Discuss on HN

Free Chrome extension · open source

Found it on the web?
Talk about it on HN.

Discuss on HN shows you the Hacker News conversation about the page you're on. Chime into the thread that exists, start it if it doesn't, avoid double-posting, and catch replies to your own posts.

Add to Chrome free View the source

The extension has no accounts, no tracking and no AI. Not affiliated with Y Combinator or Hacker News.

The Discuss on HN panel on Paul Graham's essay Founder Mode: its Hacker News threads, the top comments and a Discuss on HN button
The Discuss on HN panel: Hacker News threads for Paul Graham's essay Founder Mode, the top comments and a Discuss on HN button

How it works

Three steps, then it's one click on any page.

  1. Add it to ChromeInstall from the Chrome Web Store and pin the orange speech bubble to your toolbar.
  2. Find something interestingAn article, a repo, a paper, a launch. Anywhere on the web.
  3. Click the bubbleOr press Alt+Shift+Y. A small HN-style panel tells you whether people are already talking about it, and takes you into the conversation.

What you get

Chime in · avoid double-posts

Join the conversation where it already is

The Hacker News threads for the page, with points, comments and age, and its top comments in HN's own ranking. You see where the discussion stands before you jump in, and one click takes you to the thread.

It finds the page even when the address carries tracking parameters, so you join the existing thread instead of posting a duplicate.

Hacker News threads and top comments for the current page

Start it

Not on HN yet? Post it properly

"Post to HN" opens Hacker News' own submit form with the address and a clean title. Site names like "| The Verge" are trimmed, and gentle nudges follow HN's guidelines: drop the "!", lose the list number, add [pdf] or [video]. You press submit yourself.

The Post to HN form with a cleaned-up title and the page address

Stay in it

The bubble remembers, so you don't have to

A tab is gone the moment you close it. The bubble stays in your toolbar. Set your HN username and it lights up when someone replies to your recent posts or comments, shows "+N new" comments on your recent posts, and how your karma moved.

The You tab with a new reply, karma and recent posts

At your pace

Open a few threads, keep the panel

Have the panel close when you open a link, after two or three, or keep it open while threads load in background tabs. Sections remember whether you left them open.

Settings: your HN username and what the panel does when you open a link

A good HN citizen

Never posts for youIt opens HN's own form. Posting, voting and commenting stay with you, as HN's guidelines ask.
No AINothing is generated. What you post and write is yours.
Private by designThe extension has no servers, accounts or analytics. It talks only to Hacker News' public APIs, only when you click, with tracking and token-like parameters stripped first.
No site accessNo host permissions: it can only see the tab you clicked the bubble on. Privacy policy

Questions

Is it free?

Yes, completely. It's open source under the MIT license. There's nothing to buy and no account to create.

Does it post to Hacker News for me?

No. "Post to HN" opens Hacker News' own submit form with the title and address filled in, the same way HN's official bookmarklet does. You review it and press submit yourself.

Do I need a Hacker News account?

Not to see threads and comments. To post or comment you use your normal HN login on news.ycombinator.com. Setting your username in the extension is optional; it only powers the reply badge and the You tab.

What does it send, and to whom?

When you click the bubble, the page address, with tracking and token-like parameters removed, goes to Hacker News' public search (hn.algolia.com) to find threads and related discussions; the thread's ID then goes to HN's official API for its top comments. With a username set, it checks HN's official API for replies every 5 minutes, and that request contains only your public username. Nothing is sent while you browse. The extension itself has no tracking or analytics; this website counts visits with cookieless analytics (Umami). Full details in the privacy policy.

Which browsers does it work in?

It's built for Chrome. Other Chromium-based browsers that install Chrome Web Store extensions should work too.

Is it made by Hacker News or Y Combinator?

No. It's an independent, unofficial tool by Julian Paul (@itsjulianpaul).

Something's wrong or missing. Where do I say?

Email julian@discusshn.com or open an issue on GitHub.

Get into the conversation

Free. One click on any web page.

Add to Chrome free