100 free credits. No credit card required
Hacker News Story Comments API
Returns the comment tree for a Hacker News story: each comment's id, author, text, points, time posted, and its nested replies.
GET /v1/hackernews/story/commentsLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Hacker News Story Comments API
Use it when you want the discussion under a story rather than the story's own details. The whole tree arrives in one call, nested replies included, so there is no cursor to follow.
From the API reference
Returns the whole comment tree for a story under data.items[], in the unified Comment shape: each entry carries id, author, text, published_at, the HN permalink at url, its direct-reply count at engagement.replies, and its nested replies at replies[], recursively. Algolia serves the entire thread in one response, so there is no cursor and nothing is left behind. Note that a story's num_comments on the search index counts every node ever posted, including ones the thread no longer shows, so it can exceed the tree returned here. Same upstream call as /v1/hackernews/story, with the CommentList archetype selecting the children list.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
·
TikTok·
Instagram·
YouTube·
Facebook·
X·
LinkedIn·
Reddit·
Threads·
Pinterest·
Twitch·
Truth Social·
Snapchat·
Kick·
Bluesky·
Kwai·
Rumble·
Spotify·
Apple Music·TikTok Shop·
Amazon Shop·
Google Shopping·
Trustpilot·
TripAdvisor·
Yelp·
Linktree·
Komi·
Pillar·
lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·
Finance·
Polymarket·
Tavily·Hacker News·
GitHub·
Perplexity·
Naver·
Utility·
Universal Search
TikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal Search·TikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal Search
TikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal Search·TikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal Search
TikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal Search·TikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal Search
TikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal SearchHacker News API
What can you do with the Story Comments API?
The Story Comments endpoint gives you structured Hacker News data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/hackernews/story/comments: 1 credit per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 60: the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 60 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/hackernews/story/comments?id=8863" && cat response.json# GET /v1/hackernews/story/comments: 1 credit per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 60 # the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/hackernews/story/comments"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"id": "8863",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// GET /v1/hackernews/story/comments: 1 credit per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000; // the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/hackernews/story/comments");
url.searchParams.set("id", "8863");
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| id | Yes | HN story id (the numeric `objectID`). |
| since | No | Only rows published on or after this date: YYYY-MM-DD (midnight UTC) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Rows older than it are left off each page. This list is not in date order, so the walk does not stop at the date: keep following `next_cursor`, and each page costs what a page costs even when every row on it is filtered out. A row with no date is kept. `published_after`, `start_date`, `from_date`, `publish_time` (`yesterday`, `this-week`, `this-month`, `last-3-months`, `last-6-months`) and `max_age_days` are accepted and applied as `since`. |
| until | No | Only rows published on or before this date: YYYY-MM-DD (that whole UTC day is included) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Newer rows are left off each page and the walk does not stop, so older pages follow. A row with no date is kept. `published_before`, `end_date` and `to_date` are accepted and applied as `until`. |
Example Response
What does the Hacker News Story Comments API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "youtube",
"endpoint": "/v1/youtube/video/comments",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"comment": {
"id": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg",
"url": null,
"parent_id": null,
"post_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"author": {
"username": "user_607bca",
"display_name": "user_607bca",
"avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_b3bde6.png",
"verified": null
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 322497,
"replies": 1000
},
"flags": {
"pinned": null,
"deleted": false
},
