# readhn

Surfaces Hacker News threads and comments, ranking discussions by practitioner involvement and discussion depth.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 5
- Author: xodn348
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/xodn348/readhn
- Updated: 2026-03-11
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/readhn

## What it does

The server connects AI agents to Hacker News. Rather than sorting by raw upvotes, it ranks posts using five weighted signals: practitioner depth (30%), thread depth (20%), expert presence (20%), velocity (15%), and references (15%). Every result explains its score.

Six tools power queries, including Algolia search, `discover_stories`, `story_brief` for summaries, and `thread_analysis` for comment trees. The `find_experts` and `expert_brief` tools trace domain specialists with EigenTrust over the comment graph. You can preset defaults through `HN_MIN_SCORE`, `HN_TIME_HOURS`, `HN_KEYWORDS`, and `HN_EXPERTS`.

The server runs on Python. Starting it through `uvx readhn` requires `uv` or `pip` installed on your machine.

## Requirements
- Needs: Python and uv (commands run via uvx)

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Platform CLI**
```bash
claude mcp add readhn -- uvx readhn
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from readhn <command>

### Codex

**Platform CLI**
```bash
codex mcp add readhn -- uvx readhn
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from readhn <command>

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "readhn": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "readhn"
            ]
        }
    }
}
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from readhn <command>

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "readhn": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "readhn"
            ]
        }
    }
}
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from readhn <command>

### Gemini CLI

**Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini mcp add readhn uvx readhn
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from readhn <command>

## When to use it
- filter Hacker News discussions using verifiable quality indicators
- identify domain authorities from discussion history via EigenTrust
- extract key takeaways from deep comment trees without browsing the web
- search technical debates by threshold score and time frame

## Example prompts
- Show the top discussions about distributed systems on Hacker News from the past 24 hours.
- Find commenters who regularly discuss database internals on HN.
- Summarize community feedback on the latest SQLite release from Hacker News.

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