Hacker News Scraper: Search, Feeds, Comments & Who's Hiring

Hacker News via the official Firebase API and the HN Algolia search API, with no login, no browser and no code. Export to JSON, CSV or Excel, or use the API.

Hacker News via the official Firebase API and the HN Algolia search API: keyword/brand mention search with date and points filters, top/new/best/Ask/Show feeds with ranks, comment threads, and parsed monthly 'Who is hiring' job posts (company, remote, visa, links).

Use cases

• Brand/competitor mention monitoring on HN
• Launch research: what Show HN posts hit the front page
• Recruiting/sales leads from the monthly Who is hiring thread

Input

Field	Type	Notes
mode	string	search = keyword mentions; feed = live HN lists; whoishiring = parse the monthly hiring thread.
queries	array	Required in search mode (1 to 50): keywords, brands or domains. A search run with no queries stops right away with a clear error and is not charged. Not used in feed or whoishiring mode.
tags	string	search mode filter.
minPoints	integer	search mode.
dateFrom	string	YYYY-MM-DD (search mode).
dateTo	string	YYYY-MM-DD (search mode).
feed	string	feed mode list.
threadIds	array	whoishiring mode, up to 12 thread ids; blank = latest thread.
maxItems	integer	Total output cap.
includeComments	boolean	Add comment threads for stories.
maxCommentsPerStory	integer

Which mode do I need?

• search (default): finds stories or comments mentioning your queries. At least one query is required.
• feed: the live top, new, best, Ask HN, Show HN or jobs list, in HN order. No queries needed.
• whoishiring: parses the monthly "Who is hiring?" thread into job posts. No queries needed.

maxItems caps the total rows (and the cost) of every run.

Example input

{
 "mode": "search",
 "queries": [
  "apify"
 ],
 "maxItems": 5
}

Output

One dataset item per result. Main columns: type, rank, title, company, url, domain, author, points, numComments, createdAt, remote, hnUrl. A RUN_SUMMARY record is saved to the default key-value store. See the sample output in the Output tab.

Pricing

Pay per result, with no monthly rental or subscription:

• HN item (story, comment or job post): $0.0005

Example: 1,000 results cost about $0.50 in fees. Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly credit, which is enough to test this Actor.

FAQ

Do I need an account, cookies or a login for the source site? No. Hacker News Scraper uses public data sources only, so there is nothing to connect and no account to risk.

How much will a run cost? You pay only for results delivered (see Pricing above), plus Apify platform usage, which the free plan's monthly credit easily covers for test runs. Start with a small limit to see the exact cost per run.

Can I export to CSV, Excel or Google Sheets? Yes. Every run's dataset can be downloaded as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML, or pushed to Google Sheets, Make, Zapier, n8n, Slack or a webhook through Apify integrations.

Can I run it on a schedule or from my own code? Yes. Add an Apify Schedule (hourly, daily, weekly) or call it through the Apify API / Python & JavaScript clients. It also works with AI agents through the Apify MCP server.

What happens if an input is invalid or a source is down? The run keeps going. The bad input gets a row with an error field so you can see what failed, and you are not charged for results that were not delivered.

Is this legal to use? It collects publicly available data. You are responsible for using the output in line with the source's terms and privacy laws such as GDPR/CCPA; don't use it for spam.

Something missing or broken? Open an issue on the Issues tab. Feature requests are usually added within a few days.

Scheduling / monitoring

Create a Schedule (daily/weekly) and connect a webhook or Slack/email integration.

Fair use

Official public APIs only, no login. Do not use output for spam or harassment. Respect the data sources' rate limits and terms.

Related tools

• ATS Jobs Scraper: Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workable +1
• GitHub Repo Stats & Release Tracker (official API)
• Lemmy Scraper: Communities, Posts, Comments & Search
• RSS & Atom Feed Reader, Keyword Filter & New Item Monitor

REST API

GET https://api.mediaprotools.com/v1/hacker-news-intel?items=... (header X-API-Key). Up to 5 items per call, separated by ,. Or POST {"items":[...],"options":{...}}.

Parameter	Type	Notes
items	token	Keywords, brands or domains to search for (required in search mode).
mode	string	search = keyword mentions; feed = live HN lists; whoishiring = parse the monthly hiring thread.
tags	string	search mode filter.
minPoints	integer 0-1000000	search mode.
dateFrom	string	YYYY-MM-DD (search mode).
dateTo	string	YYYY-MM-DD (search mode).
feed	string	feed mode list.
threadIds	array	whoishiring mode; blank = latest thread.
maxItems	integer 1-100	Total output cap.
includeComments	boolean	Add comment threads for stories.
maxCommentsPerStory	integer 1-100	Max comments per story

Output fields: author, createdAt, domain, hnUrl, id, numComments, parentId, points, query, storyId, text, title, type, url.