Front page (ranked)
Input URL
https://news.ycombinator.com/Expected feed
https://news.ycombinator.com/rssTest in finderRSS by platform
How to Get the RSS Feed for Hacker News
Hacker News exposes RSS for the front page and for major list pages.
Quick answer
Does Hacker News have RSS?
- Does Hacker News have RSS?
- Yes. Hacker News exposes RSS for the front page and for major list pages.
- Feed URL format
https://news.ycombinator.com/rss- Key limitation
- The native /rss feed covers the front page only
Context
What this means for Hacker News
Hacker News has exposed RSS for its front page since the site's early days, and the pattern has been stable for well over a decade. The main feed at /rss mirrors the front page ranked items. For per-user, per-comment, or keyword-filtered feeds, the community-maintained hnrss.org proxies HN data through a clean RSS interface and is widely considered the canonical third-party source.
- Feed URL format
https://news.ycombinator.com/rss- Working example
https://news.ycombinator.com/rss
Supported patterns
- Native front-page feed: news.ycombinator.com/rss
- hnrss.org list feeds: /frontpage, /newest, /best, /show, /ask, /pool, /jobs, /classic, /invited, /launches, /polls, /whoishiring
- hnrss.org keyword filter on any list: /[list]?q=[term] (also &points=N, &comments=N, &count=N for tuning)
- hnrss.org user feeds: /submitted?id=[user] and /threads?id=[user]
- hnrss.org per-thread comment feed: /item?id=[item-id]
Limitations
- The native /rss feed covers the front page only
- Per-user, per-comment, and filtered feeds require hnrss.org or the official Firebase API
- hnrss.org caches aggressively. Feeds can lag behind the live site by a few minutes
- The Firebase API is the only first-party way to get granular data and does not emit RSS natively
RSS finder
Find and preview a Hacker News feed
Test a Hacker News URL here to get the same feed analysis, import verdict, and live Aggregator-style preview as the main Feed Finder.
Gotchas
Common mistakes
- Watch for this: Trying /feed or /rss.xml, only /rss works on news.ycombinator.com
- Watch for this: Using raw algolia/firebase API responses as RSS, they are JSON, not RSS
- Watch for this: Assuming every HN user has an official RSS feed, only hnrss.org or the Firebase API provide per-user access
Examples
Try real Hacker News feed patterns
hnrss.org front page (with full text)
Input URL
https://hnrss.org/frontpageExpected feed
https://hnrss.org/frontpageTest in finderhnrss.org newest with keyword filter
Input URL
https://hnrss.org/newest?q=WordPressExpected feed
https://hnrss.org/newest?q=WordPressTest in finderhnrss.org Show HN
Input URL
https://hnrss.org/showExpected feed
https://hnrss.org/showTest in finderhnrss.org Ask HN
Input URL
https://hnrss.org/askExpected feed
https://hnrss.org/askTest in finderhnrss.org user submissions
Input URL
https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dhoustonExpected feed
https://hnrss.org/submitted?id=dhoustonTest in finderGet this into WordPress
Import Hacker News feeds with Aggregator
Once you have a working Hacker News feed URL, Aggregator handles the rest, importing as posts, rendering as a display, or filtering before it publishes.
- 1Copy the feed URL
Grab the URL from the finder above or the examples list.
- 2Add it as a source in Aggregator
Paste into Add New Feed Source inside WordPress.
- 3Choose display, import, and filter rules
Render as a list, import as posts, or filter by keyword before anything goes live.
FAQ
Hacker News RSS questions
Does Hacker News have an RSS feed?
Yes, but only for the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/rss. The native HN site does not expose per-list RSS for /newest, /best, /show, or /ask. Use the community-run hnrss.org proxy (e.g., hnrss.org/newest, hnrss.org/best) for those.
Is there an RSS feed for a specific Hacker News user?
Not officially. Use hnrss.org/submitted?id=[user] for per-user submissions or hnrss.org/threads?id=[user] for that user's comments. hnrss.org is a community-run proxy.
Can I get an RSS feed for Hacker News searches?
Use hnrss.org's query endpoints (e.g., /newest?q=term). There is no native Hacker News search-to-RSS endpoint. Hnrss proxies the official Algolia search.
How reliable is hnrss.org?
Very. hnrss.org has been the de facto third-party HN RSS service for over a decade and is widely used by HN readers and aggregators. It caches briefly to stay within HN's rate limits.
Can Hacker News feeds be imported into WordPress?
Yes. Use /rss for the front page or hnrss.org for scoped feeds. Pair with keyword filters to trim out off-topic posts.