# Hacker News Scraper - HackerNews Stories & Who is Hiring (`martin10291/hacker-news-scraper`) Actor

Hacker News jobs, stories and comments in one table. Parses the monthly 'Ask HN: Who is hiring?' threads into company, roles, location, remote, salary and apply link. Keyword search, points and date filters, only-new mode for alerts. Official HN API, no login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/martin10291/hacker-news-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Martin Petrov](https://apify.com/martin10291) (community)
- **Categories:** Jobs, News, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 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.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Hacker News Scraper - Stories, Comments & Who is Hiring Jobs

Get **Hacker News** data in one clean table: **jobs from the monthly "Ask HN: Who is hiring?" threads** parsed into **company, roles, location, remote / onsite, salary and apply link**, plus **stories, comments, Ask HN, Show HN and the front page** by keyword. Filter by points and date and turn on **only-new mode** for daily alerts.

The actor uses the **official Hacker News search API (Algolia)**: no login, no API key, no browser, no blocking. Fast, cheap and stable.

### What you get

- **Who is hiring? jobs**: company, headline, roles, locations, `remote`, `onsite`, `hybrid`, `fullTime`, `partTimeOrContract`, `internship`, `visaSponsorship`, salary, apply URL, all links, full description, posted date, thread and HN link.
- **Stories**: title, URL, domain, author, points, comments, date, text and HN link.
- **Comments**: author, text, date, story ID and story title - great for brand and product mentions.
- **Front page**: what is trending on HN right now.
- **Only-new mode**: each item is returned and paid for once.

### Use cases

- **Job seekers and job boards**: every remote Python, React, Rust or AI job from HN in a spreadsheet, refreshed every month.
- **Recruiters and sales**: companies that are hiring right now = companies with budget.
- **Brand and competitor monitoring**: get alerted when your product or a competitor is mentioned in HN stories or comments.
- **Founders and marketers**: track Show HN launches and what gets the most points.
- **AI and data projects**: clean HN text for RAG, trend analysis and newsletters.

### How to use it (step by step)

1. Click **Try for free** (or **Start**).
2. Pick **What to scrape**: *Who is hiring? jobs*, *Search stories / comments* or *Front page*.
3. For jobs: add **Job keywords** (e.g. `python`, `react`, `berlin`) and tick **Remote jobs only** if you want.
4. For search: add **Search terms**, pick the **Content type** and optional **Minimum points** / **Posted within (days)**.
5. Click **Start** and download the results as **Excel, CSV, JSON or HTML**, or send them to Google Sheets.

### Alerts (Slack, email, Google Sheets)

1. Turn on **Only new items since last run** and set a **Monitor ID**, e.g. `my-brand`.
2. Create a **Schedule** in Apify Console (e.g. every hour for mentions, every day for jobs).
3. Add an integration: **Slack, email, Google Sheets, Zapier, Make or a webhook**.

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `mode` | string | `hiring`, `search` or `front_page`. |
| `jobKeywords` | array | Hiring mode: keep jobs that mention any of these words. |
| `remoteOnly` | boolean | Hiring mode: only remote jobs. |
| `hiringMonths` | integer | Hiring mode: how many monthly threads to read (1-12). |
| `searchTerms` | array | Search mode: keywords. |
| `contentType` | string | `stories`, `comments`, `ask`, `show` or `jobs`. |
| `sortBy` | string | `date` or `relevance`. |
| `postedWithinDays` | integer | Only items from the last N days (0 = any). |
| `minPoints` | integer | Only stories with at least N points. |
| `onlyNew` | boolean | Only items not seen in earlier runs. |
| `monitorId` | string | Separate memory for different watch lists. |
| `maxItems` | integer | Hard limit on results saved (and paid for). |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "mode": "hiring",
  "jobKeywords": ["python", "machine learning"],
  "remoteOnly": true,
  "hiringMonths": 1,
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Output (hiring mode)

```json
{
  "id": "45000001",
  "company": "Example Labs",
  "headline": "Example Labs | Senior Python Engineer | REMOTE (US) | Full-time | $170k-$230k",
  "roles": ["Senior Python Engineer"],
  "locations": ["REMOTE (US)"],
  "remote": true,
  "onsite": false,
  "fullTime": true,
  "visaSponsorship": false,
  "salary": "$170k-$230k",
  "applyUrl": "https://example.com/jobs",
  "postedAt": "2026-10-01T15:04:00Z",
  "thread": "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2026)",
  "hnUrl": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45000001"
}
```

