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Hacker News User API

Resolve a case-sensitive HN username to karma, about text, and account createdAt — before you page submissions or comments.

GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username}

1 credit per successful request.

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About this endpoint

Author analysis on Hacker News usually starts with a username from a story or comment: does this account exist, when was it created, what is the karma, and what does the about field say. Scraping the HTML user page for every enrichment job is fragile; the public user API already exposes the card most pipelines need.

`GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username}` is the dedicated profile lookup. Pass the case-sensitive username, send `x-api-key`, and read `data.lookupStatus` before you write a row. On `found`, `data.profile` carries username, createdAt, karma, about, and profileUrl. `not_found` returns null profile; HTTP 200 still means the request finished.

Credit pricing for this operation comes from the API registry and appears on this page, and `meta.creditsCharged` is the billing source of truth. For submissions, comments, or public favorites, use the separate paths under the same username — this endpoint stops at the profile card.

Hacker News User API FAQ

How do I fetch a Hacker News user profile?

Call GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username} with your Social Fetch API key in the x-api-key header. Usernames are case-sensitive. Read data.lookupStatus, then data.profile.

How many credits does a Hacker News user lookup cost?

Pricing is documented on the operation in the API registry (shown on this page). Confirm on every response with meta.creditsCharged — that field is the billing source of truth.

Are Hacker News usernames case-sensitive?

Yes. Pass the exact username as it appears on news.ycombinator.com. A casing mismatch can resolve as not_found even when a similarly named account exists.

What does lookupStatus mean?

found means data.profile is populated. not_found means the username did not resolve. Always branch on lookupStatus before treating the payload as a found user.

What fields does the user profile include?

On found: username, createdAt, karma, about (may be empty), and profileUrl. Exact nullability lives in the OpenAPI schema for this route.

Is this the same as listing submissions or comments?

No. This endpoint returns the profile card only. Use GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username}/submissions, /comments, or /favorites for activity lists (separate marketplace operations).

Can I use this for author enrichment?

Yes. Teams hydrate author cards from story or comment hits, then optionally page submissions or public favorites for deeper analysis. Persist meta.requestId on misses.

Other Hacker News endpoints