# Hacker News Thread Summarizer (`didactic_liszt/hn-summarizer`) Actor Fetches top comments from a Hacker News thread and summarizes them using Claude API. - **URL**: https://apify.com/didactic\_liszt/hn-summarizer.md - **Developed by:** [HJ JOO](https://apify.com/didactic_liszt) (community) - **Categories:** AI, Automation, News - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, NaN 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 Thread Summarizer Fetches top comments from any Hacker News thread and generates a concise summary using Claude AI. No Reddit or HN account required -- just paste a URL and get an instant summary. ### What does it do? 1. Takes a Hacker News thread URL as input 2. Fetches top-level comments via the [official HN API](https://github.com/HackerNewsAPI/HN-API) (no authentication needed) 3. Sends the thread title, body, and comments to Claude API 4. Returns a structured English summary covering key opinions, recommendations, and debates ### Example output ```json { "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39865810", "title": "Backdoor in upstream xz/liblzma leading to SSH server compromise", "commentCount": 20, "summary": "### Key Points from the XZ/liblzma Backdoor Discussion\n\n#### The Attack\nA sophisticated backdoor was discovered in the xz/liblzma compression library..." } ```` ### Input | Field | Type | Required | Default | Description | |-------|------|----------|---------|-------------| | `url` | string | Yes | - | HN thread URL (e.g. `https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39865810`) or just the item ID | | `commentLimit` | integer | No | 30 | Number of top-level comments to fetch (1-100) | ### Setup This Actor requires one environment variable: - **`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`** -- Your Anthropic API key. Get one at [console.anthropic.com](https://console.anthropic.com/) Set it in the Actor's **Settings > Environment Variables** on Apify Console. ### How much does it cost? - **Apify platform**: Minimal -- a single run takes a few seconds of compute - **Claude API**: Typically $0.01-0.05 per summary depending on thread length (uses Claude Sonnet) ### Use cases - Quickly catch up on long HN discussions - Research trending tech topics - Monitor community reactions to product launches - Build a digest of HN threads via Apify scheduling ### Local development ```bash ## Clone and install pip install -r requirements.txt ## Set up environment cp .env.example .env ## Edit .env and add your ANTHROPIC_API_KEY ## Run locally apify run ``` # Actor input Schema ## `url` (type: `string`): URL of the HN thread (e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12345) or just the item ID ## `commentLimit` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of top-level comments to fetch ## Actor input object example ```json { "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42716467", "commentLimit": 30 } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42716467" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("didactic_liszt/hn-summarizer").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${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 = { "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42716467" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("didactic_liszt/hn-summarizer").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 '{ "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42716467" }' | apify call didactic_liszt/hn-summarizer --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=didactic_liszt/hn-summarizer", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Hacker News Thread Summarizer", "description": "Fetches top comments from a Hacker News thread and summarizes them using Claude API.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "aNBQQ7SpJWSM9Cce7" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/didactic_liszt~hn-summarizer/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-didactic_liszt-hn-summarizer", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/didactic_liszt~hn-summarizer/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-didactic_liszt-hn-summarizer", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/didactic_liszt~hn-summarizer/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-didactic_liszt-hn-summarizer", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "title": "Hacker News Thread URL", "type": "string", "description": "URL of the HN thread (e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12345) or just the item ID" }, "commentLimit": { "title": "Comment Limit", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of top-level comments to fetch", "default": 30 } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```