*Values above are illustrative.* The `RUN_SUMMARY` record shows how many items were found, filtered and saved.

### Use it from your code (API)

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("martin10291/hacker-news-scraper").call(run_input={
    "mode": "search",
    "searchTerms": ["your-product"],
    "contentType": "comments",
    "onlyNew": True,
    "monitorId": "mentions",
})
for i in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(i["createdAt"], i["author"], i["hnUrl"])
```

### Pricing

**$1.00 per 1,000 results**, no start fee. Items removed by your filters are free and **Max results** caps the cost of every run. A full month of "Who is hiring?" jobs costs well under $1.

### FAQ

**When is a new "Who is hiring?" thread posted?**
On the first weekday of every month. Schedule the actor for that day (or daily with only-new mode) to get new jobs as they are posted.

**Does it include "Who wants to be hired?"**
No. Only job offers from companies are collected.

**Is this allowed?**
The actor uses the official public Hacker News API. It does not log in or bypass anything.

### More Actors by Martin Petrov

- **[Medium Articles Scraper](https://apify.com/martin10291/medium-articles-scraper)**: Latest articles by tag, author or publication.
- **[Reddit Posts & Comments Extractor](https://apify.com/martin10291/reddit-posts-comments-extractor)**: Posts and full comment threads from any subreddit.
- **[Google Trends Explorer](https://apify.com/martin10291/google-trends-explorer)**: Interest over time, regions and related queries.
- **[YouTube Transcript Bulk Extractor](https://apify.com/martin10291/youtube-transcript-bulk-extractor)**: Transcripts of many YouTube videos at once.

*Last updated: November 1, 2026.*

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

hiring = jobs from the monthly 'Ask HN: Who is hiring?' threads, parsed into company, roles, location, remote, salary and apply link. search = stories or comments by keyword. front_page = current front page.

## `jobKeywords` (type: `array`):

Keep only jobs that mention any of these words, e.g. python, react, rust, data engineer, berlin. Empty = all jobs.

## `remoteOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only jobs that mention REMOTE.

## `hiringMonths` (type: `integer`):

How many monthly 'Who is hiring?' threads to read (1 = latest month).

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Keywords, product or brand names. Empty = latest items.

## `contentType` (type: `string`):

What to search: stories, comments, Ask HN, Show HN or job posts.

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

Newest first or most relevant first.

## `postedWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Only items from the last N days. 0 = any date.

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

Only stories with at least this many points.

## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`):

For monitoring and alerts: each item is returned (and paid for) only once.

## `monitorId` (type: `string`):

Separate memory for different watch lists (used with only-new mode).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard limit on results saved (and paid for).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "hiring",
  "jobKeywords": [],
  "remoteOnly": false,
  "hiringMonths": 1,
  "searchTerms": [],
  "contentType": "stories",
  "sortBy": "date",
  "postedWithinDays": 0,
  "minPoints": 0,
  "onlyNew": false,
  "monitorId": "default",
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Hacker News stories, comments or jobs.

# 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 = {
    "mode": "hiring",
    "jobKeywords": [],
    "searchTerms": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("martin10291/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 = {
    "mode": "hiring",
    "jobKeywords": [],
    "searchTerms": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("martin10291/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 '{
  "mode": "hiring",
  "jobKeywords": [],
  "searchTerms": []
}' |
apify call martin10291/hacker-news-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,martin10291/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/rAthUvGg3T3JSsJtj/builds/01fJcQKaaK9QY51g3/openapi.json