# HN AI Product Scout �� Show HN Scraper for AI Product Discovery (`yodeling/ph-ai-scout`) Actor Track AI product launches from Hacker News Show HN. Auto-detects AI, SaaS, devtools. JSON CSV output for competitor tracking, VC deal flow, market research. - **URL**: https://apify.com/yodeling/ph-ai-scout.md - **Developed by:** [陈皓楠 陈](https://apify.com/yodeling) (community) - **Categories:** AI - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $3.00 / 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 AI Product Scout **Daily AI product discovery from Hacker News Show HN.** Stop manually scrolling Hacker News every morning. This Actor pulls the latest Show HN posts via the official HN API, detects which ones are AI/ML/devtools products, and outputs structured JSON + CSV — ready to pipe into Notion, Airtable, Slack, or your own database. ### Who This Is For - **VCs & angel investors** — spot promising AI startups before they hit TechCrunch - **Founders & indie hackers** — track competitors and find gaps in the market - **Product managers** — weekly competitive landscape reports from the HN launch feed - **Analysts & journalists** — data for AI industry trend pieces and market maps ### Why Hacker News Show HN Show HN is where founders launch products to get feedback from one of the toughest technical audiences on the internet. Compared to Product Hunt: - **Earlier-stage launches** — many products appear on HN weeks or months before hitting PH - **Higher signal in comments** — HN discussions often include detailed technical deep-dives, not just "congrats on the launch" - **No Cloudflare, no auth, no anti-bot** — HN has a clean, open API and HTML. This Actor runs fast and reliably - **Founder-filtered** — Show HN requires the submitter to have built the thing themselves ### What You Get | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `name` | Product name (parsed from Show HN title) | | `tagline` | One-line pitch extracted from the title | | `description` | Post body text (first 1000 chars, HTML stripped) | | `url` | Product website URL | | `website` | External product URL from the post | | `votesCount` | Number of upvotes | | `commentsCount` | Discussion comment count | | `topics` | Auto-detected tags (AI/ML, DevTools, SaaS, Fintech, etc.) | | `isAI` | Auto-detected: is this an AI/ML or devtools product? | | `launchDate` | Post timestamp (ISO format) | | `hnUrl` | Direct link to the HN discussion thread | | `by` | HN username of the submitter | ### Input Parameters | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | `maxItems` | integer | 50 | Maximum number of products to extract (1–500) | | `includeAIOnly` | boolean | true | Only include AI/ML/devtools products. Set to `false` to get all Show HN launches | | `minVotes` | integer | 3 | Skip posts with fewer than this many upvotes (1–1000) | ### How to Use 1. **Set `maxItems`** — how many products do you want? Default is 50 2. **Choose AI-only or all** — toggle `includeAIOnly` to narrow or broaden results 3. **Set a vote threshold** — `minVotes: 5` filters out low-signal launches 4. **Run** — results in JSON dataset + CSV ### Pricing This Actor is **pay-per-result**. Suggested pricing: | Price per 1,000 results | For | |--------------------------|-----| | $0.10 – $0.50 | Standard — structured HN data, no external API costs | Since this Actor uses only the free HN Firebase API (no paid third-party APIs), costs are minimal. You pay for the extraction and classification logic. ### Output Format - **JSON** — each product is a separate item in the Apify Dataset, queryable and filterable in the Console - **CSV** — available as `hn-ai-scout-results.csv` in the Key-Value Store - **OUTPUT** — JSON summary with `totalProducts`, `aiProducts`, `avgVotes`, and `top5` ### Example Output ```json { "name": "ClaudeDock", "tagline": "Manage Claude Projects from your menubar", "description": "A macOS app that sits in your menubar and lets you switch...", "url": "https://claudedock.com", "website": "https://claudedock.com", "votesCount": 847, "commentsCount": 143, "topics": ["AI / ML", "Developer Tools", "Productivity"], "isAI": true, "launchDate": "2026-06-23T14:30:00.000Z", "hnUrl": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41234567", "by": "janechen" } ```` ### FAQ **Q: Is scraping Hacker News allowed?** A: Yes. This Actor uses the official HN Firebase API (`hacker-news.firebaseio.com`), which is publicly available and rate-limit friendly. No HTML scraping is needed for the core data pipeline. **Q: How fresh is the data?** A: Real-time. Each run fetches live data from the HN API. Show HN stories cycle frequently — the `/showstories` endpoint returns the current crop of Show HN posts. **Q: Can I schedule daily runs?** A: Yes. Use Apify's built-in scheduler to run this Actor daily, and pipe results to your email, Slack, or Airtable via Apify integrations. **Q: What counts as an "AI product"?** A: The Actor uses keyword-based detection across 8 categories: AI/ML, Developer Tools, SaaS, Productivity, Design, Fintech, DevTools, and Data. A product is flagged as AI if it matches the AI/ML or Developer Tools patterns. You can set `includeAIOnly: false` to disable this filter and get all Show HN launches. ### Pro Tips - **Daily morning run + Slack webhook** = automated "what launched on HN today" briefing - **Filter by `isAI: true`** and sort by `votesCount` descending to find the day's hottest AI launches - **Track `votesCount` over time** by saving daily runs — spot breakout products early by watching vote velocity - **Set `minVotes: 10`** on Monday mornings to catch only the launches that gained traction over the weekend - **Combine with Apify's Google Sheets integration** to build a searchable historical database of HN launches # Actor input Schema ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of Show HN products to extract (1-500). ## `includeAIOnly` (type: `boolean`): Only include AI/ML/devtools products. Disable to get all Show HN launches. ## `minVotes` (type: `integer`): Only include posts with at least this many upvotes (default 3). ## Actor input object example ```json { "maxItems": 50, "includeAIOnly": true, "minVotes": 3 } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("yodeling/ph-ai-scout").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("yodeling/ph-ai-scout").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{}' | apify call yodeling/ph-ai-scout --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=yodeling/ph-ai-scout", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "HN AI Product Scout �� Show HN Scraper for AI Product Discovery", "description": "Track AI product launches from Hacker News Show HN. Auto-detects AI, SaaS, devtools. JSON CSV output for competitor tracking, VC deal flow, market research.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "yzVHFgVtcpNpF5NoK" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/yodeling~ph-ai-scout/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-yodeling-ph-ai-scout", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/yodeling~ph-ai-scout/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-yodeling-ph-ai-scout", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/yodeling~ph-ai-scout/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-yodeling-ph-ai-scout", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "maxItems": { "title": "Max products", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of Show HN products to extract (1-500).", "default": 50 }, "includeAIOnly": { "title": "AI products only", "type": "boolean", "description": "Only include AI/ML/devtools products. Disable to get all Show HN launches.", "default": true }, "minVotes": { "title": "Minimum votes", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 1000, "type": "integer", "description": "Only include posts with at least this many upvotes (default 3).", "default": 3 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```