"published_at": "2025-04-22T19:05:08.000Z",
"ext": {
"replies_token": "sc2.eyJzIjoiYSIsImMiOiJVZ3pnZTM0MGRCZ0I3NWhXQm01NEFhQUJBZyJ9",
"updated_at": "2025-04-22T19:05:08Z",
"author_channel_id": "user_0faa89",
"author_url": "https://example.com/user_fa30a8",
"viewer_rating": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"text_original": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"preview_replies": [
{
"id": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg.AHE8_QAWJx9AHE9eIiztxR",
"channelId": "user_b70959",
"videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"textDisplay": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"textOriginal": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"parentId": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg",
"authorDisplayName": "user_a07ce6",
"authorProfileImageUrl": "https://example.com/avatars/user_b7fd7d.png",
"authorChannelUrl": "https://example.com/user_7ab559",
"authorChannelId": {
"value": "user_5afaba"
},
"canRate": true,
"viewerRating": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"likeCount": 7573,
"publishedAt": "2025-04-22T19:14:32Z",
"updatedAt": "2025-04-22T19:14:32Z"
},
{
"id": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg.AHE8_QAWJx9AHEAB_-JmDA",
"channelId": "user_b70959",
"videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"textDisplay": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"textOriginal": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"parentId": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg",
"authorDisplayName": "user_d8b3d6",
"authorProfileImageUrl": "https://example.com/avatars/user_2ece01.png",
"authorChannelUrl": "https://example.com/user_7a3f35",
"authorChannelId": {
"value": "user_da87da"
},
"canRate": true,
"viewerRating": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"likeCount": 3180,
"publishedAt": "2025-04-22T19:19:13Z",
"updatedAt": "2025-04-22T19:19:13Z"
}
]
}
},
"computed": {
"language": "en",
"labels": {
"sentiment": {
"level": 3,
"score_0_1": 0.85,
"confidence": 0.61
},
"question": {
"p": 0.03
},
"purchase_intent": {
"p": 0.02
},
"complaint": {
"p": 0.04
}
}
}
},
{
"comment": {
"id": "UgzjClLu_KHsDVWheGx4AaABAg",
"url": null,
"parent_id": null,
"post_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"author": {
"username": "user_f90324",
"display_name": "user_f90324",
"avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_191ddb.png",
"verified": null
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 1,
"replies": 0
},
"flags": {
"pinned": null,
"deleted": false
},
"published_at": "2026-10-02T15:39:20.000Z",
"ext": {
"replies_token": "sc2.eyJzIjoiYSIsImMiOiJVZ3pqQ2xMdV9LSHNEVldoZUd4NEFhQUJBZyJ9",
"updated_at": "2026-10-02T15:39:20Z",
"author_channel_id": "user_121069",
"author_url": "https://example.com/user_ec3ca5",
"viewer_rating": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"text_original": "Sample comment text (redacted)."
}
},
"computed": {
"language": "en",
"labels": {
"sentiment": {
"level": 3,
"score_0_1": 0.76,
"confidence": 0.8
},
"question": {
"p": 0.02
},
"purchase_intent": {
"p": 0.02
},
"complaint": {
"p": 0.03
}
}
}
}
],
"next_cursor": "sc2.eyJzIjoiYSIsImMiOiJzYzEuZXlKaklqb2lXakpXTUZneU5XeGtNbFo2WkVZNWJXRllTbnBrUXpCMFVUSmtibE5YWkVKVlZscEhUakphVTFRd1NrcFNhMDVPV2pKa1NGRlZSbFJSYkVad1drVnNRMW93U2taYU1WWktZVlZPUWxkVlJrTlRWVnBFVXpKa2JsSXdSa0pWTUVwU1lWVm9TbEZ0WkVKU1YyUldVMWMxY0ZGV2JFSlJhMnhIVVRCc2Nsb3daRUpSVjJ4RldqSTVUbEV3ZEd4YU1UZzFWbFZrUmxNeWF6Rk9SWEJDVWtaV1FsRnNiRUpWVVQwOUlpd2ljeUk2V3lKVlozcG5aVE0wTUdSQ1owSTNOV2hYUW0wMU5FRmhRVUpCWnlJc0lsVm5lbXBEYkV4MVgwdEljMFJXVjJobFIzZzBRV0ZCUWtGbklsMTkifQ",
"total": null,
"labels": {
"presets": [
"sentiment",
"question"
],
"rows": 2,
"labelled": 2,
"cached": 1,
"skipped": 0,
"unjudged": 0,
"dropped": 0,
"dropped_ids": [],
"extra_credits": 0,
"methodology_version": "labels/1",
"mode": "default",
"status": "complete",
"pending": 0,
"pending_ids": []
},
"label_share": {
"policy_version": "share/1",
"presets": {
"question": {
"n": 2,
"counted": 0,
"abstained": 0,
"share": null,
"low": 0,
"high": 0.575,
"receipts": [],
"policy_version": "share/1",
"too_few": true,
"at_cut": 0,
"nulls": 0,
"low_confidence": 0
},
"purchase_intent": {
"n": 2,
"counted": 0,
"abstained": 0,
"share": null,
"low": 0,
"high": 0.575,
"receipts": [],
"policy_version": "share/1",
"too_few": true,
"at_cut": 0,
"nulls": 0,
"low_confidence": 0
},
"complaint": {
"n": 2,
"counted": 0,
"abstained": 0,
"share": null,
"low": 0,
"high": 0.575,
"receipts": [],
"policy_version": "share/1",
"too_few": true,
"at_cut": 0,
"nulls": 0,
"low_confidence": 0
},
"sentiment": {
"positive": {
"n": 2,
"counted": 2,
"abstained": 0,
"share": null,
"low": 0.425,
"high": 1,
"receipts": [
{
"id": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted)."
