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Skills hn-prospecting

Find high-intent leads on Hacker News via the free Algolia API — no API key needed. Score posts, surface Ask HN threads, and identify technical founders actively seeking tools.

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/skills
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/openclaw/skills "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/3rdbrain/hn-prospecting" ~/.claude/skills/clawdbot-skills-hn-prospecting && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: skills/3rdbrain/hn-prospecting/SKILL.md
source content

Hacker News Prospecting Skill

Find warm leads in Hacker News threads — technical founders and buyers actively seeking tools. Uses the free Algolia HN Search API — no API key, no credentials, no rate limits worth worrying about.

How It Works

The HN Algolia API (

hn.algolia.com
) provides full-text search over all HN content — stories, Ask HN threads, and comments — completely free with no auth. This skill searches for buying-intent posts and scores them by lead quality.

Commands

Run with Node.js: 

node {baseDir}/hn-prospecting.js <command> [args]

  • search 
    <keyword>
     — Find high-intent HN posts mentioning your keyword
  • ask — Find recent "Ask HN" threads (best for tool discovery opportunities)
  • front — Get current front page stories (trending technical discussions)
  • score — Score an HN post for lead quality

Usage

node {baseDir}/hn-prospecting.js search "looking for AI agent tool"
node {baseDir}/hn-prospecting.js search "alternative to Zapier"
node {baseDir}/hn-prospecting.js ask "lead generation"
node {baseDir}/hn-prospecting.js front
node {baseDir}/hn-prospecting.js score --title "Ask HN: What do you use for outreach?" --points 45 --comments 32

Environment Variables

None required. The HN Algolia API is fully public.

Why HN?

HN readers are disproportionately technical founders, early adopters, and decision-makers — the exact ICP for most B2B SaaS tools. "Ask HN: What tools do you use for X?" threads are goldmines for qualified lead discovery.