mcp-claude-hackernews

This MCP server, mcp-claude-hackernews, exposes a set of specialized tools that let Claude Desktop interact with Hacker News through the Model Context Protocol. The server runs locally as a child process and provides five distinct tools: hn_latest, hn_top, hn_best, hn_story, and hn_comments. Each tool fetches and formats Hacker News content, including latest, top, and best stories, as well as detailed story information and comments. You can invoke these tools from Claude Desktop using natural language prompts like “Show me the top 20 Hacker News stories” or “Get details for story ID 12345678,” and Claude will route the request to the appropriate tool and return clean, readable results. The server focuses on clean formatting and easy integration, allowing Claude to present Hacker News content in a concise, readable form within its interface.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 16 or higher
• A Claude Desktop installation capable of loading MCP servers
• Internet access to reach Hacker News API

Installation steps:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/imprvhub/mcp-claude-hackernews
cd mcp-claude-hackernews

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

4. Run the MCP server manually (optional for testing):

node build/index.js

5. If integrating with Claude Desktop, ensure your claude_desktop_config.json includes the path to the built server as shown in the README. Replace ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO_DIRECTORY with the full absolute path where the project is installed.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hackerNews": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO_DIRECTORY/mcp-claude-hackernews/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Tips and common issues:

• Ensure Node.js 16+ is installed and available in your PATH.
• If Claude Desktop cannot start the MCP server, verify the absolute path in the configuration and ensure build/index.js exists after the npm run build step.
• The tools support parameters such as limit for lists (1-50) and story_id or story_index for comments. Use the examples in the README to structure tool usage requests.
• If the server restarts or fails to respond, check the terminal running node build/index.js for errors; common issues include network access to Hacker News API or incorrect ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO_DIRECTORY.
• Keep Claude Desktop updated to ensure compatibility with MCP tool signatures and response formatting.