Agent skill

hackernews-intel

Monitors Hacker News for user-configured keywords, deduplicates against a local SQLite cache, and sends Slack alerts for new matching posts. Use when asked to monitor Hacker News for mentions, track keywords on HN, get alerts when something is posted about a topic on Hacker News, or set up HN keyword monitoring. Trigger when a user mentions Hacker News alerts, HN monitoring, keyword tracking on HN, or wants to know when a topic appears on Hacker News.

Varnan-Techgithub.com/Varnan-TechGitHub ↗
claude-codecopilotships scriptsMIT
Install
npx skills add Varnan-Tech/opendirectory --skill hackernews-intel --agent claude-code

Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.

Facts
Files in the skill folder: 6
SKILL.md size: 6 KB
Bundled scripts: yes
Version: 1.0.0
Declared author: OpenDirectory
Requires: [claude-code, gemini-cli, github-copilot]
Path: skills/hackernews-intel/SKILL.md
Open the folder on GitHub →
Where it comes from
Stars: 571
Language: Python

Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.

From the SKILL.md

# Hacker News Intel Monitor Hacker News for keywords. On each run, fetch new posts via the HN Algolia API, deduplicate against a local SQLite cache, and send Slack alerts for unseen matches. Run manually or schedule via cron or GitHub Actions. --- ## Step 1: Check Setup **1a. Verify required environment variables** Check that these are set: - `HN_KEYWORDS` (required): comma-separated list of keywords to monitor - `SLACK_WEBHOOK` (required): Slack Incoming Webhook URL for alerts If either is missing, stop and tell the user: - `HN_KEYWORDS`: list the topics you want to monitor, comma-separated. Example: `claude code,LLM agents,deno runtime` - `SLACK_WEBHOOK`: create an Incoming Webhook at https://api.slack.com/apps. Select your workspace, enable Incoming Webhooks, and copy the URL. **1b. Verify script dependencies** ```bash ls /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/hackernews-intel/node_modules/better-sqlite3 2>/dev/null ``` If missing: ```bash cd /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/hackernews-intel && npm install ``` --- ## Step 2: Run the Monitor ```bash cd /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/hackernews-intel && node scripts/monitor-hn.js ``` **Flags:** - `--dry-run`: print matches to stdout w

What's inside
Steps it walks through
  1. Step 1: Check Setup
  2. Step 2: Run the Monitor
  3. Step 3: Review Results
  4. Step 4: Schedule the Monitor
  5. Step 5: Tune Keywords and Thresholds
Ships with 5 files
  • .env.example
  • README.md
  • evals/evals.json
  • package.json
  • scripts/monitor-hn.js
Commands it runs
ls /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/hackernews-intel/node_modules/better-sqlite3 2>/dev/null
cd /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/hackernews-intel && npm install
cd /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/hackernews-intel && node scripts/monitor-hn.js
crontab -e
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About this skill
What does the hackernews-intel skill do?

Monitors Hacker News for user-configured keywords, deduplicates against a local SQLite cache, and sends Slack alerts for new matching posts. Use when asked to monitor Hacker News for mentions, track keywords on HN, get alerts when something is posted about a topic on Hacker News, or set up HN keyword monitoring. Trigger when a user mentions Hacker News alerts, HN monitoring, keyword tracking on HN, or wants to know when a topic appears on Hacker News.

How do I install it?

Run `npx skills add Varnan-Tech/opendirectory --skill hackernews-intel --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.

Where does this skill come from?

From Varnan-Tech/opendirectory, a repository with 571 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.

Is a popular skill a good skill?

Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.

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