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Hacker News is a community-driven technology link aggregator and discussion forum operated and funded by Y Combinator. Users submit articles, questions, projects, polls, and jobs; other users vote, comment, and flag submissions. The public ranking is shaped by time, votes, anti-abuse systems, moderation, and discussion quality—not by a simple highest-vote-first formula.

Despite the name, Hacker News is not limited to computer hacking, and it is not a conventional technology newsroom. The site links to material published elsewhere, then adds a threaded discussion where developers, founders, researchers, and other technically interested readers share context, criticism, corrections, and first-hand experience.

Key takeaways

  • Hacker News is owned and funded by Y Combinator, while its official FAQ describes the HN team as editorially independent.
  • The main front page is a shared public ranking, not a conventional personalized social-media feed or a complete technology-news briefing.
  • HN ranking uses time decay, points, flags, anti-abuse systems, account and site weighting, moderator action, and software that can demote overheated discussions.
  • Ask HN is for text-based questions and discussions, while Show HN is for projects the submitter personally made and that other people can meaningfully try.
  • Karma is a rough account reputation score; high karma does not automatically make a user’s submissions rank higher.
  • The official HN API is a near-real-time, read-only public API with versioned /v0/ endpoints for stories, comments, jobs, polls, and profiles.

What is Hacker News?

Hacker News is a community-driven technology discussion site that combines a link aggregator, threaded forum, and community bulletin board. Users submit external articles, papers, documentation, videos, product pages, and other links, while text-based posts support questions and discussions. Each submission can receive votes and comments, and the most visible submissions appear in shared site-wide rankings.

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The name “Hacker News” uses “hacker” in a broad technical and builder-oriented sense rather than primarily meaning criminal computer intrusion. The site’s official welcome page says stories do not have to be about hacking because good hackers are interested in more than hacking.

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Technology, programming, startups, science, business, economics, history, and unusual technical or cultural subjects can all fit the site’s stated standard of material that “gratifies intellectual curiosity.” Shallow celebrity gossip, most political battles, sports, and ordinary breaking-news stories generally fit less well under the official Hacker News guidelines.

Who owns Hacker News?

Y Combinator owns and funds Hacker News. The official FAQ also describes the HN team as editorially independent, so ownership and funding should not be confused with a claim that Y Combinator writes or edits every story.

Y Combinator’s relationship with Hacker News does create specific YC-related features. YC startup job advertisements appear in a separate format, YC startup launches can receive front-page placement, and YC founder names are shown in orange to other YC alumni. The Hacker News FAQ documents these relationships.

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The careful description is therefore: Hacker News is a Y Combinator-owned and funded site with an editorially independent HN team, not a publication that is corporately separate from Y Combinator.

Is Hacker News a news website or a forum?

Hacker News is better described as a social news site, link aggregator, and discussion community than as a technology publication. HN usually points readers to an original external source rather than reporting, commissioning, or editing the news itself.

What HN does What that means for readers
Aggregates links Users discover articles, papers, tools, documentation, videos, and projects published elsewhere.
Ranks submissions Community and site-level signals determine which items receive prominent placement.
Hosts discussions Comments can add technical context, corrections, criticism, personal experience, or a different interpretation.
Acts as a bulletin board Ask HN, Show HN, jobs, polls, profiles, and other features sit alongside ordinary link submissions.

The linked article and the HN discussion are separate reading experiences. The external page may contain the reporting or technical explanation, while the comments may reveal implementation details, challenge the source, or discuss an issue that the article barely covers. Comments are not a substitute for fact-checking, and a highly visible thread is not proof that every claim in the thread is correct.

What appears on the Hacker News homepage?

The current Hacker News homepage uses a deliberately simple list interface. A typical story row shows a title, the linked domain, the submitter, the submission age, a score, and a comment count. The main navigation includes Top, New, Past, Comments, Ask, Show, Jobs, Submit, and Login; labels and layout are live interface details and can change.

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Section What it is for
Top The main ranked list of currently prominent submissions.
New Recently submitted stories, including items that have not accumulated enough points to rank prominently.
Past Older submissions and previously active material.
Comments Recent comments from discussions across the site.
Ask Text-based questions and discussions, commonly called Ask HN.
Show User-made projects and products, commonly called Show HN.
Jobs Job listings, primarily for Y Combinator startups.
Submit The form for submitting a link or text-based post.
Login Account access for participation and account controls.

