Tutorial · Python
How to scrape Hacker News search results with Python (2026)
A Python walkthrough for GET /v1/hackernews/search. Copy the snippet, run it, then read the JSON.
GET /v1/hackernews/search · 1 credit
In this tutorial
You'll search Hacker News for a phrase and see the results you get back.
Typical job: watching for mentions of your product. Search its name, narrow with author, domain or minPoints, fetch more pages with page, then pull the story or its comments for the ids you keep. An empty hits list on the last page is a finished search, not an error.
Step 1
Get ready
Create a Social Fetch API key and get Python ready. New accounts include 100 free credits.
API key. Create a Social Fetch account, open API Keys and create a key. New accounts include 100 free credits.
Python setup. Python 3 with requests installed (pip install requests). Set SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY to your key.
When you're done, SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY is set in your shell.
Step 2
Make the request
Copy the Python sample and run it. It calls GET /v1/hackernews/search with your key in the x-api-key header, using this example: /v1/hackernews/search?query=Dropbox.
It prints the response as a Python dict with data and meta. An error status stops the script at raise_for_status() instead.
Step 3
Read the response
The response is JSON with two parts: data holds the search results and meta holds creditsCharged and requestId. The sample below is a trimmed copy of a real response; the endpoint page lists every field. Credits are charged on completed lookups, not on failed requests.
Check data.lookupStatus first when the response has one. Keep meta.requestId in case a row looks wrong.
Watch out
keep query and filters the same while you page. This searches by keyword; for the front page or another ranked list without a keyword, use GET /v1/hackernews/feeds/{feed}.
Step 4
You finished
The Playground, the docs and your code all call the same endpoint at the same price. 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/search and we handle the lookup. You still need to follow each platform's terms for how you use public data.
What does the Hacker News search endpoint return?
JSON with two parts: data holds the search results and meta holds creditsCharged and requestId. The endpoint page and the API docs describe every field.
Hacker News search vs ranked feeds?
Use this route to search by keyword with filters. Use GET /v1/hackernews/feeds/{feed} for the top, new, best, ask, show or jobs lists without a keyword.
Is an empty Hacker News search page a failed request?
No. An empty hits list with data.page.hasMore false is a finished search that found nothing. Errors come back as non-2xx responses instead. Keep your filters the same across pages.
How much does a successful request cost?
1 credit. Failed requests are free.
Is this okay for production?
Yes. It's the same API the Playground and the docs use: typed errors, a requestId on every response, and credits charged only on completed lookups. New accounts get 100 free credits.
Any Python-specific tips for this request?
Yes. Call response.raise_for_status() before response.json(), set a timeout on requests.get, and keep response.json()["meta"]["requestId"] when a row looks wrong.
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