MCP Claude Hacker News

1# MCP Claude Hacker News
2[![Verified on MseeP](https://mseep.ai/badge.svg)](https://mseep.ai/app/63f8ec05-a890-4a4d-9d8d-bea3c9a05c54) [![Trust Score](https://archestra.ai/mcp-catalog/api/badge/quality/imprvhub/mcp-claude-hackernews)](https://archestra.ai/mcp-catalog/imprvhub__mcp-claude-hackernews)
3[![smithery badge](https://smithery.ai/badge/@imprvhub/mcp-claude-spotify)](https://smithery.ai/server/@imprvhub/mcp-claude-hackernews)
4 
5 
6<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; table-layout: fixed;">
7<tr>
8<td style="padding: 15px; vertical-align: middle; border: none; text-align: center;">
9  <a href="https://mseep.ai/app/imprvhub-mcp-claude-hackernews">
10    <img src="https://mseep.net/pr/imprvhub-mcp-claude-hackernews-badge.png" alt="MseeP.ai Security Assessment Badge" />
11  </a>
12</td>  
13<td style="width: 40%; padding: 15px; vertical-align: middle; border: none;">An integration that allows Claude Desktop to interact with Hacker News using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).</td>
14<td style="width: 60%; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; border: none; min-width: 300px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@imprvhub/mcp-claude-hackernews">
15  <img style="max-width: 100%; height: auto; min-width: 300px;" src="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@imprvhub/mcp-claude-hackernews/badge" alt="mcp-claude-hackernews MCP server" />
16</a></td>
17</tr>
18</table>
19 
20 
21## Features
22 
23- Browse latest stories from Hacker News
24- View top and best-rated stories
25- Get story details
26- Read comments for stories
27- Clean formatting of Hacker News content for better readability
28 
29## Demo
30 
31<p>
32  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmPD6MLifJo">
33    <img src="public/assets/preview.png" width="600" alt="Claude Spotify Integration Demo">
34  </a>
35</p>
36 
37## Requirements
38 
39- Node.js 16 or higher
40- Claude Desktop
41- Internet connection to access Hacker News API
42 
43## Installation
44 
45### Installing Manually
461. Clone or download this repository:
47```bash
48git clone https://github.com/imprvhub/mcp-claude-hackernews
49cd mcp-claude-hackernews
50```
51 
522. Install dependencies:
53```bash
54npm install
55```
56 
573. Build the project:
58```bash
59npm run build
60```
61 
62## Running the MCP Server
63 
64There are two ways to run the MCP server:
65 
66### Option 1: Running manually
67 
681. Open a terminal or command prompt
692. Navigate to the project directory
703. Run the server directly:
71 
72```bash
73node build/index.js
74```
75 
76Keep this terminal window open while using Claude Desktop. The server will run until you close the terminal.
77 
78### Option 2: Auto-starting with Claude Desktop (recommended for regular use)
79 
80The Claude Desktop can automatically start the MCP server when needed. To set this up:
81 
82#### Configuration
83 
84The Claude Desktop configuration file is located at:
85 
86- **macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
87- **Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
88- **Linux**: `~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
89 
90Edit this file to add the Hacker News MCP configuration. If the file doesn't exist, create it:
91 
92```json
93{
94  "mcpServers": {
95    "hackerNews": {
96      "command": "node",
97      "args": ["ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO_DIRECTORY/mcp-claude-hackernews/build/index.js"]
98    }
99  }
100}
101```
102 
103**Important**: Replace `ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO_DIRECTORY` with the **complete absolute path** where you installed the MCP
104  - macOS/Linux example: `/Users/username/mcp-claude-hackernews`
105  - Windows example: `C:\\Users\\username\\mcp-claude-hackernews`
106 
107If you already have other MCPs configured, simply add the "hackerNews" section inside the "mcpServers" object. Here's an example of a configuration with multiple MCPs:
108 
109```json
110{
111  "mcpServers": {
112    "otherMcp1": {
113      "command": "...",
114      "args": ["..."]
115    },
116    "otherMcp2": {
117      "command": "...",
118      "args": ["..."]
119    },
120    "hackerNews": {
121      "command": "node",
122      "args": [
123        "ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO_DIRECTORY/mcp-claude-hackernews/build/index.js"
124      ]
125    }
126  }
127}
128```
129 
130The MCP server will automatically start when Claude Desktop needs it, based on the configuration in your `claude_desktop_config.json` file.
