# HN Launch & Hiring Radar (`hereditary_model/hn-launch-radar`) Actor

Finds Hacker News posts matching your keywords — launches, hiring posts, discussions — scored by traction, from Show HN threads to Ask HN.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hereditary\_model/hn-launch-radar.md
- **Developed by:** [Aaron Marxsen](https://apify.com/hereditary_model) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 post returneds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## HN Launch & Hiring Radar

Hacker News is where a disproportionate share of technical founders and engineering leaders actually launch, hire, and talk shop — before it shows up anywhere a normal sales database would catch it. This searches HN for your keywords and ranks results by traction, so you're not scrolling past noise to find the one thread that matters.

### What it does

1. Searches Hacker News (via the public Algolia-backed search index) for each of your keywords.
2. Restricts to one post type at a time — any story, Show HN launches, Ask HN discussions, or job postings.
3. Scores every post 0–100 on traction: points and comments earned per day since posting, so a fast-rising new post outranks an old post that was merely once popular.
4. Drops anything under your minimum point threshold **before** billing.

### Output

| Field | Notes |
| --- | --- |
| `title`, `author`, `points`, `numComments` | The post |
| `url` | What it links to (external site, or null for text posts) |
| `hnUrl` | The HN discussion thread itself |
| `createdAt`, `tags` | Timing and post classification |
| `tractionScore` | 0–100, engagement velocity |

### Input

Only `keywords` is required.

```json
{
  "keywords": ["developer tools", "AcmeCorp"],
  "postType": "show_hn",
  "sinceDays": 30,
  "minPoints": 10
}
```

Search a category to find launches worth a competitive read, or a company name to catch every mention.

### Pricing

Pay per event. You're billed per post returned and once per keyword digested. Data source: Hacker News via its public search API, no key required.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Search terms, one per line — a product category, a competitor name, or a technology.

## `postType` (type: `string`):

Restrict to one kind of post.

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

Drop posts with fewer upvotes than this, before billing.

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

Only include posts from the last N days.

## `maxResultsPerKeyword` (type: `integer`):

Caps how many posts are returned per keyword, sorted newest first.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "developer tools"
  ],
  "postType": "story",
  "minPoints": 0,
  "sinceDays": 30,
  "maxResultsPerKeyword": 30
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `posts` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (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 = {
    "keywords": [
        "developer tools"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hereditary_model/hn-launch-radar").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 = { "keywords": ["developer tools"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hereditary_model/hn-launch-radar").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 '{
  "keywords": [
    "developer tools"
  ]
}' |
apify call hereditary_model/hn-launch-radar --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hereditary_model/hn-launch-radar"
        }
    }
}

```

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/lSLamThikNNl0VSE4/builds/TGCcCSQ42rUTWJ28T/openapi.json