Tutorial · curl
How to scrape Hacker News profiles with curl (2026)
A curl walkthrough for GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username}. Copy the snippet, run it, then read the JSON.
GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username} · 1 credit per successful request.
In this tutorial
You'll pull a public Hacker News profile and see the fields you get back.
Example job: refresh a creator roster from Hacker News handles you already have.
Step 1
Get ready
Get a Social Fetch API key and a curl environment ready. New accounts include 100 free credits.
API key. Create a Social Fetch account and copy an API key. New accounts include 100 free credits.
curl setup. Any shell with curl. Export SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY before you run the sample.
When you're done, SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY is set in your shell.
Step 2
Make the request
Copy the curl snippet, set SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY, and call GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username} with the x-api-key header. Example: /v1/hackernews/users/pg.
You should see a JSON body on stdout. Use curl -sS so HTTP errors still print on stderr.
Step 3
Read the response
JSON with data (the profiles) and meta (creditsCharged, requestId). Sample below is illustrative — field docs live on the endpoint page. Credits charge on completed lookups, not transport failures.
Check data.lookupStatus when present. Keep meta.requestId if a row looks wrong.
Watch out
user card only — submissions, comments, and favorites are sibling endpoints. not_found means no public user; don't invent a stub row.
Step 4
You finished
Same path and credits in playground, docs, and production. Pick a next step below.
FAQ
Common questions
Do I need an official Hacker News developer account?
No. Social Fetch authenticates with your Social Fetch API key. You call GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username} and we handle upstream access. You still need to follow each platform's terms for how you use public data.
What does the hacker news users endpoint return?
A JSON envelope with data (the profiles) and meta (creditsCharged, requestId). Shape details and field docs live on the endpoint page and in the OpenAPI docs.
Does the Hacker News user endpoint return submissions?
No. This route returns the user card only. For submissions use GET /v1/hackernews/users/{username}/submissions; for comments and favorites use the matching sibling routes.
What does not_found mean on a Hacker News user?
not_found means no public user matched that username. HTTP 200 still means the request finished. Always branch on lookupStatus before writing rows.
How much does a successful request cost?
1 credit per successful request.
Is this okay for production?
Yes — same production API as everywhere else: typed errors, requestId on every response, credits charged only on completed lookups. New accounts get 100 free credits.
Any curl-specific tips for this request?
Yes. Pass the key with -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY", and wrap the full URL in double quotes so the shell does not split on & in query strings. Prefer curl -sS so HTTP errors still surface on stderr.
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