you name the
keyword or domain, you get matching stories and comments, and a scheduled run bills only what is
new.

### FAQ

**Why is `points` null on some rows?** Those rows are comments. Hacker News comment hits have no
points field and no comment-count field. Story hits carry both. The actor never fills them in from
the parent story.

**Does a domain search find comments that only mention the brand name?** Yes, if the comment text
or the parent title matches. A bare domain such as `openai.com` matches how Algolia indexes the
URL and text; a company name such as `openai` usually matches more threads.

**How far back does it go?** `sinceDays` (default 7). Monitoring memory forgets an item id after
30 days without seeing it, so the named store stays small.

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

One search per line: a keyword, a phrase, or a bare domain such as apify.com. Each line is searched on Hacker News stories and/or comments. Accepted formats: openai, apify.com, "show hn". You're only charged for the ones we actually find — a miss costs nothing.

## `tags` (type: `array`):

Stories, comments, or both. Default is both. Each choice is a separate Hacker News search for every keyword.

## `testRun` (type: `boolean`):

Turn this on to test your input on a small sample before running the full list. Turn it off to process everything.

## `onlyFound` (type: `boolean`):

Only keep rows where something was actually found. Misses are always free, whether or not you show them here.

## `includeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Only keep results that mention at least one of these words (e.g. a job title, a city, a product name). Leave empty to keep everything.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Drop any result that mentions one of these words. Leave empty to skip nothing.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Caps how many mentions you get (and pay for) from each keyword, across the story and comment searches you picked. Default 100.

## `sinceDays` (type: `integer`):

How far back to search. Default 7. Applied as a posted-date filter on Hacker News, before you are billed.

## `minPoints` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Keep a story only when it has at least this many points. Has no effect on comment hits, which carry no points field. Leave empty to keep every story.

## `onlyNewSinceLastRun` (type: `boolean`):

Turns each keyword into an alert. A mention counts as new when its Hacker News item id has not been returned for that keyword by a previous run of the same watchlist. Already-seen mentions are dropped before you are billed, so a run with nothing new costs only the start fee. Item ids not seen for 30 days are forgotten.

## `deltaName` (type: `string`):

Leave empty and one is derived from your search settings, with a separate memory per keyword. Type your own name to keep two schedules of the same search apart. Naming a watchlist with the checkbox above off returns every mention but still stamps each one with 'Is this mention new?' so you can filter in Sheets, n8n or Make.

## `columns` (type: `array`):

Choose which pieces of information to include in each result row. All are included by default.

## `expandRows` (type: `boolean`):

When on, each mention found gets its own row instead of being grouped under its search. You're still only charged once per search, no matter how many rows it produces.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Keep conservative — this target has no browser fallback, so getting blocked costs more than slow-and-steady.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy config. Residential recommended for anti-bot-sensitive targets.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "openai"
  ],
  "tags": [],
  "testRun": false,
  "onlyFound": false,
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": [],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "sinceDays": 7,
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
  "deltaName": "",
  "columns": [
    "mentionCount",
    "mentions",
    "objectID",
    "type",
    "title",
    "url",
    "author",
    "points",
    "numComments",
    "commentText",
    "createdAt",
    "hnUrl",
    "isNew",
    "firstSeenAt"
  ],
  "expandRows": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 2,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "queries": [
        "openai"
    ],
    "tags": [],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("accountable_eel/hackernews-mentions-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "queries": ["openai"],
    "tags": [],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("accountable_eel/hackernews-mentions-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "queries": [
    "openai"
  ],
  "tags": [],
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": []
}' |
apify call accountable_eel/hackernews-mentions-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,accountable_eel/hackernews-mentions-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/4TMfds5QrgyGiqQCD/builds/V8ndSNI4Ty1bqSGkb/openapi.json