HackerNews MCP Server

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/index.ts:294-302 (handler)

  Handler function that fetches the specific HackerNews item by its ID using the shared fetchHN helper and returns the JSON result as both text and structured content.

  async ({ id }) => {
    const endpoint = `/items/${id}`;
    const result = await fetchHN(endpoint);
    
    return {
      content: [{ type: 'text', text: JSON.stringify(result, null, 2) }],
      structuredContent: result
    };
  }

• src/index.ts:276-292 (schema)

  Input schema requires a numeric 'id' for the item. Output schema defines fields like id, created_at, author, title, etc., for the retrieved item.

  {
    title: 'Get HackerNews Item by ID',
    description: 'Get a specific HackerNews item (story, comment, poll, etc.) by its ID',
    inputSchema: {
      id: z.number().describe('The ID of the item to retrieve')
    },
    outputSchema: {
      id: z.number(),
      created_at: z.string(),
      author: z.string().optional(),
      title: z.string().optional(),
      url: z.string().optional(),
      text: z.string().optional(),
      points: z.number().optional(),
      parent_id: z.number().optional(),
      children: z.array(z.any()).optional()
    }

• src/index.ts:274-303 (registration)

  Registers the 'get-item' tool using server.registerTool, providing the tool name, schema, and inline handler function.

  server.registerTool(
    'get-item',
    {
      title: 'Get HackerNews Item by ID',
      description: 'Get a specific HackerNews item (story, comment, poll, etc.) by its ID',
      inputSchema: {
        id: z.number().describe('The ID of the item to retrieve')
      },
      outputSchema: {
        id: z.number(),
        created_at: z.string(),
        author: z.string().optional(),
        title: z.string().optional(),
        url: z.string().optional(),
        text: z.string().optional(),
        points: z.number().optional(),
        parent_id: z.number().optional(),
        children: z.array(z.any()).optional()
      }
    },
    async ({ id }) => {
      const endpoint = `/items/${id}`;
      const result = await fetchHN(endpoint);
      
      return {
        content: [{ type: 'text', text: JSON.stringify(result, null, 2) }],
        structuredContent: result
      };
    }
  );

• src/index.ts:11-17 (helper)

  Shared helper function to make API calls to the HackerNews Algolia API, used by the get-item handler and other tools.

  async function fetchHN(endpoint: string): Promise<any> {
    const response = await fetch(`${HN_API_BASE}${endpoint}`);
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`HN API error: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
    }
    return await response.json();
  }