> **For coding agents and LLMs:** This is one page from the Social Fetch docs (markdown export). For curated orientation and workflow guidance, start with [`/llms.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.txt); for agent onboarding and crawl rules, use [`/agents.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/agents.txt); for the full endpoint list with links to pages like this one, use [`/llms-endpoints.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-endpoints.txt); for one platform's parameters and curls, use [`/llms-{platform}.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-tiktok.txt); use [`/llms.json`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.json) when you need structured JSON for tool registration.

## This page

- **On-site (HTML):** [https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/hackernews/stories/id/comments/get](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/hackernews/stories/id/comments/get)
- **Markdown (.mdx) URL:** [https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/hackernews/stories/id/comments/get.mdx](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/hackernews/stories/id/comments/get.mdx)

## API base URL and authentication

- **API origin (from OpenAPI `servers`):** `https://api.socialfetch.dev`
- **Authentication:** send `x-api-key: sfk_...` on `/v1/**` routes unless the operation is explicitly anonymous (check OpenAPI `security`, the [API reference hub](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api.mdx), [`/llms.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.txt), or [`/llms.json`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.json) for each route).
- **OpenAPI JSON:** [https://www.socialfetch.dev/openapi.json](https://www.socialfetch.dev/openapi.json)

## Recommended docs entrypoints (this site)

- [Documentation overview](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs.mdx) — top-level orientation (markdown).
- [Quickstart](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/quickstart.mdx) — authenticate with `x-api-key`, validate auth with `whoami`, and understand the JSON envelope.
- [SDK](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/sdk.mdx) — official TypeScript SDK guide, including `SocialFetchClient`, `Result`, and `unwrap()`.
- [SDK reference](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/sdk-reference.mdx) — exhaustive SDK method inventory and route mapping for agents, tooling, and power users.
- [Choose the right endpoint](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/choose-endpoint.mdx) — task-oriented route selection for smoke tests, profiles, list endpoints, and single-item lookups.
- [Capability matrix](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/capability-matrix.mdx) — fast comparison of identifiers, pagination, outcomes, media download, and SDK coverage.
- [Recipes](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/recipes.mdx) — copyable workflows (brand monitoring, transcripts, Ad Library, creator scoring, Reddit research) with credit callouts and SDK examples.
- [Integrations](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations.mdx) — MCP for AI clients, n8n verified node, Apify Store Actors, SDK, and REST API connection paths.
- [MCP product page](https://www.socialfetch.dev/mcp) — hosted MCP overview, OAuth, Skills install.
- [MCP integration](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations/mcp.mdx) — hosted `/mcp` server, OAuth, Cursor/VS Code/Claude install snippets, 154 endpoint tools, plus docs_search/docs_read for implementation help.
- [n8n integration](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations/n8n.mdx) — install `n8n-nodes-socialfetch`, credentials, and workflow examples.
- [Apify integration](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations/apify.mdx) — Store Actors under @social-fetch, PPE billing, dataset export, and quick start.
- [`/llms-endpoints.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-endpoints.txt) — every documented operation with a direct link to that route's agent-readable markdown page (prefer this over parsing OpenAPI).
- [`/llms-{platform}.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-tiktok.txt) — per-platform endpoint files generated from OpenAPI (parameters, credits, curls).
- [`/agents.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/agents.txt) — agent crawl/onboarding file with capabilities, auth rules, and allowlist.
- [`/llms.json`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.json) — structured machine-readable operation inventory with parameter names, pagination, outcomes, credits, and SDK mapping.
- [API reference hub](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api.mdx) — human-friendly index of operations with links into generated pages.
- [Errors](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/errors.mdx) — shared error envelope and HTTP status guidance.
- [Credits](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/credits.mdx) — metering, `402`, and planning batch jobs.
- Outcome semantics such as `found`, `not_found`, and `private` are documented in [Errors](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/errors.mdx) and on operation pages when present in the OpenAPI contract.

## Markdown docs convention

- Every docs page has a markdown twin: append **`.mdx`** to the docs pathname (for example `/docs/quickstart` → `/docs/quickstart.mdx`).
- Agents that send `Accept: text/markdown` on `/docs/**` HTML URLs may receive markdown directly (same URL, `Vary: Accept`).

---
# Get Hacker News story comments (https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/hackernews/stories/id/comments/get)

## Summary

List comments on a Hacker News story by id.

