Hacker News Strategy
Hacker News is the most influential developer community — and the easiest to get wrong. This skill covers what actually works, what gets you flagged, and how to build authentic presence.
Before You Start
- Read
.agents/developer-audience-context.md if it exists
- Check if the product/content is genuinely interesting to HN's audience (hackers, founders, deep tech enthusiasts)
- Be honest: HN users can smell marketing from miles away
Understanding HN's Culture
Who's Actually on Hacker News
| Segment | What they care about |
|---|
| Founders | Fundraising, growth tactics, startup war stories |
| Senior engineers | Deep technical content, architecture, systems |
| Tech leads | Engineering management, team scaling, processes |
| Indie hackers | Solo projects, bootstrapping, revenue |
| Researchers | AI/ML, distributed systems, PLT, security |
What HN Values
- Technical depth over marketing polish
- Genuine novelty over incremental updates
- Transparency over corporate speak
- Building in public over stealth launches
- Contrarian insights over conventional wisdom
What HN Hates
- Self-promotion disguised as content
- Clickbait headlines
- Corporate PR speak
- Engagement bait ("What do you think?")
- Anything that feels like an ad
Post Types and When to Use Them
Show HN
Use when: You built something and want feedback from the community.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|
| Must be something people can try | Live demo, downloadable, or detailed walkthrough |
| Must be new | Not a repost or minor update |
| Creator must be available | Answer questions in comments for 2-3 hours |
| Title format | "Show HN: [Name] – [One-line description]" |
Good Show HN examples:
- "Show HN: I built a SQLite extension for vector search"
- "Show HN: Open source Heroku alternative written in Rust"
- "Show HN: Real-time collaborative code editor in the browser"
Bad Show HN examples:
- "Show HN: My startup just raised $5M" (not something to try)
- "Show HN: We updated our pricing page" (not interesting)
- "Show HN: Check out our new feature" (too vague)
Launch HN
Use when: Major company launch or significant funding announcement.
| Guideline | Details |
|---|
| Include technical details | What's under the hood, architectural decisions |
| Share the journey | How you got here, lessons learned |
| Be available | Founders should answer questions personally |
| Avoid PR speak | Write like a human, not a press release |
Regular Submissions
Use when: Sharing interesting content (yours or others).
| What works | What doesn't |
|---|
| Technical blog posts with depth | Listicles and "10 tips" posts |
| War stories with lessons | Company announcements |
| Deep dives into problems | Product updates |
| Original research or data | Repackaged content |
| Contrarian technical takes | Obvious or consensus opinions |
Title Optimization
Title Principles
| Do | Don't |
|---|
| Be specific and concrete | Use vague buzzwords |
| State what it is, not why it's great | Include superlatives ("amazing," "best") |
| Use technical terms appropriately | Dumb down for broader appeal |
| Keep it factual | Use clickbait patterns |
Title Transformations
| Before (bad) | After (good) |
|---|
| "The Best Way to Handle Errors in Node.js" | "Error handling patterns in Node.js production systems" |
| "We Made Deployments 10x Faster" | "How we reduced deployment time from 20min to 2min" |
| "Announcing Our Amazing New Feature" | "Show HN: [Feature] – [What it does]" |
| "You Won't Believe What We Found" | "[Specific finding] in [specific context]" |
| "Why Everyone Should Use TypeScript" | "TypeScript's type system caught 15% of our production bugs" |
HN Moderators Edit Titles
Be aware: HN moderators (especially dang) will edit sensationalized titles to be more neutral. They'll also merge duplicate submissions and sometimes give worthy posts a second chance.
Timing and Mechanics
Best Posting Times
| Time (PT) | Why it works |
|---|
| 6-9 AM | Catches US East Coast morning, Europe afternoon |
| 10 AM - 12 PM | Peak US activity |
| Avoid: Weekends | Lower traffic, but less competition |
The Algorithm
- Initial upvotes in first 1-2 hours matter most
- Comments boost ranking (engagement signal)
- Fast upvotes can trigger the "flamewar detector" penalty
- Posts from new accounts get extra scrutiny
- Controversial posts get rank penalties
What Kills Posts
| Killer | Why |
|---|
| Voting rings | Multiple accounts/friends upvoting = detected and penalized |
| No early engagement | Post dies without initial momentum |
| Flagged by users | Multiple flags = post hidden |
| Duplicate content | Already posted = merged or killed |
| Self-promotion pattern | Multiple posts about same company |
Comment Strategy
If It's Your Post
| Timing | Action |
|---|
| Immediately | Post a top-level comment with context, backstory, or technical details |
| First 2 hours | Respond to every comment, especially critical ones |
| Throughout day | Keep checking back, answer follow-ups |
Your first comment template:
Hey HN, [your name] here, [role] at [company/project].