},
{
"id": "UgzjClLu_KHsDVWheGx4AaABAg",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted)."
}
],
"policy_version": "share/1",
"too_few": true,
"at_cut": 2,
"nulls": 0,
"low_confidence": 0
},
"neutral": {
"n": 2,
"counted": 0,
"abstained": 0,
"share": null,
"low": 0,
"high": 0.575,
"receipts": [],
"policy_version": "share/1",
"too_few": true,
"at_cut": 0,
"nulls": 0,
"low_confidence": 0
},
"negative": {
"n": 2,
"counted": 0,
"abstained": 0,
"share": null,
"low": 0,
"high": 0.575,
"receipts": [],
"policy_version": "share/1",
"too_few": true,
"at_cut": 0,
"nulls": 0,
"low_confidence": 0
}
}
}
},
"comment_language": {
"policy_version": "share/1",
"n": 2,
"abstained": 0,
"judged_by": {
"script": 0,
"choice": 2
},
"shares": {
"en": {
"n": 2,
"counted": 2,
"abstained": 0,
"share": null,
"low": 0.425,
"high": 1,
"receipts": [
{
"id": "Ugzge340dBgB75hWBm54AaABAg",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted)."
},
{
"id": "UgzjClLu_KHsDVWheGx4AaABAg",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted)."
}
],
"policy_version": "share/1",
"too_few": true
}
}
},
"comment_recency": {
"policy_version": "d09-1",
"n": 2,
"counted": 2,
"abstained": 0,
"share_last_24h": 0.5,
"share_later_half": null,
"too_few": true,
"stage": "unknown",
"order": "top",
"recent_share_is_floor": true,
"receipts": [
{
"id": "UgzjClLu_KHsDVWheGx4AaABAg",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted)."
}
]
},
"dropped": 0
},
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"request_id": "req-8Kq2ZmR4vT9xLb3P",
"cached": false,
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": "sc.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",
"has_more": true,
"page_size": 2
},
"redacted": true
}Example captured from the YouTube API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your Hacker News Story Comments response has the same fields.
API Details
How does the Hacker News Story Comments API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
Developer First
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
See your data before you code
Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json()[ .JSON ]
{
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}FAQ
Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usHow do I fetch the comments on a Hacker News story?
Send a GET request to /v1/hackernews/story/comments with the story's item ID in the id parameter. SocialCrawl returns the full threaded comment tree, with each comment's author, body text, created date, and nested replies in one response.
Are replies nested or flat in the response?
Replies are nested. Each comment carries a children array containing its direct replies, which in turn hold their own replies. Walk the tree recursively for the full discussion, or flatten it when you only need a sentiment snapshot.
What fields does each comment include?
Author handle, comment body text, created timestamp, parent ID, and the children array of nested replies. The structure mirrors the Hacker News thread exactly so you can reconstruct the conversation order in your own UI or pipeline.
Can I analyze developer sentiment from HN threads?
Yes. Pull the comment tree for stories about your product, a competitor, or a technology, then run sentiment or topic analysis over the bodies. It is a common pattern for dev-sentiment tracking next to your Reddit and X comment sources.
How much does the Hacker News Comments API cost?
Each comment fetch costs 1 credit on the standard tier, regardless of how many comments a story has. New accounts get 100 free credits with no credit card required, enough to pull around 100 full comment threads.
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