**Tags:** `Hacker News`

## HTTP

- **Method:** GET
- **Path:** `/v1/hackernews/stories/{id}/comments`
- **Base URL:** `https://api.socialfetch.dev`

## Capability summary

- **SDK mapping:** `client.hackernews.getStoryComments({ id: 8863 })`
- **Accepted identifiers:** `id` (path)
- **Pagination:** cursor via `cursor`
- **Business outcome field:** `data.lookupStatus` with values `found`, `not_found`, `not_story`

## Credits

- **Base:** 3 credits per successful lookup.
- **Maximum on success (200):** 3 credits.
- **Normalization failure (502):** 0 credits charged.
- **Authoritative field:** `meta.creditsCharged`.

## Authentication

- **`x-api-key`**: API key (`sfk_...`)

## Parameters

### `id` (path)

- **Required:** yes
- **Constraints:** type `integer`; minimum: 0; maximum: 9007199254740991
- **Description:** Hacker News story id whose comment tree should be returned.

### `limit` (query)

- **Required:** no
- **Constraints:** type `integer`; minimum: 1; maximum: 100
- **Description:** Maximum comment nodes to return in this page (1–100). Default: 50.

### `cursor` (query)

- **Required:** no
- **Constraints:** type `string`; minLength: 1
- **Description:** Opaque continuation cursor from a previous response. Omit for the first page.

## Pagination

This endpoint supports cursor-based pagination via the `cursor` query parameter:

- Read the next cursor from the successful response JSON (see the response schema for the exact field path).
- Omit `cursor` on the first request.
- Repeat until there is no next cursor or the API indicates there are no more results.

## Responses (status codes)

- **200**: Hacker News story comment tree page. Each successful page costs one credit, including cursor continuations.
- **400**: Invalid story id, limit, or expired continuation cursor
- **401**: Missing or invalid API key
- **402**: Insufficient credits
- **500**: Unexpected or billing error
- **502**: Lookup could not be completed.
- **503**: Service temporarily unavailable; safe to retry with backoff.

## Response body (200)

Hacker News story comment tree page. Each successful page costs one credit, including cursor continuations.

### Field outline

- **data** (required) — type `object`. Endpoint-specific response payload.
  - **lookupStatus** (required) — type `string`; enum: found, not_found, not_story. Whether the story was found, not found, or not a story.
  - **story** (required) — type `object`; nullable. Story summary when lookupStatus is `found`; null otherwise.
    - **id** (required) — type `integer`; minimum: 0. Story id.
    - **title** (required) — type `string`; nullable. Plain-text title when present.
    - **author** (required) — type `string`; nullable. Author username when present.
    - **commentCount** (required) — type `integer`; nullable. Total comment count when present.
    - **itemUrl** (required) — type `string`. Canonical news.ycombinator.com item URL.
  - **rootCommentIds** (required) — type `array`. Top-level comment ids in ranked display order. Empty when the story has no comments or lookupStatus is not `found`.
    - _items:_
      - type `integer`; minimum: 0
  - **comments** (required) — type `array`. Comment nodes returned in this page. Reconstruct the tree using rootCommentIds and each node's childIds.
    - _items:_
      - **id** (required) — type `integer`; minimum: 0. Comment item id.
      - **parentId** (required) — type `integer`; minimum: 0. Immediate parent item id (story or comment).
      - **childIds** (required) — type `array`. Child comment ids in ranked display order. Unresolved children may still appear here when traversal is incomplete.
        - _items:_
          - type `integer`; minimum: 0
      - **author** (required) — type `string`; nullable. Author username when available.
      - **createdAt** (required) — type `string`; nullable. Creation time as an ISO-8601 timestamp when available.
      - **text** (required) — type `string`; nullable. Plain-text body when available (HTML stripped). Null for deleted/tombstone nodes.
      - **dead** (required) — type `boolean`. Whether the comment is marked dead.
      - **deleted** (required) — type `boolean`. Whether the comment is marked deleted.
      - **itemUrl** (required) — type `string`. Canonical news.ycombinator.com item URL.
  - **traversal** (required) — type `object`; nullable. Traversal metadata when lookupStatus is `found`; null otherwise.
    - **complete** (required) — type `boolean`. True when every currently reachable child edge has been traversed. Not a historical archive guarantee.
    - **nextCursor** (required) — type `string`; nullable. Opaque cursor to continue the same traversal when complete is false; otherwise null.
    - **returnedNodes** (required) — type `integer`; minimum: 0. Number of comment nodes returned in this page.
    - **discoveredNodes** (required) — type `integer`; minimum: 0. Total comment nodes discovered so far across this traversal snapshot.
    - **snapshotAt** (required) — type `string`. ISO-8601 timestamp when this traversal snapshot began (first page).
- **meta** (required) — type `object`. Metadata describing the request and billing outcome.
  - **requestId** (required) — type `string`; minLength: 1. Unique request identifier for tracing this API call.
  - **creditsCharged** (required) — type `integer`; minimum: 0. Credits charged for this request.
  - **version** (required) — type `string`; enum: v1. Public API version that served the response.
  - **cached** (optional) — type `boolean`. True when served from shared response cache. Credits still apply (full endpoint price); Age header may be present.