HN’s front page is broadly shared rather than presented as a personalized recommendation stream. Readers can hide posts, use different sections, search, and apply account settings, but the main ranking is not documented or marketed as an individualized interest feed. That narrower point does not establish that Hacker News has no personalization or tracking of any kind.

How does Hacker News ranking work?

Hacker News ranking combines points with time decay and several moderation and anti-abuse signals. The official FAQ says points are divided by a power of the time since submission, while comments are ranked similarly. Other factors include user flags, anti-abuse software, account or site weighting, moderator action, and software that demotes overheated discussions.

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That means “the most upvoted story is always first” is an inaccurate explanation. Votes matter, but score and age alone do not determine placement, and the complete production algorithm is not fully disclosed. A technically excellent story can remain obscure, while a highly visible story can still be incomplete, inaccurate, or popular mainly because it is novel or controversial.

Signal Possible effect Important qualification
Points Can improve a submission’s prominence. Points are not the only ranking input.
Submission age Older stories lose prominence through time decay. A newer story can outrank an older story with a different score.
Flags Can suppress a submission or affect its visibility. A flag does not by itself establish that a story is false.
Anti-abuse systems Can remove suspicious votes or affect ranking. The exact implementation is not fully described publicly.
Discussion temperature Overheated discussions can be demoted. Popularity and visibility are not the same as quality.
Moderators Can take action against submissions or discussions. Moderator action is one of several mechanisms.

What do voting, points, and karma mean?

Stories have upvotes but no down-arrow control. Comments can receive upvotes and, after an account reaches a karma threshold, downvotes. A story’s visible score is therefore a community signal, not a complete measure of accuracy or importance.

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Karma is Hacker News’s rough reputation score for an account. According to the official FAQ, karma is calculated approximately from upvotes on a user’s posts minus downvotes, but the displayed result is not an exact simple total because anti-abuse systems remove some votes.

High karma does not automatically cause a user’s stories or comments to rank higher. Karma can affect access to some functions, such as comment downvotes or flags, but the required threshold may not be permanently fixed or publicly stated. Karma is best understood as a rough participation and reputation signal, not a verified qualification badge.

What are Ask HN and Show HN?

Ask HN is for text-based questions and discussions. Readers use Ask HN to request technical advice, ask for recommendations or experiences, discuss industry changes, seek explanations, or share an observation that does not belong in a linked article.

All Ask HN posts appear in Newest and Ask New, but the official FAQ says a small points threshold applies before a post appears on the main Ask page. Leaving the URL field blank in the submission form is how a user submits a question or other text post.

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Show HN is for something the submitter personally made that other users can try, run, inspect, or use. The official Show HN rules emphasize that creators should be available to answer questions and that the project should be substantive enough to merit discussion.

Post type Good fit Usually not a good fit
Ask HN “What database migration strategy worked for your team?” A normal external article submitted as though it were a question.
Show HN “Show HN: I built a local-first note-taking app” with a usable project. A landing page, newsletter, fundraiser, or unavailable product.
Ordinary link An original article, paper, documentation page, or other useful external source. A linkbait title or a promotional submission asking for attention.
Launch HN A startup-launch post associated with a YC company. Assuming any commercial announcement receives YC-related placement.

A project does not have to be polished or commercially launched to qualify as Show HN. The key distinction is whether people can meaningfully try or inspect something the submitter personally made. A minor version update is generally insufficient, although a substantial overhaul may justify a new submission.

What is Launch HN?

Launch HN refers to startup-launch submissions associated with Y Combinator companies. The official FAQ says YC startup launches receive front-page placement as one of Hacker News’s YC-related features. Launch HN is therefore not interchangeable with an ordinary product announcement or a Show HN post from any startup.

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YC startup job advertisements are handled separately. They use a non-commented format and can appear on the front page without the normal vote arrows, scores, or comments.

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What do dead, deleted, and flagged mean on Hacker News?

“Dead,” “deleted,” and “flagged” are different statuses on Hacker News. A dead post has been suppressed by software, user flags, or moderators; a deleted post was deleted by its author or at the author’s request and remains deleted even when dead posts are displayed.

Label Meaning What it does not necessarily mean
Flagged Users or moderators identified the post as breaking guidelines or not belonging on HN. It does not necessarily mean the content is false.
Dead The post was suppressed by software, flags, or moderators and is hidden by default. It does not necessarily mean the author deleted it.
Deleted The author deleted the post or requested deletion. Showing dead posts will not restore it.
Faded comment A comment has been downvoted and is visually de-emphasized. Fading alone is not proof that every claim is wrong.

