Hn MCP Server

MCP Server for using the Hacker News API

Local serverstdio

What is the Hn MCP MCP server?

If you already use Hn MCP, the hn mcp mcp server is the piece that lets your assistant work with it directly. MCP Server for using the Hacker News API.

What the server does

Official Hacker News MCP Server - Adds powerful Hacker News integration to Cursor, Claude, and any other LLM clients. Access stories, comments, user profiles, and search functionality through the Model Context Protocol.

This MCP server is built and maintained by devabdultech. It uses the official Hacker News API and Algolia Search API to provide comprehensive access to Hacker News data through the Model Context Protocol.

  • Search stories and comments using Algolia's HN Search API
  • Get stories by type (top, new, best, ask, show, job)
  • Get individual stories with comments
  • Get comment trees and user discussions
  • Get user profiles and submissions
  • Real-time access to Hacker News data

Installation

The server ships on npm as @smithery/cli, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

Available tools

The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:

  • Inputs — * query (string): Search query
  • Returns — Search results with stories and comments
  • Contributing — 1. Fork the repository 2. Create your feature branch 3. Commit your changes 4. Push to the branch 5. Create a new Pull Request

Worth knowing first

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Where it fits

This sits in the developer tooling group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Hn MCP's toolset — Inputs, Returns, Contributing — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by devabdultech; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against Hn MCP's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
Inputs* query (string): Search query
ReturnsSearch results with stories and comments
Contributing1. Fork the repository 2. Create your feature branch 3. Commit your changes 4. Push to the branch 5. Create a new Pull Request

How to install the Hn MCP MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hackernews": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@devabdultech/hn-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Example prompts to try

  • Use Hn MCP to Inputs.
  • Use Hn MCP to Returns.
  • Use Hn MCP to Contributing.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Hn MCP to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 3 tools (Inputs, Returns, Contributing) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Hn MCP directly.