Hacker News Skill

Overview

Automates Hacker News operations including submitting stories, commenting, voting, and engaging with the tech/startup community through browser automation.

Quick Install

curl -sSL https://canifi.com/skills/hackernews/install.sh | bash

Or manually:

cp -r skills/hackernews ~/.canifi/skills/

Setup

Configure via canifi-env:

# First, ensure canifi-env is installed:
# curl -sSL https://canifi.com/install.sh | bash

canifi-env set HACKERNEWS_USERNAME "your-username"
canifi-env set HACKERNEWS_PASSWORD "your-password"

Privacy & Authentication

Your credentials, your choice. Canifi LifeOS respects your privacy.

Option 1: Manual Browser Login (Recommended)

If you prefer not to share credentials with Claude Code:

1. Complete the Browser Automation Setup using CDP mode
2. Login to the service manually in the Playwright-controlled Chrome window
3. Claude will use your authenticated session without ever seeing your password

Option 2: Environment Variables

If you're comfortable sharing credentials, you can store them locally:

canifi-env set SERVICE_EMAIL "your-email"
canifi-env set SERVICE_PASSWORD "your-password"

Note: Credentials stored in canifi-env are only accessible locally on your machine and are never transmitted.

Capabilities

• Submit stories and links
• Comment on posts
• Upvote content
• View top, new, and best stories
• Search posts and comments
• Access user profile
• View Ask HN and Show HN
• Track karma and submissions

Usage Examples

Example 1: Submit a Story

User: "Submit this article to Hacker News"
Claude: I'll submit that story.
- Navigate to news.ycombinator.com
- Click submit
- Enter URL and title
- Submit story
- Confirm posted

Example 2: Comment on Post

User: "Comment on the top story about AI"
Claude: I'll add that comment.
- Navigate to top stories
- Find AI-related story
- Click to view comments
- Write thoughtful comment
- Submit reply

Example 3: Browse Show HN

User: "Check out recent Show HN posts"
Claude: I'll browse Show HN.
- Navigate to show section
- List recent Show HN submissions
- Present projects and demos
- Note upvote counts

Example 4: Search Content

User: "Find HN discussions about remote work"
Claude: I'll search for that.
- Navigate to HN search (Algolia)
- Search "remote work"
- Filter by date and relevance
- Present top discussions

Authentication Flow

1. Navigate to news.ycombinator.com/login via Playwright MCP
2. Enter username and password from canifi-env
3. Verify login by checking username in header
4. Maintain session cookies

Error Handling

• Login Failed: Verify credentials, may need to wait
• Session Expired: Re-authenticate automatically
• Rate Limited: Wait before posting (HN is strict)
• Duplicate Submission: Link to existing post
• Low Karma: Some features restricted
• Dead Post: Flagged or removed content
• Comment Depth: May need to post at different level
• Submission Failed: Check URL format

Self-Improvement Instructions

When encountering new HN features:

1. Document UI changes (HN rarely changes)
2. Note karma thresholds for features
3. Log successful submission patterns
4. Track community guidelines

Notes

• HN has strict quality standards
• Karma earned through upvotes
• Submissions may be flagged quickly
• Comments can be downvoted with karma
• No edit after brief window
• Rate limits strictly enforced
• Show HN for your own projects
• Ask HN for questions to community