Hacker News - stories list

v1.0.1

by extracthub Updated 11/6/2026 news.ycombinator.com

Stories from a Hacker News list page (front page, newest, ask, show, past): rank, id, title, link, points, author, time, comment count and the next page link.

Extractor ID

@1 follows fixes and added fields. to freeze the output.

Try in playground
Price
$0.0025 / request premium Also charged when the request fails after the page was fetched. Pricing
Health
healthy v1.0.1
Request settings
  • GET
  • Proxy
  • No JS rendering
HTML
https://news.ycombinator.com/news
Loading source preview…

What it returns

result.extracted is a JSON object with these top-level fields (from the current configuration; every released version keeps the schema it was released with, see the changes under Versions and health). A sample is in the extracted data panel above.

Field Type
stories object{author,commentCount,commentsUrl,id,points,postedAt,rank,title,url}[]
nextPageUrl string

How to call Hacker News - stories list

Pass the URL of a news.ycombinator.com page and this extractor's pinned id. Authenticate every request with your API key in the X-API-Key header (a test key, exth_test_..., returns simulated results at no cost). Every parameter and error code is described in the API reference.

Realtime: one URL, result in the response

GET https://api.extracthub.io/api/extractor/extract

Authentication required via X-API-Key header

Parameter Type Required Description
target_url string Yes The URL to scrape and extract data from
extractor_id string Yes This extractor's ID with a version pin: @extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1. Use @1 for the latest 1.x or @1.2.3 for an exact version.
return_raw_html boolean No Include raw HTML in response (default: false)
async_fallback boolean No Default true: a request still queued after the wait limit becomes an async job (202 with job_id). false: 503 queue_timeout instead
webhook_url string No HTTPS URL notified if the request becomes a job (job.completed / job.failed)

Code examples

curl -X GET "https://api.extracthub.io/api/extractor/extract?target_url=https://example.com&extractor_id=%40extracthub1%2Fhacker-news-stories%401" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

Shape of a 200 answer (placeholder values). metadata also carries costUsd, and the X-Extractor-Version header names the exact version that ran. A busy queue answers 202 with job_id, status_url and result_url; poll GET /api/extractor/jobs/{id} (or cancel it with POST /api/extractor/jobs/{id}/cancel).

{
  "success": true,
  "result": {
    "extracted": {
      "stories": [
        {
          "rank": 0,
          "id": "…",
          "title": "…",
          "url": "…",
          "points": 0,
          "author": "…",
          "postedAt": "…",
          "commentCount": 0,
          "commentsUrl": "…"
        }
      ],
      "nextPageUrl": "…"
    },
    "metadata": {
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "useProxy": true,
      "renderJs": false,
      "scrapedAt": "2026-01-01T12:00:00.000Z"
    }
  }
}

Batch: many URLs in one request

The batch runs in the background with the version resolved once at submission. Read the results as NDJSON pages with a stable cursor; succeeded URLs are charged, and failed URLs only when their scrape reached the provider. If your credit runs out the batch pauses and resumes when credit is available, and POST /api/extractor/batch/{id}/cancel stops it. Signed webhooks report batch.completed, batch.failed and batch.paused.

curl -X POST "https://api.extracthub.io/api/extractor/batch" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "extractor_id": "@extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1",
    "targets": [
      { "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/..." },
      { "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/..." }
    ],
    "webhook_url": "https://your-app.example/webhooks/extracthub"
  }'

# Progress, then results as NDJSON pages (cursor = last index)
curl "https://api.extracthub.io/api/extractor/batch/BATCH_ID" -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"
curl "https://api.extracthub.io/api/extractor/batch/BATCH_ID/results" -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

In a pipeline

In the dashboard's pipeline builder, add Hacker News - stories list as an extractor node and set its version pin to 1 (or exactly 1.0.1). A previous node can feed it the URLs it extracts; pipelines run manually or on a cron schedule, report progress live and export JSON, CSV or NDJSON.

With an AI agent (MCP)

Connect Claude Code, Claude Desktop or Cursor to the ExtractHub MCP server (https://api.extracthub.io/mcp, your API key as a Bearer token) and ask in plain language. The agent calls extract with this extractor's pinned id, or create_batch for many URLs, at the same price and limits as the API. Use a test key to try it without credit. Set up the MCP server.

Ask your agent
Use ExtractHub to extract https://news.ycombinator.com/... with @extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1
Tool call it makes
{
  "tool": "extract",
  "arguments": {
    "extractor_id": "@extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1",
    "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/..."
  }
}

Versions and health

Each version is immutable. @N resolves to the newest non-yanked version of major N; a deprecated major keeps working until its sunset date and its responses carry Deprecation and Sunset headers. Health comes from scheduled checks of the released versions.

@1
latest 1.0.1
active healthy
  1. v1.0.1 active healthy Released 11/6/2026

    Fetch through the scraping proxy for more reliable results. Output unchanged.

  2. v1.0.0 active unknown Released 11/6/2026

Hacker News - stories list: frequently asked questions

Is Hacker News - stories list a news.ycombinator.com scraper?

Yes. Hacker News - stories list is an ExtractHub extractor: a saved, versioned web scraper for news.ycombinator.com pages that returns the page as structured JSON. Call it as a news.ycombinator.com scraper API with extractor_id=@extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1; it never changes under you, because every released version is immutable.

What data does Hacker News - stories list return?

It returns a JSON object with 2 top-level fields: stories (object{author,commentCount,commentsUrl,id,points,postedAt,rank,title,url}[]) and nextPageUrl (string). The extracted data panel on this page shows a sample.

How do I call Hacker News - stories list?

Send GET or POST https://api.extracthub.io/api/extractor/extract with your API key in the X-API-Key header, extractor_id=@extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1 and the URL of a news.ycombinator.com page as the target. For many URLs use POST https://api.extracthub.io/api/extractor/batch, and in a pipeline add it as an extractor node pinned to 1.

Can an AI agent use Hacker News - stories list?

Yes. Connect Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor or another MCP client to the ExtractHub MCP server at https://api.extracthub.io/mcp with your API key, then ask it to extract a news.ycombinator.com page: the agent calls the extract tool with extractor_id=@extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1 (or create_batch for many URLs), at the same price as the API.

Which version should I pin?

Pin the major (@extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1) to receive fixes and added fields automatically, or the exact version (@extracthub1/hacker-news-stories@1.0.1) to freeze the output. A breaking schema change is always released as a new major, so a major pin never loses or retypes a field.

Does it render JavaScript or use a proxy?

No, it fetches the HTML without JavaScript rendering and it goes through a proxy. Calls are charged at the premium tier (through the scraping proxy, no JavaScript). These settings are part of each released version; JavaScript rendering, XHR capture and browser actions always use the proxy.

More web scrapers in the scraper catalog and in News & Articles.