# Hacker News Scraper - Stories, Points & Comments (`scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Hacker News stories by keyword with points, comment counts, author, URL, tags and timestamps. Sort by relevance or newest. Export to JSON, CSV or Excel.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapers\_lat/hacker-news-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Scrapers Lat](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $6.80 / 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.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

> Search Hacker News stories by keyword and export clean structured data: points, comment counts, author, links and tags. Great for tech trend research, monitoring and content curation.

**📥 [Input](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/input-schema) · 📤 [Output](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/output-schema) · 💰 [Pricing](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/pricing) · ▶️ [Examples](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples)**

![Apify](https://img.shields.io/badge/Platform-Apify-1CE1CE?logo=apify\&logoColor=white)
![Stories](https://img.shields.io/badge/Data-Stories-blue)
![Output](https://img.shields.io/badge/Output-JSON%20%7C%20CSV%20%7C%20Excel-orange)

<table><tr>
<td align="center"><strong>Points & comments</strong><br>engagement signals</td>
<td align="center"><strong>Author & links</strong><br>plus tags</td>
<td align="center"><strong>JSON / CSV / Excel</strong><br>output formats</td>
</tr></table>

<br>

### Who is it for

| Use case | Who benefits |
|---|---|
| Tech trend research | Analysts tracking what the community discusses |
| Monitoring | Teams watching mentions of a product or topic |
| Content curation | Newsletters and editors surfacing top stories |
| Dashboards | Builders feeding story stats into their own apps |

### How to use it

1. Enter a **search keyword** (for example `artificial intelligence`), or leave it empty for the latest stories.
2. Choose to sort by **relevance** or **newest first**.
3. Set **Max Items** and run. Export as JSON, CSV or Excel, or pull it through the Apify API.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Can I get the newest stories instead of the most relevant?**
Yes. Set the sort option to newest first to get stories in reverse chronological order.

**Does it include the discussion link?**
Yes. Every record includes a direct link to the Hacker News thread and, when present, the linked article URL.

**How many stories can I collect?**
As many as match your keyword; set Max Items to control the total.

**How fresh is the data?**
Points and comment counts are read live at run time, so each record reflects the moment of the run (see observedAt).

### Example use cases

Ready-to-run example tasks, each preconfigured for a common scenario. Open one and press run, or use it as a template:

- [Hacker News posts about artificial intelligence sorted by relevance](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-artificial-intelligence-relevance): Search Hacker News for artificial intelligence posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by relevance for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about rust programming sorted by date](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-rust-programming-date): Search Hacker News for rust programming posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by date for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about startups sorted by relevance](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-startups-relevance): Search Hacker News for startups posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by relevance for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about cybersecurity sorted by date](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-cybersecurity-date): Search Hacker News for cybersecurity posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by date for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about self hosting sorted by relevance](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-self-hosting-relevance): Search Hacker News for self hosting posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by relevance for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about open source sorted by date](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-open-source-date): Search Hacker News for open source posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by date for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about remote work sorted by relevance](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-remote-work-relevance): Search Hacker News for remote work posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by relevance for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about kubernetes sorted by date](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-kubernetes-date): Search Hacker News for kubernetes posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by date for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about LLM sorted by relevance](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-llm-relevance): Search Hacker News for LLM posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by relevance for tech trend research.
- [Hacker News posts about web scraping sorted by date](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper/examples/hn-hn-web-scraping-date): Search Hacker News for web scraping posts with titles, points, author, comment counts and links sorted by date for tech trend research.

### Related scrapers

- [GitHub Repositories Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/github-repositories-scraper)
- [Reddit Posts & Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/reddit-scraper)
- [Google News Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/google-news-scraper)

### More scrapers at scrapers.lat

This actor is built and maintained by [scrapers.lat](https://scrapers.lat), where we publish scrapers for public platforms: finance, news, real estate, jobs, e-commerce and government data. Browse the full catalog or ask us for a custom scraper at [scrapers.lat](https://scrapers.lat).

***

> This actor is an independent tool and has no affiliation with Hacker News or Y Combinator. It only accesses publicly available story data. Use the results in accordance with the source's terms.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxStories` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of stories to collect.

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Keyword to search Hacker News stories (for example 'artificial intelligence', 'startup', 'rust'). Leave empty for the latest stories.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Order the stories by relevance or by newest first.

## `includeComments` (type: `boolean`):

Also attach each story's highest-voted discussion comments (author, text, points). Slower but gives you the full conversation, not just the headline.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxStories": 50,
  "searchQuery": "artificial intelligence",
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "includeComments": false
}
```

# 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 = {
    "maxStories": 50,
    "searchQuery": "artificial intelligence"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapers_lat/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 = {
    "maxStories": 50,
    "searchQuery": "artificial intelligence",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapers_lat/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 '{
  "maxStories": 50,
  "searchQuery": "artificial intelligence"
}' |
apify call scrapers_lat/hacker-news-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/nGllAZvIJgljXrPcd/builds/FlgutxVu6TDhhbo8W/openapi.json