Quick backstory: [1-2 sentences on why you built this]
Technical context: [What's interesting under the hood]
Happy to answer any questions about [specific technical areas].
Responding to Criticism
| Criticism type | Response strategy |
|---|
| Valid technical concern | Acknowledge, explain reasoning, ask for suggestions |
| Misunderstanding | Clarify without being defensive |
| Trolling | Don't engage, or one brief factual response |
| Feature request | "Good idea, I'll look into it" or explain constraints |
| Competitive comparison | Be gracious, focus on your approach |
Never do:
- Get defensive or sarcastic
- Argue with critics
- Dismiss valid concerns
- Use corporate speak in responses
Commenting on Others' Posts
Building karma through genuine participation:
| Do | Don't |
|---|
| Share relevant technical experience | Promote your stuff in others' threads |
| Ask thoughtful questions | Leave generic praise |
| Add context from your expertise | Be contrarian just for attention |
| Correct misinformation politely | Start arguments |
What Gets Flagged/Killed
Automatic Red Flags
| Behavior | Consequence |
|---|
| Asking for upvotes (anywhere) | Post killed, possible ban |
| Voting from same IP/network | Votes nullified, accounts penalized |
| Multiple accounts upvoting | Accounts banned |
| Submitting competitors negatively | Flagged as abuse |
| Astroturfing in comments | Account banned |
Content That Gets Flagged
| Content type | Why it's flagged |
|---|
| Obvious marketing | Community polices this aggressively |
| Political hot takes | Off-topic for HN |
| Crypto/Web3 (often) | Community fatigue |
| Paywalled content | Frustrates readers |
| Low-effort content | Doesn't meet quality bar |
Recovering from a Failed Post
- Wait at least 24 hours before reposting
- Change the title to be more specific/interesting
- Add more context if it was unclear
- Email the mods (hn@ycombinator.com) if you think it was unfairly killed
- Consider: Maybe HN isn't the right audience for this
Building Karma Authentically
The Long Game
| Timeframe | Strategy |
|---|
| Week 1-4 | Comment only. No submissions. Build karma through genuine engagement. |
| Month 2-3 | Submit interesting content (not your own). Show you're a contributor. |
| Month 3+ | Occasional submissions of your own work, mixed with other contributions. |
Karma-Building Comments
High-karma comment patterns:
- Add context: "I worked on a similar system at [company], and we found..."
- Share data: "Our benchmarks showed X when we tested this approach"
- Provide alternatives: "Another option is Y, which works well when..."
- Historical context: "This is similar to how Z solved this in the 90s"
What Karma Gets You
| Karma level | Benefit |
|---|
| 30+ | Can downvote comments |
| 500+ | Posts get more initial trust |
| 1000+ | Strong signal of genuine community member |
Platform-Specific Do's and Don'ts
Do's
- Do write like a human, not a company
- Do share technical details generously
- Do acknowledge limitations and trade-offs
- Do respond to criticism gracefully
- Do share your Show HN link with your team (for awareness, not coordinated upvoting)
- Do participate in discussions even when not promoting
- Do read HN daily to understand the culture
Don'ts
- Don't ask anyone to upvote (bannable offense)
- Don't post the same thing repeatedly
- Don't use clickbait titles
- Don't be defensive in comments
- Don't ignore criticism
- Don't astroturf with fake accounts
- Don't treat HN as a free marketing channel
Tools
| Tool | Use case |
|---|
| Octolens | Monitor HN for mentions of your product, competitors, and relevant keywords. Get alerts when discussions happen so you can participate authentically. |
| HN Search (hn.algolia.com) | Research past posts on your topic, see what worked |
| HN Front Page Check | Monitor if your post is on front page and at what rank |
| HN user pages | Research commenters before responding |
Show HN Launch Checklist
Before posting:
Related Skills
developer-audience-context — Understand who you're reachingreddit-engagement — Similar community dynamics, different normsdev-to-hashnode — For longer-form content that links from HNgithub-presence — What HN users check when evaluating your project