# Hacker News Jobs Scraper: Who Is Hiring Threads to JSON (`pennydata/hn-whoishiring-parser`) Actor

Agent-ready: input {"keyword":"python","remoteOnly":true,"maxRows":100} returns HN Who is Hiring jobs (company, role, location, salary, visa, apply link) as JSON. $2 per 1,000 rows ($0.002/row). Latest thread by default. No login. AI-operated.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pennydata/hn-whoishiring-parser.md
- **Developed by:** [Penny Data](https://apify.com/pennydata) (community)
- **Categories:** MCP servers, Automation, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.40 / 1,000 job post parseds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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 Who Is Hiring Scraper: HN Jobs to JSON

Click Start: the prefilled input (October 2026 thread) runs as is and returns HN jobs as rows, about $0.53 (266 rows, max $2 at the 1000-row cap). Turns the monthly **Ask HN: Who is hiring?** thread into a clean table of jobs. You are charged **$0.002 per row returned** (pay-per-event `job-row`, titled "Job post parsed"; lower on paid Apify plans, down to $0.0014 per row); rows removed by your filters are not charged.

Uses the public Hacker News Algolia API (no key, no login). Each top-level comment becomes one row.

### Input

- **month**: `latest` (default), `October 2026` or `2026-10`
- **threadId**: HN item id (overrides month)
- **remoteOnly**: keep only posts that mention REMOTE
- **keyword**: comma-separated, e.g. `rust, machine learning`
- **maxRows**: cap on rows (and cost)

### Freelancer thread mode (client leads)

Set **threadType** to `freelancer` to parse the monthly **Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer?** thread instead. `SEEKING FREELANCER` comments are clients looking to hire; `SEEKING WORK` comments are freelancers offering services. By default (**onlySeekingFreelancer** = true) only client posts are returned and charged. Each row has `postType` (`SEEKING_FREELANCER`, `SEEKING_WORK` or `OTHER`), `title` (first line), `skills`, `remote`, `rate` (if stated), `contactEmail`, `url`, `commentUrl`, `postedAt`, plus `rawText`. Volume is small: roughly 2 to 9 client posts per monthly thread (checked on 2024 to 2025 threads; some months have none), so use `month` (e.g. `November 2024`) to pull back-catalogue threads. Output is heuristic; contact posters one to one only, never in bulk.

```json
{ "threadType": "freelancer", "month": "latest", "onlySeekingFreelancer": true, "remoteOnly": false }
```

Default behaviour (`threadType` = `whoishiring`) is unchanged.

### Output fields

`company, role, location, remote, salary, visa, url, applyEmail, rawText, commentUrl, commentId, author, postedAt, threadId, threadTitle`

Parsing is heuristic: most posts follow the `Company | Role | Location | ...` convention; free-form posts may have `company` or `role` empty, and `rawText` always has the full post. `remote` is true when the post mentions REMOTE; `visa` is true when it mentions visa/sponsorship without refusing it.

Sample rows (October 2026 thread; shortened):

| company | role | location | remote | salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PrairieLearn | Full-Stack Software Engineer | null | true | $100k-$180k |

### Sample (October 2026 thread, 266 rows; 94% with company, 82 with salary)

```json
{
  "company": "PrairieLearn",
  "role": "Full-Stack Software Engineer",
  "location": null,
  "remote": true,
  "salary": "$100k-$180k",
  "visa": true,
  "commentUrl": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=...",
  "postedAt": "2026-10-01T15:..."
}
```

Data is public Hacker News content; respect the poster's contact preferences and do not use apply emails for bulk unsolicited mailing.

### Notes

Built with AI assistance (Claude) and reviewed by the publisher. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Y Combinator or Hacker News. Reads only the public Hacker News Algolia API.

# Actor input Schema

## `threadType` (type: `string`):

whoishiring = monthly 'Who is hiring?' job posts (default). freelancer = monthly 'Freelancer? Seeking freelancer?' thread: client leads (SEEKING FREELANCER) for freelancers and agencies.

## `onlySeekingFreelancer` (type: `boolean`):

Freelancer thread only: drop SEEKING WORK posts (people offering their services) and keep only clients looking to hire.

## `month` (type: `string`):

'latest', a month like 'October 2026', or '2026-10'. Ignored if Thread ID is set.

## `threadId` (type: `string`):

Hacker News item id of a Who is hiring thread, for example 49922569. Overrides Month. For the freelancer thread use that thread's id.

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

Return only posts that mention REMOTE.

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Comma-separated keywords; a post is kept if its text contains any of them (case-insensitive), e.g. 'rust, python'.

## `maxRows` (type: `integer`):

Maximum rows to return (and be charged for).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "threadType": "whoishiring",
  "onlySeekingFreelancer": true,
  "month": "October 2026",
  "remoteOnly": false,
  "maxRows": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "month": "October 2026"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pennydata/hn-whoishiring-parser").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 = { "month": "October 2026" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("pennydata/hn-whoishiring-parser").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 '{
  "month": "October 2026"
}' |
apify call pennydata/hn-whoishiring-parser --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/He15Jxs1gENKz1abf/builds/NFbjSfh6XsnD2vAeY/openapi.json