# Hacker News Scraper: Front Page, Search & Ask (`cynix_dev/hacker-news-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Hacker News stories, front page, and keyword search via the Algolia API. Get title, URL, points, comments. No API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/cynix\_dev/hacker-news-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Cynix Dev](https://apify.com/cynix_dev) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.41 / 1,000 results

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Scraper: Front Page, Search & Ask

Scrape **Hacker News** stories, front page, new/best/Ask/Show feeds, and keyword search via the **Algolia API** — no API key.

![Hacker News](https://img.logo.dev/ycombinator.com?token=pk_f3e1270e3c2e4cb5a0c3a8d86e96b90a\&size=200\&retina=true\&format=png)

### What it does

Fast, structured access to Hacker News — the premier tech/startup community. The leading store actors have only 3-4 users, so this is a wide-open niche with a huge developer audience.

### Feeds

| Feed | What you get |
|------|--------------|
| **search** | Keyword search over all stories (sort by relevance or date) |
| **front\_page** | Current stories on the HN front page |
| **new** | Newest stories |
| **best** | Top-voted stories (points > 100) |
| **ask** | "Ask HN" questions |
| **show** | "Show HN" submissions |

### Example Inputs

#### Search for AI stories

```json
{ "feedType": "search", "query": "AI", "sortBy": "relevance", "maxResults": 30 }
```

#### Current front page

```json
{ "feedType": "front_page", "maxResults": 30 }
```

#### Newest stories

```json
{ "feedType": "new", "maxResults": 50 }
```

### Output

Each row: `object_id`, `title`, `url`, `author`, `created_at`, `points`, `num_comments`, `story_text`, `hn_url`, `scraped_at`.

### Data Source

[HN Algolia API](https://hn.algolia.com/api) — free, keyless, reliable.

### Use Cases

- **Tech trend research**: what developers are reading
- **Content ideas**: trending stories and questions
- **Monitoring**: track a topic, company, or product on HN
- **Diversity analysis**: engagement by story/author/time

### Limitations

- Algolia indexes a rolling window (recent history)
- Comment-only threads not fully captured in search

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Search Hacker News stories/comments.

## `feedType` (type: `string`):

Built-in feed or keyword search.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

How to sort results.

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

Maximum stories to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "AI",
  "feedType": "search",
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "maxResults": 30
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing all scraped records

# 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 = {
    "query": "AI"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("cynix_dev/hacker-news-scraper").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 = { "query": "AI" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("cynix_dev/hacker-news-scraper").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 '{
  "query": "AI"
}' |
apify call cynix_dev/hacker-news-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,cynix_dev/hacker-news-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

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/oOm0tE7MRvr66WTtJ/builds/lM9WkTYrSMcqdf8VE/openapi.json