# Hacker News Scraper Pro — Stories, Jobs, Show HN, Ask HN (`diverse_venture/hackernews-scraper`) Actor Comprehensive Hacker News scraper. Get top/new/best stories, Ask HN, Show HN, Who's Hiring jobs, comments, and search results. Uses the official HN Firebase API + Algolia search — no auth required. Export JSON, CSV, or Excel. - **URL**: https://apify.com/diverse\_venture/hackernews-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Chak Man Fung](https://apify.com/diverse_venture) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% 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 Scraper Pro Scrape Hacker News stories, jobs, Show HN posts, Ask HN, comments, and full-text search results. ### Features - 6 story categories: top, new, best, ask, show, jobs (Who's Hiring) - Full-text search via Algolia - Optional comment extraction (top-level comments per story) - Returns: title, URL, points, comment count, author, timestamp - Up to 500 items per run - No login required — uses official HN Firebase API ### Use Cases - Track tech trends and trending startups - Monitor "Who's Hiring" for job market intel - Watch Show HN for new product launches - Build news aggregators or alert systems - Sentiment analysis on tech topics ### Output JSON array with story metadata. Use Apify's CSV/Excel export for analytics. # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): stories: get top/new/best/ask/show/jobs lists. search: full-text search via Algolia. ## `category` (type: `string`): Which story list to scrape (only used in 'stories' mode). 'jobs' = Who's Hiring posts. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum stories or search results to return. ## `includeComments` (type: `boolean`): Fetch top-level comments for each story (slows scraping). ## `maxComments` (type: `integer`): Max top-level comments per story when includeComments is true. ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Keyword search (only for 'search' mode). E.g., 'Show HN: AI' ## `searchTags` (type: `string`): Algolia tag filter for search. Examples: story, comment, ask_hn, show_hn, front_page ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "stories", "category": "top", "maxItems": 30, "includeComments": false, "maxComments": 10, "searchQuery": "", "searchTags": "story" } ```` # 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 = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("diverse_venture/hackernews-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("diverse_venture/hackernews-scraper").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 '{}' | apify call diverse_venture/hackernews-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=diverse_venture/hackernews-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Hacker News Scraper Pro — Stories, Jobs, Show HN, Ask HN", "description": "Comprehensive Hacker News scraper. Get top/new/best stories, Ask HN, Show HN, Who's Hiring jobs, comments, and search results. Uses the official HN Firebase API + Algolia search — no auth required. Export JSON, CSV, or Excel.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "lP8xiPvTfxgGI9umu" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/diverse_venture~hackernews-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-diverse_venture-hackernews-scraper", "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/diverse_venture~hackernews-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-diverse_venture-hackernews-scraper", "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/diverse_venture~hackernews-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-diverse_venture-hackernews-scraper", "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": [ "mode" ], "properties": { "mode": { "title": "Scrape Mode", "enum": [ "stories", "search" ], "type": "string", "description": "stories: get top/new/best/ask/show/jobs lists. search: full-text search via Algolia.", "default": "stories" }, "category": { "title": "Story Category", "enum": [ "top", "new", "best", "ask", "show", "jobs" ], "type": "string", "description": "Which story list to scrape (only used in 'stories' mode). 'jobs' = Who's Hiring posts.", "default": "top" }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum stories or search results to return.", "default": 30 }, "includeComments": { "title": "Include Top Comments", "type": "boolean", "description": "Fetch top-level comments for each story (slows scraping).", "default": false }, "maxComments": { "title": "Max Comments Per Story", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 50, "type": "integer", "description": "Max top-level comments per story when includeComments is true.", "default": 10 }, "searchQuery": { "title": "Search Query", "type": "string", "description": "Keyword search (only for 'search' mode). E.g., 'Show HN: AI'", "default": "" }, "searchTags": { "title": "Search Tags Filter", "type": "string", "description": "Algolia tag filter for search. Examples: story, comment, ask_hn, show_hn, front_page", "default": "story" } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```