Bring Tech Trends
to Cursor
Learn how to connect Hacker News to Cursor and start using 3 AI agent tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code.
GDPR Free for Subscribers
What is the 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.
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
How it works
1. Subscribe to this server
2. No authentication required (Public API)
3. Start exploring tech news from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client
Who is this for?
- Developers & Engineers — stay updated on the latest tech trends and library releases without manual browsing
- Product Managers — monitor community feedback and discover new product launches using natural language conversation
- Researchers — audit discussion threads and extract key insights from tech-focused community debates in real-time
- Curious Professionals — quickly summarize top stories and read insightful comments through the chat interface
Built-in capabilities (3)
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
Fetch the most recently submitted stories on Hacker News
Fetch the current Top stories on the Hacker News front page
Why Cursor?
Cursor's Agent mode turns Hacker News into an in-editor superpower. Ask Cursor to generate code using live data from Hacker News and it fetches, processes, and writes. all in a single agentic loop. 3 tools appear alongside file editing and terminal access, creating a unified development environment grounded in real-time information.
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Agent mode turns Cursor into an autonomous coding assistant that can read files, run commands, and call MCP tools without switching context
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Cursor's Composer feature can generate entire files using real-time data fetched through MCP. no copy-pasting from external dashboards
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MCP tools appear alongside built-in tools like file reading and terminal access, creating a unified agentic environment
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VS Code extension compatibility means your existing workflow, keybindings, and extensions all work alongside MCP tools
Hacker News in Cursor
Hacker News and 3,400+ other MCP servers. One platform. One governance layer.
Teams that connect Hacker News to Cursor through Vinkius don't need to source, host, or maintain individual MCP servers. Every tool call runs inside a hardened runtime with credential isolation, DLP, and a signed audit chain.
Raw MCP | Vinkius | |
|---|---|---|
| Server catalog | Find and host yourself | 3,400+ managed |
| Infrastructure | Self-hosted | Sandboxed V8 isolates |
| Credential handling | Plaintext in config | Vault + runtime injection |
| Data loss prevention | None | Configurable DLP policies |
| Kill switch | None | Global instant shutdown |
| Financial circuit breakers | None | Per-server limits + alerts |
| Audit trail | None | Ed25519 signed logs |
| SIEM log streaming | None | Splunk, Datadog, Webhook |
| Honeytokens | None | Canary alerts on leak |
| Custom domains | Not applicable | DNS challenge verified |
| GDPR compliance | Manual effort | Automated purge + export |
Why teams choose Vinkius for Hacker News in Cursor
The Hacker News 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. All 3 tools execute in hardened sandboxes optimized for native MCP execution.
Your AI agents in Cursor only access the data you authorize, with DLP that blocks sensitive information from ever reaching the model, kill switch for instant shutdown, and up to 60% token savings. Enterprise-grade infrastructure, zero maintenance.
* 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
How Vinkius secures
Hacker News for Cursor
Every tool call from Cursor to the Hacker News MCP Server is protected by DLP redaction, cryptographic audit chains, V8 sandbox isolation, kill switch, and financial circuit breakers.
Frequently asked questions
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.
What is Agent mode and why does it matter for MCP?
Agent mode is Cursor's autonomous execution mode where the AI can perform multi-step tasks: reading files, editing code, running terminal commands, and calling MCP tools. Without Agent mode, Cursor operates in a simpler ask-and-answer mode that doesn't support tool calling. Always ensure you're in Agent mode when working with MCP servers.
Where does Cursor store MCP configuration?
Cursor looks for MCP server configurations in a mcp.json file. You can configure servers at the project level (.cursor/mcp.json in your project root) or globally (~/.cursor/mcp.json). Project-level configs take precedence.
Can Cursor use MCP tools in inline edits?
No. MCP tools are only available in Agent mode through the chat panel. Inline completions and Tab suggestions do not trigger MCP tool calls. This is by design. tool calls require user visibility and approval.
How do I verify MCP tools are loaded?
Open Settings → Features → MCP and look for your server name. A green indicator means the server is connected. You can also check Agent mode's available tools by clicking the tools dropdown in the chat panel.
Tools not appearing in Cursor
Ensure you are in Agent mode (not Ask mode). MCP tools only work in Agent mode.
Server shows as disconnected
Check Settings → Features → MCP and verify the server status. Try clicking the refresh button.