# Hacker News Search & Monitor (`agentictools/hacker-news-search`) Actor Search and export Hacker News stories, comments, and Ask or Show HN by keyword, author, points, or date. No API key. - **URL**: https://apify.com/agentictools/hacker-news-search.md - **Developed by:** [Ken Agland](https://apify.com/agentictools) (community) - **Categories:** News, Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Hacker News Search & Monitor Search and export Hacker News stories, comments, and Ask/Show HN by keyword, author, or date. ### What it does - Search all of Hacker News by keyword using the free Algolia API (no API key needed). - Pick the item type: stories, comments, Show HN, Ask HN, or front page stories. - Filter by minimum points, author, and a recency window in hours. - Sort by relevance or by date (newest first). - Export clean, flat records to a dataset plus an aggregate summary in OUTPUT. ### Example input Top stories mentioning "apify": ```json { "query": "apify", "tags": "story", "maxItems": 20 } ```` Newest Show HN posts from the last 48 hours with at least 5 points: ```json { "query": "", "tags": "show_hn", "minPoints": 5, "sinceHours": 48, "byDate": true, "maxItems": 50 } ``` Everything a specific author posted: ```json { "query": "", "tags": "story", "author": "pg", "maxItems": 100 } ``` ### Input | Field | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | `query` | string | Full-text search term. Leave empty to list newest or most relevant items for the chosen type. | | `tags` | string | Item type: `story`, `comment`, `show_hn`, `ask_hn`, or `front_page`. Default `story`. | | `minPoints` | integer | Keep only items with at least this many points. Comments usually have no points. | | `author` | string | Keep only items by this Hacker News username. Leave empty for any author. | | `sinceHours` | integer | Keep only items created within this many hours. 0 disables the time filter. | | `maxItems` | integer | How many items to return (auto-paginated, max 1000). | | `byDate` | boolean | When true, sort newest first. When false, sort by relevance. | ### Output Each dataset item is one hit: ```json { "title": "Show HN: Apify SDK, a scalable web crawling library for JavaScript", "url": "https://github.com/apifytech/apify-js", "author": "jancurn", "points": 78, "numComments": 8, "createdAt": "2018-09-25T08:24:40Z", "objectID": "18064493", "hnUrl": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18064493", "text": null } ``` For comments and Ask HN posts, `text` holds the comment or question body, and `title` and `url` point at the parent story when the item is a comment. #### Run summary (OUTPUT) The run's default key-value store record `OUTPUT` holds an aggregate for the whole result set: ```json { "query": { "query": "apify", "tags": "story", "byDate": false }, "itemsReturned": 20, "requestedMaxItems": 20, "scanned": 20, "totalPoints": 512, "topItem": { "title": "...", "points": 132, "author": "sathish316", "hnUrl": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4058874" }, "generatedFrom": "https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search" } ``` ### How it works The Actor calls the public Hacker News Algolia API. It combines your item type and author into a tag filter, applies a recency window with the `created_at_i` numeric filter, and paginates until it has `maxItems` results or runs out of matches. The points floor is applied while paging because the API does not filter on points server-side. No API key is needed. MIT licensed. # Actor input Schema ## `query` (type: `string`): Full-text search term matched against titles, URLs, and comment text. Leave empty to list the newest or most relevant items for the chosen type. ## `tags` (type: `string`): Which kind of item to return. Story is a normal post, Comment is a reply, Ask HN and Show HN are those categories, Front page is stories that reached the homepage. ## `minPoints` (type: `integer`): Only keep items with at least this many points. Comments usually have no points, so a value above 0 filters them out. ## `author` (type: `string`): Only keep items posted by this Hacker News username (for example pg). Leave empty for any author. ## `sinceHours` (type: `integer`): Only keep items created within this many hours from now. Set to 0 to disable the time filter and search all of Hacker News history. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): How many items to return. Results are paginated automatically until this count is reached or there are no more matches. ## `byDate` (type: `boolean`): When on, return the newest matches first. When off, return the most relevant matches first. ## Actor input object example ```json { "query": "large language models", "tags": "story", "minPoints": 0, "author": "pg", "sinceHours": 0, "maxItems": 50, "byDate": false } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "query": "apify" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("agentictools/hacker-news-search").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "query": "apify" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("agentictools/hacker-news-search").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "query": "apify" }' | apify call agentictools/hacker-news-search --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=agentictools/hacker-news-search", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Hacker News Search & Monitor", "description": "Search and export Hacker News stories, comments, and Ask or Show HN by keyword, author, points, or date. No API key.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "y9wj2hc3LBMVmXJll" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/agentictools~hacker-news-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-agentictools-hacker-news-search", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/agentictools~hacker-news-search/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-agentictools-hacker-news-search", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/agentictools~hacker-news-search/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-agentictools-hacker-news-search", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "query": { "title": "Search query", "type": "string", "description": "Full-text search term matched against titles, URLs, and comment text. Leave empty to list the newest or most relevant items for the chosen type." }, "tags": { "title": "Item type", "enum": [ "story", "comment", "show_hn", "ask_hn", "front_page" ], "type": "string", "description": "Which kind of item to return. Story is a normal post, Comment is a reply, Ask HN and Show HN are those categories, Front page is stories that reached the homepage.", "default": "story" }, "minPoints": { "title": "Minimum points", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Only keep items with at least this many points. Comments usually have no points, so a value above 0 filters them out.", "default": 0 }, "author": { "title": "Author", "type": "string", "description": "Only keep items posted by this Hacker News username (for example pg). Leave empty for any author." }, "sinceHours": { "title": "Recency window (hours)", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Only keep items created within this many hours from now. Set to 0 to disable the time filter and search all of Hacker News history.", "default": 0 }, "maxItems": { "title": "Maximum items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 1000, "type": "integer", "description": "How many items to return. Results are paginated automatically until this count is reached or there are no more matches.", "default": 50 }, "byDate": { "title": "Sort by date", "type": "boolean", "description": "When on, return the newest matches first. When off, return the most relevant matches first.", "default": false } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```