# Hacker News Scraper (`prince.sh/hacker-news-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Hacker News stories, comments, and rankings. Get titles, points, authors, and URLs via the official Algolia API. Search by keyword or list top/new/best stories. Ideal for developer audience research, tech trend monitoring, and AI training datasets.

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

## Pricing

from $0.00035 / story

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 web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## Hacker News Scraper

Scrape Hacker News top, new, best, Ask HN, Show HN, and job stories via official Firebase and Algolia APIs. Export JSON for tech trend monitoring, startup research, and AI datasets.

**Pricing:** from $0.35 per 1,000 stories · $0.12 per 1,000 comments (pay-per-event, no monthly subscription).

Built by [Prince Jain](https://w.prince.sh/website) · <mail@prince.sh>

### What does this Actor do?

Hacker News Scraper extracts structured data from the web and saves it to a dataset you can download as JSON, CSV, or Excel. It runs on the Apify platform with pay-per-event pricing — you only pay for results you receive.

### Use cases

- Monitor trending tech and startup stories on Hacker News
- Build AI training datasets from high-signal developer discussions
- Track Show HN and Ask HN for product research and hiring signals

### Input

Configure the run in the Apify Console or via API. See the **Input** tab for all fields and prefill examples.

Optional: add a **Proxy configuration** for sites that require residential IPs.

### Output fields

Each result includes: `id`, `title`, `url`, `author`, `points`, `numComments`, `createdAt`, `section`.

View results in the run's **Dataset** tab or fetch them via the Apify API.

### Pricing

| Event | Price |
|-------|-------|
| Actor start | $0.00005 |
| Result | See store pricing tab |

from $0.35 per 1,000 stories · $0.12 per 1,000 comments. No platform usage fees with pay-per-event on Apify Store.

### FAQ

**Do I need an API key?** No — this Actor uses public endpoints and does not require third-party API credentials.

**Can I schedule runs?** Yes. Use Apify Schedules to run this Actor hourly, daily, or on a custom cron.

**How do I integrate with my workflow?** Call the Actor via the Apify API, webhooks, or MCP. Results land in an Apify dataset.

### Keywords

Hacker News scraper, HN stories API, Y Combinator news, tech trend monitoring, developer community data

### Author

**Prince Jain** — <https://w.prince.sh/website> · <mail@prince.sh>

Apify Store: `prince.sh/hacker-news-scraper`

# Actor input Schema

## `section` (type: `string`):

Which Hacker News feed to scrape. Use Search with a query keyword.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Keyword for Algolia search (required when Feed is Search).

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of stories to return.

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

Only include stories with at least this many upvotes.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional Apify proxy for anti-bot sites (usually not needed for HN).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "section": "top",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "minPoints": 0,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

# 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 = {
    "maxResults": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("prince.sh/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 = {
    "maxResults": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("prince.sh/hacker-news-scraper").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 '{
  "maxResults": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call prince.sh/hacker-news-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=prince.sh/hacker-news-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/mmO9DH5KuTK9tqSj7/builds/P5Qe88PZOzmqEyefN/openapi.json