Hacker News Search — Stories, Comments, Ask/Show HN
Search Hacker News (via the Algolia API) for stories, comments, Ask/Show HN — by keyword, sorted by relevance or date, filtered by points/comments. Public API, no auth.
Hacker News Search — Stories, Comments, Ask/Show HN returns 11 documented output fields, including title, url, author, points and comments. Every field carries a declared type, a written description and an example value. 27 runs are recorded on Apify.
- 11
- Output fields
- 7
- Inputs
- 27
- Runs
- 2026-10-16
- Last run
01 — output
What it returns
Every field the extractor writes to its dataset, with its type, a written description and an example value.
| Field | Type | What it holds | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| title | stringnull | Title as the source writes it. | Wireless Bluetooth Headphones |
| url | stringnull | The URL this row describes. | https://example.com/pricing |
| author | stringnull | Author of this record, as the source publishes it. | jane.cooper |
| points | integernull | Points the source awards this item. | 0 |
| comments | integernull | Number of comments recorded upstream. | 24 |
| createdAt | stringnull | ISO 8601 timestamp of when this record was created upstream. | 2026-10-15T09:00:00.000Z |
| tags | stringnull | Tags applied to this record. | ["wireless","bluetooth","over-ear"] |
| signal | stringnull | The signal this row represents. | new posting |
| engagement | integernull | Engagement measure as the source computes it. | 0 |
| discussionRatio | numbernull | Share of activity that is discussion rather than code, between 0 and 1. | 0 |
| hnUrl | stringnull | Hn Url as recorded for this row. | <hnUrl> |
02 — sample
One record
Assembled from the example values declared on the schema above, not invented at render time.
{
"title": "Wireless Bluetooth Headphones",
"url": "https://example.com/pricing",
"author": "jane.cooper",
"points": 0,
"comments": 24,
"createdAt": "2026-10-15T09:00:00.000Z",
"tags": "[\"wireless\",\"bluetooth\",\"over-ear\"]",
"signal": "new posting"
}03 — input
What you give it
| Input | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| query | stringoptional | Keywords (empty = latest/front page by tag). |
| tags | arrayoptional | story, comment, show_hn, ask_hn, poll, front_page. |
| sortBy | stringoptional | relevance or date. |
| minPoints | integeroptional | Only items with >= this many points. |
| minComments | integeroptional | Only items with >= this many comments. |
| maxPages | integeroptional | 100 hits/page. |
| maxItems | integeroptional | Hard cap. |
04 — run
Run Hacker News Search on your own input
It runs in the cloud on Apify. Nothing to install, and you are billed per result returned rather than per attempt.
05 — questions
Asked before running it
11 of 11 fields described
- What does Hacker News Search — Stories, Comments, Ask/Show HN return?
- It returns 11 documented output fields: title, url, author, points, comments, createdAt, tags, signal, engagement, discussionRatio and hnUrl. Each field declares its type, a description of what it holds, and an example value.
- What input does Hacker News Search — Stories, Comments, Ask/Show HN take?
- All 7 inputs are optional and ship with usable defaults, so it runs as-is. They are listed with their types below.
- Does Hacker News Search — Stories, Comments, Ask/Show HN need an API key or login?
- No. None of its inputs is a credential, and it reads only public data. Nothing to sign up for before the first run.
- How do I run Hacker News Search — Stories, Comments, Ask/Show HN?
- It runs on Apify. Start it from its listing with the inputs above, or call the Apify API with the Actor's ID. Results land in a dataset you can export as JSON, CSV or Excel, or read through the Apify API into your own pipeline.