A user can display dead posts by using showdead in a user profile. A user can hide a submission from their own view without removing the submission for anyone else. Threads generally close to new comments after two weeks, or earlier if software, moderators, or flags kill the submission. The FAQ also notes that a comment-edit delay can be set up to 10 minutes.

What are Hacker News comments like?

HN’s stated comment norms emphasize civility, substantive discussion, responding to the strongest plausible interpretation, and criticizing arguments rather than people. The welcome page and community guidelines also discourage generic negativity, flamebait, political battles, shallow dismissals, and generated or AI-edited text.

In practice, comment quality is uneven. Technical discussions can contain unusually useful implementation details and first-hand experiences, but popular threads can also become repetitive, combative, or dominated by familiar opinions. HN readers should treat a high comment score as a clue about community approval, not as expert review or factual verification.

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How should you read HN comments critically?

  • Read the linked source before treating a comment’s summary as authoritative.
  • Give extra weight to concrete first-hand experience, reproducible examples, source links, and clearly stated limits.
  • Separate criticism of an article’s framing from evidence that the underlying facts are wrong.
  • Look for disagreement and missing assumptions rather than equating consensus with proof.
  • Remember that HN represents a technically focused online community, not a statistically representative sample of the technology industry or general public.

How do you read Hacker News?

A beginner can use Hacker News without an account. Open news.ycombinator.com, scan Top for prominent current submissions, and select a title to read the external source. Select the comment count separately to read the HN discussion.

  1. Start with Top to understand the site’s current prominent topics.
  2. Use New to find recent submissions before ranking signals have accumulated.
  3. Open the external article, paper, tool, or project rather than relying only on its HN title.
  4. Read comments for technical corrections, practical experience, context, and criticism.
  5. Use Ask for questions and Show for projects.
  6. Open a username to inspect a public profile and submission history when a commenter’s background or past contributions matter.
  7. Create an account if you want to vote, comment, submit, save, or use account controls such as hiding posts.

The site’s simple interface is useful for readers who prefer scanning lists and discussions, but it provides less onboarding, visual media, and creator-following functionality than many social platforms.

How do you submit a story to Hacker News?

To submit a story, log in, select Submit, provide the original URL, and use a clear, accurate title. For a text-based Ask HN post, leave the URL field blank. The submission guidelines ask users to submit original sources, avoid editorialized or linkbait titles, and avoid promotional behavior or requests for upvotes and comments.

  1. Open an HN account or log in to an existing account.
  2. Select Submit.
  3. Enter the original source URL, or leave the URL blank for a text submission.
  4. Use the source’s accurate title, without gratuitous numbers, exaggerated adjectives, uppercase emphasis, or editorialized framing.
  5. Submit once rather than deleting and reposting merely to seek a better position.
  6. Add useful context in a normal comment if the source needs explanation.

A normal link submission does not receive a privileged explanatory text block above its comments. If the submitter needs to add context, the submitter can write a regular comment. A submitter should not ask friends, colleagues, customers, or readers to manufacture votes or comments.

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How do you submit a Show HN project?

Submit a project as Show HN only when the submitter personally made something that people can meaningfully try, run, inspect, or use. Begin the title with Show HN, explain what was built and why, and remain available to answer questions.

  1. Make the project accessible enough for readers to try or inspect it.
  2. Select Submit and begin the title with Show HN.
  3. Describe the project plainly, including what is unusual or technically interesting.
  4. Explain limitations or setup requirements instead of hiding them behind marketing language.
  5. Answer questions from the community and do not solicit upvotes or comments.

A landing page for an unavailable product, a newsletter, a blog post, a list, a fundraiser, or a purely promotional announcement is usually not an appropriate Show HN. An early-stage project can still qualify if users can meaningfully try it; commercial polish is not the requirement.

How do Hacker News jobs work?

Ordinary job advertisements should not normally be submitted as regular HN stories. The FAQ says a recurring Who Is Hiring? thread appears on the first weekday of each month, except January 2, and that most job ads are welcome there.

YC-funded startup jobs are handled separately. They can appear on the front page without normal vote arrows, scores, or comments, and they are listed on the Hacker News Jobs page. Readers can also use Y Combinator’s broader YC jobs directory. Current listings change frequently, so evergreen articles should not treat a particular job or company as permanent.

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Does Hacker News require an account?

Reading Hacker News is generally possible without an account. An account is needed for participation features such as commenting, voting, submitting, and profile-based controls.

