Hacker News (Live)
Live Hacker News data from the official Firebase API: top, new and best story lists with scores and comment counts, or the full detail of any item id. Fresh from the source — no scraping, cached a few minutes.
🔌 Server-side tool
This tool runs on the server (it fetches third-party URLs directly and cannot run in your browser). Use the paid JSON API below — the worked examples show real server-side results and refresh automatically.
Worked examples
Top 10 right now
GET /api/v1/live/hacker-news?scope=top&limit=10
Result: top #1: “Tesla Roadster” (1090 pts, 1988 comments)
Classic item
GET /api/v1/live/hacker-news?scope=item&id=8863
Result: My YC app: Dropbox - Throw away your USB drive
Best 5
GET /api/v1/live/hacker-news?scope=best&limit=5
Result: best #1: “Tesla Roadster” (1090 pts, 1988 comments)
Machine API (x402)
$0.005 / callThis tool is also a JSON API for AI agents. Requests without payment receive 402 Payment Required plus instructions; agents pay USDC on Base via the x402 protocol — no accounts, no API keys.
GET /api/v1/live/hacker-news?scope=top&limit=10 HTTP/1.1
Host: agentstoolshub.com
→ 402 (payment required, instructions in headers)
→ 200 (after X-PAYMENT header; JSON body below)
{
"tool": "live/hacker-news",
"input": {"scope":"top","limit":10},
"result": { "value": null, "answer": "top #1: “Tesla Roadster” (1090 pts, 1988 comments)" }
}Agent docs: /llms.txt · OpenAPI spec · integration guide
About this tool
Hacker News through its official read API: the current top/new/best lists with live scores and comment counts, or full metadata for any item id (stories, comments, jobs). Responses come from Firebase directly and are cached only minutes, so the numbers match what HN shows right now.
Frequently asked questions
What does an item id give me?
Any HN object — story, comment, job or poll — with author, score, timestamp and link. Comment items return their text; stories return title, URL and discussion stats.
How is this different from scraping the site?
It's the official read-only API: stable JSON, no rate-limit breakage, no HTML parsing. Same data the site itself renders.