Bring Tech Trends
to VS Code Copilot
Learn how to connect Hacker News to VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot?
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.
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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
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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
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GitHub's enterprise compliance and audit features extend to MCP tool usage, providing visibility into how AI interacts with external services
Hacker News in VS Code Copilot
Hacker News and 3,400+ other MCP servers. One platform. One governance layer.
Teams that connect Hacker News to VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot
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 VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot
Every tool call from VS Code Copilot 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.
Which VS Code version supports MCP?
MCP support requires VS Code 1.99 or later with the GitHub Copilot extension. Ensure both are updated to the latest version. Older versions of Copilot may not expose the Agent mode toggle.
How do I switch to Agent mode?
Open the Copilot Chat panel and look for two mode options: "Ask" and "Agent". Click "Agent" to enable autonomous tool calling. In Ask mode, Copilot provides conversational answers but cannot invoke MCP tools.
Can I restrict which MCP tools Copilot can access?
Yes. VS Code shows a tool consent dialog before any MCP tool is invoked for the first time. You can also configure tool access policies at the organization level through GitHub Copilot settings.
Does MCP work in VS Code Remote or Codespaces?
Yes. MCP servers configured via .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.
MCP tools not available
Ensure you are in Agent mode in Copilot Chat. MCP tools only appear in Agent mode.