How to Use the Hacker News MCP in OpenAI Agents SDK

Q: How do I configure the Hacker News MCP Server with OpenAI Agents SDK?

Install openai-agents and initialize MCPServerStreamableHttp with your Vinkius endpoint. Pass this server object in the mcpservers list when instantiating your agent. The client automatically discovers the three tools.

Q: Can my OpenAI Agents SDK pipeline handle recursive comment threads from Hacker News?

Yes, the OpenAI agent calls getitem recursively to resolve nested comment IDs. Since the tool converts raw HTML to clean Markdown, your OpenAI Agents SDK agent reads the discussion without getting tripped up by messy markup.

Q: Does the OpenAI Agents SDK cache the Hacker News tool definitions?

Yes, setting cacheToolsList=True in the server parameters stops the OpenAI Agents SDK from fetching the schema on every run. This keeps your agent execution fast when repeatedly polling Hacker News.

Run production OpenAI Agents SDK pipelines that automatically pull live Hacker News discussions without writing manual API scrapers.

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Connect Hacker News MCP to OpenAI Agents SDK

Create your Vinkius account to connect Hacker News to OpenAI Agents SDK and route execution through our secure gateway. The platform manages server hosting, runtime updates, and security layers. Configuration requires no manual server provisioning.

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Setup Hacker News with OpenAI Agents SDK

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Parse live HN items with OpenAI Agents SDK

The `get_item` tool fetches raw Hacker News stories directly into your OpenAI Agents SDK pipeline. Your production agent parses these HN discussions using the SDK's async context manager to map the nested JSON to your OpenAI run context. Because the Hacker News MCP Server uses `MCPServerStreamableHttp` to connect, your OpenAI agents automatically inspect the nested comment tree. You don't have to write custom Python parsing logic to clean up old HTML tags before feeding the HN text to your OpenAI model.

Route real-time stories using our MCP Server

The `new_stories` tool pulls the freshest Hacker News submissions directly into your OpenAI Agents SDK workflow. You run this inside an OpenAI agent loop, letting the model filter new HN posts for specific tech terms before handing the task off to a specialized analysis agent. Handing off HN tasks between OpenAI agents prevents context bloat. The primary OpenAI agent checks the latest Hacker News feed, identifies high-value posts, and passes the IDs to a secondary agent that fetches the full HN body text.

Track trending tech topics automatically

The `top_stories` tool retrieves the top fifty Hacker News IDs currently on the front page for your OpenAI Agents SDK pipeline. Your OpenAI agent uses these HN IDs to monitor what developers are talking about, tracing every API call directly on your OpenAI dashboard. Set `cacheToolsList=True` in your OpenAI Python setup to prevent unnecessary network roundtrips when the agent polls this Hacker News list. The OpenAI agent keeps the Hacker News tool definitions cached, saving execution budget while scanning the front page.

Setup guide

Set up Hacker News MCP in OpenAI Agents SDK

Prerequisites

Python 3.10+ installed
openai-agents package (pip install openai-agents)
Active Vinkius subscription with a valid endpoint token

1

Install the SDK

Run pip install openai-agents to install the OpenAI Agents SDK. The MCP integration is built-in — no extra dependencies needed.
2

Connect via SSE transport

Use MCPServerSse with your Vinkius endpoint URL. Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your token from cloud.vinkius.com. The SDK auto-discovers all Hacker News tools at runtime.
3

Create your Agent

Pass the MCP to Agent(mcp_servers=[server]). The agent receives Hacker News tools as native definitions — JSON schemas resolve automatically.
4

Run the agent

Call Runner.run(agent, prompt) to execute. The agent invokes the appropriate Hacker News tools and returns structured results. Copy the full example on the right to get started.

agent.py

import asyncio
from agents import Agent, Runner
from agents.mcp import MCPServerSse

async def main():
    async with MCPServerSse(
        url="https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    ) as server:
        agent = Agent(
            name="Hacker News Agent",
            instructions="You have access to Hacker News tools.",
            mcp_servers=[server],
        )
        result = await Runner.run(agent, "List recent transactions")
        print(result.final_output)

asyncio.run(main())

Get your connection token →

Independent Platform Disclaimer: Vinkius is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, verified by, or otherwise authorized by Hacker News. All third-party trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. Their use on this website is strictly for informational purposes to identify service compatibility and interoperability.

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Common questions about Hacker News MCP in OpenAI Agents SDK

Install `openai-agents` and initialize `MCPServerStreamableHttp` with your Vinkius endpoint. Pass this server object in the `mcp_servers` list when instantiating your agent. The client automatically discovers the three tools.

Yes, the OpenAI agent calls `get_item` recursively to resolve nested comment IDs. Since the tool converts raw HTML to clean Markdown, your OpenAI Agents SDK agent reads the discussion without getting tripped up by messy markup.

Yes, setting `cacheToolsList=True` in the server parameters stops the OpenAI Agents SDK from fetching the schema on every run. This keeps your agent execution fast when repeatedly polling Hacker News.

You write a supervisor agent that monitors the latest feed. When it detects a relevant post, it passes the ID to a specialized reader agent that executes the item fetch to analyze the thread.

The server only processes Hacker News item IDs, story URLs, and public comment text. No private user credentials or internal database schemas are ever transmitted through the V8 sandbox.

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