| name | hackernews |
| description | Search Hacker News for relevant tech discussions, product launches, and engagement opportunities using the public Algolia API. |
| allowed-tools | Bash, Read, Write, WebSearch, WebFetch |
Hacker News Engagement Skill
Find relevant Hacker News discussions and draft helpful responses that position TeamDay naturally.
When to Use
- User asks to find Hacker News discussions about AI agents, developer tools, startups, etc.
- User wants to monitor HN for engagement opportunities or product mentions
- User asks to draft a reply to a HN thread
- User says "check HN" or "find Hacker News conversations"
- Periodic social listening for brand mentions or relevant tech discussions
Scripts
Search Hacker News
bun .claude/skills/hackernews/scripts/hn-search.ts "<query>" [options]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--sort=VALUE | popularity | popularity, date |
--time=VALUE | week | day, week, month, year, all |
--limit=N | 25 | Number of results (max 100) |
--type=VALUE | story | story, comment, all |
Read Thread + Comments
bun .claude/skills/hackernews/scripts/hn-thread.ts "<item_id>" [--depth=N]
Fetches the full post body and comment tree. Use this to understand the conversation before drafting a response.
Target Topics
These topics are most relevant to TeamDay's domain on Hacker News:
| Topic | Relevance | Search Queries |
|---|
| AI Agents | Core | "ai agents", "ai agent framework", "autonomous agent" |
| Claude / Anthropic | Core | "claude code", "claude agent", "anthropic", "claude sdk" |
| MCP Protocol | Core | "mcp server", "model context protocol", "mcp tools" |
| AI Dev Tools | High | "ai coding", "ai developer tools", "copilot alternative" |
| LLM Applications | High | "llm application", "llm production", "ai workflow" |
| Startups / SaaS | Medium | "ai startup", "saas ai", "ai product launch" |
| Show HN | High | "Show HN" posts about AI tools (engagement goldmine) |
Workflow
Phase 1: Discovery
Run targeted searches across Hacker News:
bun .claude/skills/hackernews/scripts/hn-search.ts "ai agents" --sort=date --time=week
bun .claude/skills/hackernews/scripts/hn-search.ts "claude code" --sort=date --time=week
bun .claude/skills/hackernews/scripts/hn-search.ts "Show HN ai" --sort=date --time=week
bun .claude/skills/hackernews/scripts/hn-search.ts "ai automation" --type=comment --sort=date
Phase 2: Qualify Opportunities
High-value threads (prioritize):
- "Show HN" posts about AI tools (builders are active and responsive)
- "Ask HN" questions about AI agents, automation, or developer tools
- Technical discussions comparing AI platforms or frameworks
- Posts with 10+ comments and growing
- Threads where users share pain points that TeamDay solves
Skip these:
- Threads older than 2 weeks (HN discussions die fast)
- Posts with 0 comments and low score (no audience)
- Pure research/academic discussions (wrong audience for a product)
- Heated political/ethical AI debates (high risk, low reward)
Phase 3: Deep-Read Promising Threads
bun .claude/skills/hackernews/scripts/hn-thread.ts "12345678"
Understand:
- What is OP actually building or struggling with?
- What answers already exist in the comments?
- Is there a technical gap TeamDay could fill?
- What's the tone — technical, casual, skeptical?
Phase 4: Draft Response
HN Tone Guidelines (CRITICAL — HN is different from Reddit):
- Be deeply technical. HN readers are engineers, founders, and researchers.
- Never use marketing language. No "revolutionize", "game-changing", "unlock potential".
- Share technical details: architecture, trade-offs, what didn't work.
- Be honest about limitations. HN respects intellectual honesty above all.
- Keep it concise. HN favors dense, information-rich comments.
Phase 5: Report
Save engagement reports to track what's been done:
Write to: docs/hackernews/YYYY-MM-DD-hn-engagement.md
Rate Limits
The HN Algolia API is generous — approximately 10,000 requests per hour with no authentication required. Rate limiting is unlikely to be an issue for normal usage.
