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Install in OpenClaw
/install hacker-news
Description
Search and browse Hacker News with API access to stories, comments, users, and hiring threads.
README (SKILL.md)
Quick Reference
| Topic | File |
|---|---|
| API endpoints | api.md |
| Search patterns | search.md |
Core Rules
1. Two APIs Available
| API | Use Case | Base URL |
|---|---|---|
| Official HN API | Single items, real-time | https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0 |
| Algolia Search | Full-text search, filters | https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1 |
2. Official API Endpoints
/topstories.json— top 500 story IDs/newstories.json— newest 500 story IDs/beststories.json— best stories/askstories.json— Ask HN/showstories.json— Show HN/jobstories.json— job postings/item/{id}.json— story/comment details/user/{username}.json— user profile
3. Algolia Search Syntax
/search?query=TERM&tags=TAG&numericFilters=FILTER
Tags (combinable with AND):
story,comment,poll,job,ask_hn,show_hnauthor_USERNAME— posts by userstory_ID— comments on story
Numeric filters:
created_at_i>TIMESTAMP— after datepoints>N— minimum pointsnum_comments>N— minimum comments
4. Common Patterns
| Request | Endpoint |
|---|---|
| Frontpage | Official /topstories.json → fetch first 30 items |
| Search posts | Algolia /search?query=X&tags=story |
| User's posts | Algolia /search?tags=author_USERNAME |
| Who is hiring? | Algolia /search?query=who is hiring&tags=story,author_whoishiring |
| Comments on story | Algolia /search?tags=comment,story_ID |
| This week's top | Algolia /search?tags=story&numericFilters=created_at_i>WEEK_TS |
5. Response Handling
- Official API returns IDs → batch fetch items (parallelize)
- Algolia returns full objects with
hits[]array - Story object:
id,title,url,score,by,time,descendants(comment count) - Comment object:
id,text,by,parent,time
6. Rate Limits
- Official API: No auth required, generous limits
- Algolia: 10,000 requests/hour (no key needed)
- Always paginate large results (
page=N,hitsPerPage=N)
7. Gotchas
urlis null for Ask HN/Show HN text posts — usetextfield insteaddeletedanddeaditems exist — check before displaying- Timestamps are Unix seconds, not milliseconds
- Algolia
objectID= HN itemid(as string)
Usage Guidance
This skill looks safe and coherent: it only documents calling public Hacker News endpoints and needs no secrets or installs. Before installing: 1) note the registry/owner and lack of a homepage — the skill is instruction-only, so risk is low but verify you trust the publisher. 2) Be aware that its examples use shell date substitutions and curl; on some systems (macOS/BSD) the date flags differ, so the agent might fail or behave differently. 3) The agent will make network requests to public APIs (and could fetch URLs returned in stories if asked) — if you do not want outbound network access, do not enable the skill. 4) Expect standard rate limits from Algolia/HN; no credentials are required.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill
Name: hacker-news
Version: 1.0.0
The skill is classified as suspicious due to the presence of shell command substitutions (e.g., `$(date -d '24 hours ago' +%s)`) within `curl` examples in `search.md`. While the `date` command itself is benign and used for a legitimate purpose (generating timestamps for API queries), its inclusion in markdown documentation presents a potential shell injection vulnerability if the AI agent's execution model directly interprets and executes such examples in a shell environment. This constitutes a 'risky capability' without clear malicious intent, aligning with the definition of suspicious behavior.
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
Name/description match the instructions: SKILL.md, api.md, and search.md all only describe using the official Firebase HN API and the Algolia HN search API. No unrelated binaries, env vars, or services are requested.
Instruction Scope
Runtime instructions are constrained to making HTTP requests to public HN endpoints and building queries. The docs suggest curl and shell date usage for timestamps, and recommend batching/pagination — all within the expected scope. There are no instructions to read local files, access secrets, or POST data to unexpected endpoints.
Install Mechanism
No install spec and no code files — instruction-only skill. Nothing is written to disk or fetched during install, minimizing install-time risk.
Credentials
The skill declares no required environment variables, credentials, or config paths — proportional for a read-only public-API browsing tool.
Persistence & Privilege
always is false and the skill does not request persistent system-level changes or modifications to other skills. It can be invoked by the agent, which is normal for skills of this type.
How to Use
- Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
- Run the install command in chat:
/install hacker-news - After installation, invoke the skill by name or use
/hacker-news - Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v1.0.0
Initial release
Metadata
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hacker News?
Search and browse Hacker News with API access to stories, comments, users, and hiring threads. It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 1906 downloads so far.
How do I install Hacker News?
Run "/install hacker-news" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.
Is Hacker News free?
Yes, Hacker News is completely free (open-source). You can download, install and use it at no cost.
Which platforms does Hacker News support?
Hacker News is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (linux, darwin, win32).
Who created Hacker News?
It is built and maintained by Iván (@ivangdavila); the current version is v1.0.0.
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