Can my agent fetch the latest news from Hacker News without an API key?

Yes. This server uses the public Hacker News API, which does not require authentication. You can start exploring stories and comments immediately after subscribing.

How do I read comments for a specific HN story via chat?

Use the 'get_item' tool. Provide the story's numeric ID. The agent will retrieve the detailed contents including all top-level comments, converted cleanly from HTML to Markdown for easy reading.

Can I see the most recent submissions instead of just the top stories?

Absolutely. Use the 'new_stories' tool. This retrieves the most recently submitted stories chronologically, allowing you to track cutting-edge updates and launches in real-time.

Hacker News MCP Server for CrewAI 3 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: Hacker News
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

docs.crewai.com/mcp/overview

Built by Vinkius GDPR 3 Tools Framework

Connect your CrewAI agents to Hacker News through Vinkius, pass the Edge URL in the `mcps` parameter and every Hacker News tool is auto-discovered at runtime. No credentials to manage, no infrastructure to maintain.

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python

from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew

agent = Agent(
    role="Hacker News Specialist",
    goal="Help users interact with Hacker News effectively",
    backstory=(
        "You are an expert at leveraging Hacker News tools "
        "for automation and data analysis."
    ),
    # Your Vinkius token. get it at cloud.vinkius.com
    mcps=["https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"],
)

task = Task(
    description=(
        "Explore all available tools in Hacker News "
        "and summarize their capabilities."
    ),
    agent=agent,
    expected_output=(
        "A detailed summary of 3 available tools "
        "and what they can do."
    ),
)

crew = Crew(agents=[agent], tasks=[task])
result = crew.kickoff()
print(result)

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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.

When paired with CrewAI, Hacker News becomes a first-class tool in your multi-agent workflows. Each agent in the crew can call Hacker News tools autonomously, one agent queries data, another analyzes results, a third compiles reports, all orchestrated through Vinkius with zero configuration overhead.

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 CrewAI 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 CrewAI via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the Hacker News MCP Server with CrewAI.

Install CrewAI

Run pip install crewai

Replace the token

Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your Vinkius token from cloud.vinkius.com

Customize the agent

Adjust the role, goal, and backstory to fit your use case

Run the crew

Run python crew.py. CrewAI auto-discovers 3 tools from Hacker News

Why Use CrewAI with the Hacker News MCP Server

CrewAI Multi-Agent Orchestration Framework provides unique advantages when paired with Hacker News through the Model Context Protocol.

Multi-agent collaboration lets you decompose complex workflows into specialized roles, one agent researches, another analyzes, a third generates reports, each with access to MCP tools

CrewAI's native MCP integration requires zero adapter code: pass Vinkius Edge URL directly in the `mcps` parameter and agents auto-discover every available tool at runtime

Built-in task delegation and shared memory mean agents can pass context between steps without manual state management, enabling multi-hop reasoning across tool calls

Sequential and hierarchical crew patterns map naturally to real-world workflows: enumerate subdomains → analyze DNS history → check WHOIS records → compile findings into actionable reports

Hacker News + CrewAI Use Cases

Practical scenarios where CrewAI combined with the Hacker News MCP Server delivers measurable value.

Automated multi-step research: a reconnaissance agent queries Hacker News for raw data, then a second analyst agent cross-references findings and flags anomalies. all without human handoff

Scheduled intelligence reports: set up a crew that periodically queries Hacker News, analyzes trends over time, and generates executive briefings in markdown or PDF format

Multi-source enrichment pipelines: chain Hacker News tools with other MCP servers in the same crew, letting agents correlate data across multiple providers in a single workflow

Compliance and audit automation: a compliance agent queries Hacker News against predefined policy rules, generates deviation reports, and routes findings to the appropriate team

Hacker News MCP Tools for CrewAI (3)

These 3 tools become available when you connect Hacker News to CrewAI 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 CrewAI

Ready-to-use prompts you can give your CrewAI 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 CrewAI

Common issues when connecting Hacker News to CrewAI through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.

MCP tools not discovered

Ensure the Edge URL is correct. CrewAI connects lazily when the crew starts. check console output.

Agent not using tools

Make the task description specific. Instead of "do something", say "Use the available tools to list contacts".

Timeout errors

CrewAI has a 10s connection timeout by default. Ensure your network can reach the Edge URL.

Rate limiting or 429 errors

Vinkius enforces per-token rate limits. Check your subscription tier and request quota in the dashboard. Upgrade if you need higher throughput.

Hacker News + CrewAI FAQ

Common questions about integrating Hacker News MCP Server with CrewAI.

How does CrewAI discover and connect to MCP tools?

CrewAI connects to MCP servers lazily. when the crew starts, each agent resolves its MCP URLs and fetches the tool catalog via the standard tools/list method. This means tools are always fresh and reflect the server's current capabilities. No tool schemas need to be hardcoded.

Can different agents in the same crew use different MCP servers?

Yes. Each agent has its own mcps list, so you can assign specific servers to specific roles. For example, a reconnaissance agent might use a domain intelligence server while an analysis agent uses a vulnerability database server.

What happens when an MCP tool call fails during a crew run?

CrewAI wraps tool failures as context for the agent. The LLM receives the error message and can decide to retry with different parameters, fall back to a different tool, or mark the task as partially complete. This resilience is critical for production workflows.

Can CrewAI agents call multiple MCP tools in parallel?

CrewAI agents execute tool calls sequentially within a single reasoning step. However, you can run multiple agents in parallel using process=Process.parallel, each calling different MCP tools concurrently. This is ideal for workflows where separate data sources need to be queried simultaneously.

Can I run CrewAI crews on a schedule (cron)?

Yes. CrewAI crews are standard Python scripts, so you can invoke them via cron, Airflow, Celery, or any task scheduler. The crew.kickoff() method runs synchronously by default, making it straightforward to integrate into existing pipelines.