Hacker News MCP Server for Windsurf 3 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
Windsurf brings agentic AI coding to a purpose-built IDE. Connect Hacker News through Vinkius and Cascade will auto-discover every tool. ask questions, generate code, and act on live data without leaving your editor.
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Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.
Vinkius Desktop App
The modern way to manage MCP Servers — no config files, no terminal commands. Install Hacker News and 2,500+ MCP Servers from a single visual interface.
{
"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.
Windsurf's Cascade agent chains multiple Hacker News tool calls autonomously. query data, analyze results, and generate code in a single agentic session. Paste Vinkius Edge URL, reload, and all 3 tools are immediately available. Real-time tool feedback appears inline, so you see API responses directly in your 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 Windsurf 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 Windsurf via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the Hacker News MCP Server with Windsurf.
Open MCP Settings
Go to Settings → MCP Configuration or press Cmd+Shift+P and search "MCP"
Add the server
Paste the JSON configuration above into mcp_config.json
Save and reload
Windsurf will detect the new server automatically
Start using Hacker News
Open Cascade and ask: "Using Hacker News, help me...". 3 tools available
Why Use Windsurf with the Hacker News MCP Server
Windsurf provides unique advantages when paired with Hacker News through the Model Context Protocol.
Windsurf's Cascade agent autonomously chains multiple tool calls in sequence, solving complex multi-step tasks without manual intervention
Purpose-built for agentic workflows. Cascade understands context across your entire codebase and integrates MCP tools natively
JSON-based configuration means zero code changes: paste a URL, reload, and all 3 tools are immediately available
Real-time tool feedback is displayed inline, so you see API responses directly in your editor without switching contexts
Hacker News + Windsurf Use Cases
Practical scenarios where Windsurf combined with the Hacker News MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Automated code generation: ask Cascade to fetch data from Hacker News and generate models, types, or handlers based on real API responses
Live debugging: query Hacker News tools mid-session to inspect production data while debugging without leaving the editor
Documentation generation: pull schema information from Hacker News and have Cascade generate comprehensive API docs automatically
Rapid prototyping: combine Hacker News data with Cascade's code generation to scaffold entire features in minutes
Hacker News MCP Tools for Windsurf (3)
These 3 tools become available when you connect Hacker News to Windsurf 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 Windsurf
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Windsurf 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 Windsurf
Common issues when connecting Hacker News to Windsurf through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
Server not connecting
Hacker News + Windsurf FAQ
Common questions about integrating Hacker News MCP Server with Windsurf.
How does Windsurf discover MCP tools?
mcp_config.json file on startup and connects to each configured server via Streamable HTTP. Tools are listed in the MCP panel and available to Cascade automatically.Can Cascade chain multiple MCP tool calls?
Does Windsurf support multiple MCP servers?
mcp_config.json. Each server's tools appear in the MCP panel and Cascade can use tools from different servers in a single flow.Connect Hacker News with your favorite client
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Connect Hacker News to Windsurf
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 3 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.