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:

Live demo or downloadable available
Landing page clearly explains what it does
Pricing (if any) is transparent
Creator available for 2-3 hours after posting
First comment drafted with backstory/technical details
Title follows "Show HN: [Name] – [Description]" format
Not posted on HN in last 24 hours
Account has some karma from genuine participation

Related Skills

developer-audience-context — Understand who you're reaching
reddit-engagement — Similar community dynamics, different norms
dev-to-hashnode — For longer-form content that links from HN
github-presence — What HN users check when evaluating your project

hacker-news-strategy