# Hacker News Search & Front Page Scraper

**Use case:** 

Search Hacker News stories, comments, Show HN and Ask HN posts by keyword, or pull the current front page — via the free Algolia HN API, no API key. One row per story or comment with points, author, comment count and text.

## Input

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "front_page",
    "apify"
  ],
  "contentType": "story",
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "minPoints": 0,
  "maxResults": 50,
  "author": "",
  "sinceDays": 0
}
```

## Output

```json
{
  "type": {
    "label": "Type",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "title": {
    "label": "Title",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "author": {
    "label": "Author",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "points": {
    "label": "Points",
    "format": "integer"
  },
  "numComments": {
    "label": "Comment count",
    "format": "integer"
  },
  "domain": {
    "label": "Domain",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "url": {
    "label": "URL",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "hnUrl": {
    "label": "Hacker News URL",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "createdAt": {
    "label": "Created at",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "query": {
    "label": "Input query",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "error": {
    "label": "Error",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "scrapedAt": {
    "label": "Scraped at",
    "format": "string"
  }
}
```

## How it works

### 1. Sign up on Apify or log in

The Hacker News Search & Front Page Scraper Actor is ready to run with the inputs already set for "Hacker News Search & Front Page Scraper". [Sign up or log in](https://console.apify.com/create-task-from-example/QQNSGLLQieObxfQ5g) and you'll land in Apify Console with a copy of this exact task.

### 2. Start the "Hacker News Search & Front Page Scraper" task

The Hacker News Search & Front Page Scraper Actor will start running based on the input automatically. You can also change all the input fields, like search queries, content type, and more, to match your specific use case.

### 3. Receive the "Hacker News Search & Front Page Scraper" output

Monitor the progress in real time. You will be notified as soon as your dataset is complete and ready for review. Each result includes data such as type, title, author, and more.

### 4. Integrate into your workflow

The final output is delivered in JSON, CSV, or Excel format, ready to be plugged into your workflow. You can also [run the "Hacker News Search & Front Page Scraper" task via API](https://apify.com/webdatatools/hacker-news-scraper.md).

## About this Actor

This example demonstrates how to use [Hacker News Search & Front Page Scraper](https://apify.com/webdatatools/hacker-news-scraper.md) with a specific input configuration. Visit the [Actor detail page](https://apify.com/webdatatools/hacker-news-scraper.md) to learn more, explore other use cases, and run it yourself.


## How to integrate an Actor?

This Task's input is already configured above. Use it as-is rather than inventing a new one.

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 full API examples (JavaScript, Python, CLI, MCP, OpenAPI), see this Task's Actor page: https://apify.com/webdatatools/hacker-news-scraper.md

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`).