skills.rest
Walrus-Computing
Walrus-ComputingOFFICIAL
Explore all skills by this author →
GitHub

hackernews-frontpage

Scrape Hacker News front-page HTML and extract story titles, links, points, and comment counts as JSON.

20|3|Updated Apr 2, 2026
Search Tags:#browser automation#web scraping#json output#hacker news#html parsing#front page
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/Walrus-Computing/piper-draw --skill hackernews-frontpage-walrus-computing
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: hackernews-frontpage
Source: https://github.com/Walrus-Computing/piper-draw/tree/main/.claude/skills/gstack/browser-skills/hackernews-frontpage
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/Walrus-Computing/piper-draw --skill hackernews-frontpage-walrus-computing

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

This Skill removes the manual effort of checking Hacker News and copying the top stories, scores, and comment counts into a structured format.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Front Page Scraping: Collects story rank, title, URL, points, and comments from the Hacker News front page.
  • Reliable Parsing: Handles regular posts, discuss links, and job postings while avoiding false matches from unrelated rows.
  • Use Case: Use it when you need a quick, repeatable snapshot of the current front page for monitoring, reporting, or content triage.

Quick Start

Ask the skill to scrape the Hacker News front page and return the top stories as JSON.

Frequently Asked Questions about hackernews-frontpage

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I scrape the Hacker News front page into JSON format?▼

Scrape the Hacker News front page into JSON by parsing the HTML markup to extract story rank, title, URL, points, and comment counts. This automated scraping removes the manual effort of copying top stories into a structured format.

Can I extract points and comment counts from Hacker News stories reliably?▼

You can extract points and comment counts from Hacker News stories reliably by targeting the subtext markup. This approach handles regular posts, discuss links, and job postings while avoiding false matches from unrelated rows.

Do I need a browser daemon to scrape Hacker News HTML?▼

A browser daemon connection is required to scrape Hacker News HTML for deterministic browsing. This setup enables fixture-backed parsing and stable extraction of top-story data for monitoring workflows.

What is the best way to monitor top stories on Hacker News for reporting?▼

The best way to monitor top stories on Hacker News for reporting is using automated web scraping to generate repeatable snapshots. This collects current front page data into clean JSON output suitable for content triage.

Does Hacker News web scraping handle job postings and discuss links?▼

Hacker News web scraping handles job postings and discuss links alongside regular posts. It parses specific front page HTML markup to avoid false matches from unrelated rows and returns validated JSON output.

Why does my Hacker News scraper return false matches from unrelated rows?▼

Hacker News scrapers return false matches from unrelated rows if the parsing logic does not specifically target the subtext and tr.athing markup. Reliable extraction requires stable HTML parsing to validate the JSON output.

Related Skills

Explore More Software Engineering Skills→
cloudofgeorgecloudofgeorge

hackernews-frontpage

Extract the top 30 Hacker News front-page stories as structured JSON.

Community
Intermediate
ShmurdocShmurdoc

hackernews-frontpage

Scrape the Hacker News front page and output top 30 stories as JSON.

Community
Intermediate
aporto-techaporto-tech

Hackernews Frontpage

Extracts titles, points, and comment counts from the Hacker News front page.

Official
Basic
tyronerosstyroneross

web-scraper

Scrape blog and news articles from websites into JSON, Markdown, and HTML.

Community
Intermediate