### Example JSON (found)

```json
{
  "data": {
    "lookupStatus": "found",
    "story": {
      "id": 49044400,
      "title": "Corporate America Has Suddenly Decided to Stop Blowing Money on AI",
      "author": "Alien1Being",
      "commentCount": 2,
      "itemUrl": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49044400"
    },
    "rootCommentIds": [
      49044487
    ],
    "comments": [
      {
        "id": 49044487,
        "parentId": 49044400,
        "childIds": [],
        "author": "k310",
        "createdAt": "2026-07-25T04:19:09.000Z",
        "text": "Syndicated, no hassle, at MSN.\nhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/corporate-america-ha...",
        "dead": false,
        "deleted": false,
        "itemUrl": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49044487"
      }
    ],
    "traversal": {
      "complete": true,
      "nextCursor": null,
      "returnedNodes": 2,
      "discoveredNodes": 2,
      "snapshotAt": "2026-07-25T05:33:43.951Z"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_01example_hackernews_comments_found",
    "creditsCharged": 1,
    "version": "v1"
  }
}
```

### Machine-readable error codes

When an error JSON body is returned, it may include one of these `error.code` values (derived from the OpenAPI schemas for this operation; additional codes may exist at runtime):

- `bad_request`

## Error handling & retries

Interpret HTTP status codes using the descriptions below. Do not assume a JSON body unless the OpenAPI schema defines one for that status.

- **400**: Invalid story id, limit, or expired continuation cursor **Retry:** Fix the request; retrying the same invalid payload will not help.
- **401**: Missing or invalid API key **Retry:** Fix the API key first; retrying without changes will not help.
- **402**: Insufficient credits **Retry:** Do not retry without resolving billing/credits (retrying the same request will not help).
- **500**: Unexpected or billing error
- **502**: Lookup could not be completed. **Retry:** May be transient; a few retries with backoff are reasonable.
- **503**: Service temporarily unavailable; safe to retry with backoff. **Retry:** Usually safe to retry with exponential backoff and jitter.

### Suggested client defaults

- Send the API key using the `x-api-key` header on every request.
- On `503` (and sometimes `502`), retry with backoff; cap retries and surface a clear error to the user.
- On `402`, surface an actionable billing message rather than blind retries.

## Examples

### TypeScript SDK

```typescript
import { SocialFetchClient } from "@socialfetch/sdk";

const client = new SocialFetchClient({
  apiKey: process.env.SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY!,
});

const result = await client.hackernews.getStoryComments({
  id: 8863,
});

if (!result.ok) {
  console.error(result.error);
} else {
  console.log(result.value.data);
}
```

### Node.js

```javascript
const response = await fetch(
  "https://api.socialfetch.dev/v1/hackernews/stories/8863/comments",
  {
    headers: {
      "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
    }
  }
);

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
```

### cURL

```bash
curl "https://api.socialfetch.dev/v1/hackernews/stories/8863/comments" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

### Python

```python
import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.socialfetch.dev/v1/hackernews/stories/8863/comments",
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
data = response.json()
print(data)
```

### Example: next page (pagination)

After a successful response, if pagination is not finished, request the next page using `cursor` (URL-encode when composing the query string):

```javascript
const previous = await response.json();
const nextCursor = previous?.data?.page?.nextCursor;
const hasMore = previous?.data?.page?.hasMore;
if (!hasMore || nextCursor == null) {
  // no more pages
} else {
  const nextUrl = new URL("https://api.socialfetch.dev/v1/hackernews/stories/abc123/comments");
  nextUrl.searchParams.set("cursor", nextCursor);
  // optionally preserve sort: nextUrl.searchParams.set("sortBy", "latest");
  const nextResponse = await fetch(nextUrl.toString(), {
    headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
  });
  const nextData = await nextResponse.json();
}
```