Hacker News MCP Server for Cline 3 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
Cline is an autonomous AI coding agent inside VS Code that plans, executes, and iterates on tasks. Wire Hacker News through Vinkius and Cline gains direct access to every tool. from data retrieval to workflow automation. without leaving the terminal.
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{
"mcpServers": {
"hacker-news": {
"url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
}
}
}
* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure
About Hacker News MCP Server
Connect to Hacker News (Y Combinator) and take full control of your tech news consumption, discussion auditing, and trend tracking through natural conversation.
Cline operates autonomously inside VS Code. it reads your codebase, plans a strategy, and executes multi-step tasks including Hacker News tool calls without waiting for prompts between steps. Connect 3 tools through Vinkius and Cline can fetch data, generate code, and commit changes in a single autonomous run.
What you can do
- Front Page Orchestration — Fetch current Top stories to retrieve popular social links, titles, scores, and author metadata natively within your chat
- Real-time Submission Tracking — Iterate through chronological submissions to discover cutting-edge tech updates and new project launches flawlessly
- Detailed Item Auditing — Read the full contents of specific HN items (stories, comments, or polls) by their numeric IDs to extract exact textual context
- Clean Comment Retrieval — Retrieve discussion threads with HTML comments converted cleanly into Markdown, allowing your AI agent to reason with structured conversations limitlessly
- Story Metadata Inspection — Analyze specific node blocks identifying submission times, URL references, and total comment counts synchronously
- Trend Discovery — Identify high-ranking tech discussions and gather required IDs to browse and discover ongoing community debates natively
The Hacker News MCP Server exposes 3 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Cline in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.
How to Connect Hacker News to Cline via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the Hacker News MCP Server with Cline.
Open Cline MCP Settings
Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar panel
Add remote server
Click "Add MCP Server" and paste the configuration above
Enable the server
Toggle the server switch to ON
Start using Hacker News
Ask Cline: "Using Hacker News, help me...". 3 tools available
Why Use Cline with the Hacker News MCP Server
Cline provides unique advantages when paired with Hacker News through the Model Context Protocol.
Cline operates autonomously. it reads your codebase, plans a strategy, and executes multi-step tasks including MCP tool calls without step-by-step prompts
Runs inside VS Code, so you get MCP tool access alongside your existing extensions, terminal, and version control in a single window
Cline can create, edit, and delete files based on MCP tool responses, enabling end-to-end automation from data retrieval to code generation
Transparent execution: every tool call and file change is shown in Cline's activity log for full visibility and approval before committing
Hacker News + Cline Use Cases
Practical scenarios where Cline combined with the Hacker News MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Autonomous feature building: tell Cline to fetch data from Hacker News and scaffold a complete module with types, handlers, and tests
Codebase refactoring: use Hacker News tools to validate live data while Cline restructures your code to match updated schemas
Automated testing: Cline fetches real responses from Hacker News and generates snapshot tests or mocks based on actual payloads
Incident response: query Hacker News for real-time status and let Cline generate hotfix patches based on the findings
Hacker News MCP Tools for Cline (3)
These 3 tools become available when you connect Hacker News to Cline via MCP:
get_item
Read the detailed contents of a specific Hacker News item (a story, comment, or poll) by its ID. Returns HTML comments converted cleanly to Markdown
new_stories
Fetch the most recently submitted stories on Hacker News
top_stories
Fetch the current Top stories on the Hacker News front page
Example Prompts for Hacker News in Cline
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Cline agent to start working with Hacker News immediately.
"Show me the top 5 stories on Hacker News right now"
"Get details and comments for HN item 123456"
"What are the newest submissions on tech launches?"
Troubleshooting Hacker News MCP Server with Cline
Common issues when connecting Hacker News to Cline through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
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Hacker News + Cline FAQ
Common questions about integrating Hacker News MCP Server with Cline.
How does Cline connect to MCP servers?
Can Cline run MCP tools without approval?
Does Cline support multiple MCP servers at once?
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Connect Hacker News to Cline
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 3 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.