The plugin ecosystem of DeepSeek Harness (DSH) adopts the “everything is a plugin” philosophy, extending MCP (Model Context Protocol) services to enhance AI agents’ ability to access external data. xby-hackernews-search is a data retrieval and analysis plugin for HackerNews, maintained by xby-skill and released under the MIT license. It primarily addresses the need for AI agents or developers to access HackerNews data in real time, perform keyword searches, and analyze trending content.

Core Features

The plugin provides the following main capabilities:

  • set_xby_apikey: Set the API key in a chat session. The key is persisted automatically and remains valid after restart.
  • search_posts: Search HackerNews content by keyword. Supports searching titles, text, and authors, and provides advanced filtering with tag filters, numeric filters (e.g., points, comment counts), pagination, and OR logic.
  • get_front_page: Get the list of posts on the current HackerNews front page. The returned data includes ranked popular content and supports pagination.
  • get_latest_posts: Get the latest HackerNews posts sorted by time.
  • get_item: Get detailed information for a specific HackerNews item (ID), including the complete nested comment tree and metadata.
  • get_user: Get public profile information for a HackerNews user, including Karma score, bio, and registration time.

Installation and Enabling

Installing this plugin requires the DeepSeek Harness CLI tool. Before installation, make sure the web profile is configured.

dsh plugin --profile web add github:xby_skill/xby-hackernews-search

After installation, the above functions can be called in a DSH session.

Usage Examples

Set API Key

Before using this service, set the API key in chat.

set_xby_apikey
// 接下来会提示输入密钥

Search Posts

Supports combined use of keywords, tags, and numeric filters.

  • Basic Search: Search for AI-related stories.
    search_posts
    {
      "query": "AI",
      "tags": ["story"]
    }
  • Numeric Filter: Find Python posts with more than 100 points.
    search_posts
    {
      "query": "Python",
      "numericFilters": ["points>=100"]
    }
  • OR Logic and Tags: Get content containing stories or polls under the Web category.
    search_posts
    {
      "query": "web",
      "tags": ["(story,poll)"]
    }

Get Front Page and Latest Content

  • Get Front Page: Get front-page posts, with customizable page size.
    get_front_page
    {
      "hitsPerPage": 50
    }
  • Get Latest Posts: Get the latest comments.
    get_latest_posts
    {
      "tags": ["comment"]
    }

Get User and Item Details

  • Get User Information: Query a specific user’s profile.
    get_user
    {
      "username": "pg"
    }
  • Get Item Details: Get a story by a specific ID and all its comments.
    get_item
    {
      "itemId": "38456789"
    }

Notes

  1. API Key Source: This plugin requires an external API key. Please go to xiaobenyang Official Website to register and obtain one.
  2. Performance and Error Handling:
    • get_item: For large threads with more than 500 comments, loading may take 2-3 seconds. If the item does not exist or has been deleted, an error will be returned.
    • get_user: If the user does not exist or the username is invalid (only alphanumeric characters and underscores are allowed, and it is case-sensitive), an error will be returned.
  3. Runtime Environment: The plugin runs with the permissions of the current DSH process. Before installation, it is recommended to review the source code and license (MIT) to confirm it meets project requirements.