Hacker News MCP Server for VS Code Copilot 3 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
GitHub Copilot in VS Code is the most widely adopted AI coding assistant, embedded directly into the world's most popular code editor. With MCP support in Agent mode, Copilot can access external data and APIs to generate context-aware code grounded in real-time information.
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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.
GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings Hacker News data directly into your VS Code workflow. With a project-scoped config, the entire team shares access to 3 tools. Copilot queries live data, generates typed code, and writes tests from actual API responses, all without leaving the editor.
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 VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the Hacker News MCP Server with VS Code Copilot.
Create MCP config
Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project root
Add the server config
Paste the JSON configuration above
Enable Agent mode
Open GitHub Copilot Chat and switch to Agent mode using the dropdown
Start using Hacker News
Ask Copilot: "Using Hacker News, help me...". 3 tools available
Why Use VS Code Copilot with the Hacker News MCP Server
GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code provides unique advantages when paired with Hacker News through the Model Context Protocol.
VS Code is used by over 70% of developers. adding MCP tools to Copilot means your team can leverage external data without leaving their primary editor
Project-scoped MCP configs (`.vscode/mcp.json`) let you commit server configurations to your repository, ensuring the entire team shares the same tool access
Copilot's Agent mode integrates MCP tools seamlessly with file editing, terminal commands, and workspace search in a single agentic loop
GitHub's enterprise compliance and audit features extend to MCP tool usage, providing visibility into how AI interacts with external services
Hacker News + VS Code Copilot Use Cases
Practical scenarios where VS Code Copilot combined with the Hacker News MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Live API integration: Copilot can query an MCP server, inspect the response schema, and generate typed API client code in the same step
DevSecOps workflows: security teams can give developers access to domain intelligence tools directly in their editor for real-time vulnerability assessment during code review
Data pipeline development: Copilot fetches sample data via MCP and generates transformation scripts, validators, and test fixtures from actual API responses
Documentation generation: Copilot queries available tools and auto-generates README sections, API reference docs, and usage examples
Hacker News MCP Tools for VS Code Copilot (3)
These 3 tools become available when you connect Hacker News to VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot
Common issues when connecting Hacker News to VS Code Copilot through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
MCP tools not available
Hacker News + VS Code Copilot FAQ
Common questions about integrating Hacker News MCP Server with VS Code Copilot.
Which VS Code version supports MCP?
How do I switch to Agent mode?
Can I restrict which MCP tools Copilot can access?
Does MCP work in VS Code Remote or Codespaces?
.vscode/mcp.json work in Remote SSH, WSL, and GitHub Codespaces environments. The MCP connection is established from the remote host, so ensure the server URL is accessible from that environment.Connect Hacker News with your favorite client
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Connect Hacker News to VS Code Copilot
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 3 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.