Hacker News Community Engagement Skill

Overview

This skill enables authentic Hacker News engagement by discovering relevant discussions, crafting thoughtful responses, and tracking engagement history.

Actions

Action	File	When to Use
Login	references/login.md	Authenticate with HN before engaging
Research	references/research.md	Find discussions, search topics, build thread database
Engage	references/engage.md	Comment on discussions or submit new posts

Data Files

File	Purpose
.business_growth/marketing/social/BUSINESS.md	Shared business context (required)
.business_growth/marketing/social/hackernews/strategy.md	Hacker News engagement strategy (overall approach, topics, expertise areas)
.business_growth/marketing/social/hackernews/{YYYY-MM}/{YYYY-MM-DD}.md	Daily threads and engagement log
community-pulse/skills/hackernews/.env.profiles.local	HN credentials (gitignored)

Quick Start

1. First time? → Run Login to authenticate, then Research to find discussions
2. Have threads? → Run Engage to comment or submit posts
3. Before any Research or Engagement → The strategy file at .business_growth/marketing/social/hackernews/strategy.md is loaded automatically. If it doesn't exist, you'll be asked if you want to create one.

Decision Flow

User Request
    │
    ├─► "Login" / "Sign in" / "Authenticate"
    │       └─► Load references/login.md
    │
    ├─► "Find threads" / "Research" / "Discover" / "Search HN"
    │       └─► Load references/research.md
    │
    ├─► "Comment" / "Post" / "Submit" / "Engage" / "Reply"
    │       └─► Load references/engage.md
    │
    └─► Unclear
            └─► Ask: "Would you like me to research HN discussions or engage with existing ones?"

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Browser MCP Quick Reference

Get Browser Context

tabs_context_mcp (get available tabs)
tabs_create_mcp (create new tab if needed)

Navigation

navigate (url, tabId)

Reading Page

read_page (tabId) - Get page structure
get_page_text (tabId) - Get text content
screenshot - Visual verification

Finding Elements

find (query, tabId) - Natural language element search

Interaction

form_input (ref, value, tabId) - Fill form fields
computer (action: "left_click", coordinate, tabId) - Click elements
computer (action: "scroll", scroll_direction, tabId) - Scroll page
computer (action: "type", text, tabId) - Type text

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Important Notes

1. Authentication: Use login skill or ensure manual login before engaging
2. Karma Requirements: New accounts have limited posting ability; commenting builds karma
3. Rate Limits: HN limits posting frequency - wait between submissions
4. Culture: HN values substance, intellectual curiosity, and technical depth
5. Showdead: Flagged/dead comments are hidden - avoid promotional or low-quality content
6. User Approval: ALL engagement actions require explicit user confirmation