131 
132## Usage
133 
1341. Restart Claude Desktop after modifying the configuration
1352. In Claude, use the Hacker News tools to interact with Hacker News
1363. The MCP server runs as a child process managed by Claude Desktop
137 
138## Available Tools
139 
140The Hacker News MCP provides **5 specialized tools** for different functions:
141 
142| Tool | Description | Parameters | Example Usage |
143|------|-------------|------------|---------------|
144| `hn_latest` | Get the most recent stories from Hacker News | `limit`: Optional number of stories (1-50, default: 10) | Get 20 latest stories |
145| `hn_top` | Get the top-ranked stories from Hacker News | `limit`: Optional number of stories (1-50, default: 10) | Get 15 top stories |
146| `hn_best` | Get the best stories from Hacker News | `limit`: Optional number of stories (1-50, default: 10) | Get 25 best stories |
147| `hn_story` | Get detailed information about a specific story | `story_id`: Required story ID (number) | Get story details by ID |
148| `hn_comments` | Get comments for a story | `story_id`: Story ID (number) OR `story_index`: Index from last list (1-based) | Get comments by story ID or index |
149 
150### Tool Parameters Details
151 
152#### `hn_latest`, `hn_top`, `hn_best`
153- **`limit`** (optional): Number of stories to fetch
154  - Type: Number
155  - Range: 1-50
156  - Default: 10
157 
158#### `hn_story`
159- **`story_id`** (required): The ID of the story to fetch
160  - Type: Number
161  - Example: 12345678
162 
163#### `hn_comments`
164- **`story_id`** (optional): The ID of the story to get comments for
165  - Type: Number
166  - Example: 12345678
167- **`story_index`** (optional): The index of the story from the last fetched list
168  - Type: Number (1-based)
169  - Example: 3 (for the 3rd story in the last list)
170 
171*Note: For `hn_comments`, you must provide either `story_id` OR `story_index`*
172 
173## Example Usage
174 
175Here are various examples of how to use the Hacker News MCP with Claude:
176 
177### Direct Tool Usage:
178 
179```
180"Use hn_latest to get 20 recent stories"
181"Use hn_top with limit 15 to get top stories"
182"Use hn_best to get 25 best stories"
183"Use hn_story with story_id 29384756 to get story details"
184"Use hn_comments with story_index 3 to get comments for the 3rd story"
185"Use hn_comments with story_id 12345678 to get comments for that story"
186```
187 
188### Natural Language Queries:
189 
190You can also interact with the MCP using natural language. Claude will interpret these requests and use the appropriate tools:
191 
192- "Show me the top 30 stories on Hacker News today"
193- "What are the 40 latest posts on Hacker News?"
194- "I'd like to see the 20 best articles from Hacker News"
195- "Can you fetch me 30 recent tech news stories from Hacker News?"
196- "Tell me what's the top 50 trending topics on Hacker News"
197- "Show me 20 Hacker News stories about machine learning"
198- "Get me the 40 most recent Hacker News headlines"
199- "What are the 30 most active discussions on Hacker News right now?"
200- "I'm interested in reading the 40 most popular Hacker News articles this week"
201- "Show me a list of 20 best programming articles from Hacker News"
202- "Get the comments for story number 5 from the last list"
203- "Show me the details of story ID 12345678"
204 
205### Language Translation Requests:
206 
207You can request Hacker News content to be translated into different languages:
208 
209- "Show me the top 30 stories on Hacker News today in Spanish"
210- "Get the 20 latest Hacker News posts and translate them to French"
211- "I'd like to see the 40 best articles from Hacker News in German"
212- "Show me 30 recent Hacker News stories translated to Japanese"
213- "Get the top 20 Hacker News articles and present them in Portuguese"
214 
215## Troubleshooting
216 
217### "Server disconnected" error
218If you see the error "MCP Hacker News: Server disconnected" in Claude Desktop:
219 
2201. **Verify the server is running**:
221   - Open a terminal and manually run `node build/index.js` from the project directory
222   - If the server starts successfully, use Claude while keeping this terminal open
223 
2242. **Check your configuration**:
225   - Ensure the absolute path in `claude_desktop_config.json` is correct for your system
226   - Double-check that you've used double backslashes (`\\`) for Windows paths
227   - Verify you're using the complete path from the root of your filesystem
228 
2293. **Try the auto-start option**:
230   - Set up the auto-start script for your operating system as described in the "Setting up auto-start scripts" section
231   - This ensures the server is always running when you need it
232 
233### Tools not appearing in Claude
234If the Hacker News tools don't appear in Claude:
235- Make sure you've restarted Claude Desktop after configuration
236- Check the Claude Desktop logs for any MCP communication errors
237- Ensure the MCP server process is running (run it manually to confirm)
238- Verify that the MCP server is correctly registered in the Claude Desktop MCP registry
239 
240### Checking if the server is running
241To check if the server is running:
242 
243- **Windows**: Open Task Manager, go to the "Details" tab, and look for "node.exe"
244- **macOS/Linux**: Open Terminal and run `ps aux | grep node`
245 
246If you don't see the server running, start it manually or use the auto-start method.
247 
248## Contributing
249 
250Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
251 
252## License
253 
254This project is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 - see the [LICENSE](https://github.com/imprvhub/mcp-claude-hackernews/blob/main/LICENSE) file for details.
255 
256## Related Links
257 
258- [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/)
259- [Hacker News API](https://github.com/HackerNews/API)
260- [Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download)
261- [MCP Series](https://github.com/mcp-series)
262