The official FAQ documents account functions including karma, profile settings, hiding, comment delay, noprocrast, and password recovery. The default noprocrast settings are 20 minutes of access followed by a 180-minute gap, according to the FAQ. Rapidly requesting many pages can result in an IP ban, and the FAQ documents a self-service unbanning procedure.

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How can developers use the Hacker News API?

The official Hacker News API is a near-real-time, read-only public API hosted through Firebase. Its documented base path is https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/. The official API documentation exposes stories, comments, jobs, Ask HN posts, polls, poll options, and profiles as public data items.

Example endpoints include:

https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/newstories.json
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/beststories.json
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/askstories.json
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/showstories.json
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/jobstories.json
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/8863.json
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/updates.json

A story object can include score, url, title, kids, and descendants. The kids field contains comment IDs in ranked display order, while descendants gives the total comment count for stories or polls. The API provides up to 500 top and new story IDs and up to 200 latest Ask HN, Show HN, and job story IDs. The /v0/updates endpoint exposes changed item and profile IDs.

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The API documentation says there is no stated rate limit in the reviewed documentation, but operational policies can change. The /v0/maxitem endpoint identifies the current largest item ID; that value is volatile and should not be hard-coded in an evergreen application or article.

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Is Hacker News worth using?

Hacker News is worth using if you want technically deep articles, practitioner discussion, obscure tools, early-stage projects, first-hand developer and founder experiences, or startup and engineering-community perspectives. Hacker News is especially useful when you are willing to judge evidence for yourself instead of treating popularity as authority.

Hacker News is a poor substitute for a general-news briefing, a complete technology publication, or a representative survey of public opinion. The community has a strong technology, startup, and software bias. Topics can be absent because they do not fit HN’s editorial norms, and front-page visibility can reward novelty, controversy, audience familiarity, or community fashion rather than broad importance.

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Use Hacker News when you want Choose another source when you want
Technical articles and original sources discovered through community ranking. A comprehensive general-news briefing.
First-hand experience from developers, founders, and technically experienced readers. Verified credentials or a statistically representative audience.
Discussion of tools, papers, software, startups, and unusual technical subjects. Polished editorial summaries and consistent newsroom reporting.
A simple, low-distraction interface and public ranking. Personalized recommendations, creator following, or a mobile-first media experience.

Hacker News compared with Reddit, technology publications, and social feeds

Hacker News can be compared with Reddit or social feeds, but “Reddit for programmers” is too imprecise to explain the difference. HN has a focused technology audience, a simple interface, strong expectations around original sources and intellectual curiosity, and a public ranking centered on individual submissions rather than a large collection of topic communities.

Compared with a technology publication, HN offers immediate reader discussion, first-hand technical context, and discovery of obscure sources and early projects. HN does not provide the same consistent editorial reporting process, and neither titles nor comments are guaranteed to be carefully edited or fact-checked.

Compared with personalized social-media feeds, HN is more link-centered and organized around a shared public ranking. The trade-off is that HN is less convenient for following specific creators or tailoring the front page to individual interests. No format is automatically more accurate; each format exposes the reader to different selection effects and biases.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Hacker News stand for?

Hacker News is a community-driven technology link aggregator and discussion forum. The word “hacker” is used broadly for technically curious builders and does not mean that the site is only about criminal computer intrusion.

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Is Hacker News owned by Y Combinator?

Yes. Y Combinator owns and funds Hacker News, while the official HN FAQ describes the HN team as editorially independent. YC also has specific site-related features for startup launches and jobs.

What is the difference between Ask HN and Show HN?

Ask HN is for text-based questions and discussions. Show HN is for a project the submitter personally made that other users can meaningfully try, run, inspect, or use.

Why did a Hacker News post become dead?

A dead post was suppressed by software, user flags, or moderators and is hidden by default. Dead does not necessarily mean deleted or false; a deleted post is separately removed by its author or at the author’s request.

Does high Hacker News karma make posts rank higher?

No. Hacker News karma is a rough account reputation score, but the official FAQ says high karma does not automatically make a user’s posts rank higher. Karma can affect access to some account functions.

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The Bottom Line

Bottom line: Hacker News is best understood as a Y Combinator-owned and funded, community-moderated technology forum built around links and discussion. Use it to discover technically interesting material, learn from practitioner commentary, find early projects, and explore startup jobs. Do not use the front page as a complete news service, a fact-checking system, or a representative measure of what the entire technology industry believes.

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