Each morning: new Reddit posts and Hacker News stories and comments that name your brand or competitors, with score, tone and a link.
Reads
You get
The card on the right is a sample. Yours shows your own numbers and updates in place every run.
What lands on your board
7 mentions in the last 24 hours: 4 on Reddit, 3 on Hacker News. A comment on a 214-point HN story says CSV exports broke after the last update.
The most honest feedback about a developer tool or a SaaS product is usually on Hacker News or a niche subreddit, and it is usually found by accident, three days late, after the thread has decided what it thinks. Alert tools that cover these sites tend to be noisy or pricey.
The agent searches both every morning for your brand, product names and the competitors you list, drops the false matches, and posts what is left with its score, its tone and a link. Questions and complaints come first, because those are the ones where a reply from you still changes the thread.
List your brand and product names, common misspellings and the competitors to watch, plus words that rule out false matches (for a brand called Acme: -"acme corporation" -looney). Quote multi-word names.
Call the free Algolia HN Search API, GET https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search_by_date?query=<term>&tags=(story,comment)&numericFilters=created_at_i><unix time 24h ago>&hitsPerPage=100, once per term. Link each hit as https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=<objectID>.
With an app-only OAuth token, GET https://oauth.reddit.com/search?q=<terms>&sort=new&t=day&type=link&limit=100 and a descriptive User-Agent. Search returns posts; for comments, read GET /r/<subreddit>/comments?limit=100 for the few subreddits you care about and match the terms in the text.
Drop matches where the word means something else, merge duplicates, and tag each mention as question, complaint, praise, comparison or neutral. Keep score and comment count so busy threads stand out.
Questions and complaints first, then comparisons with competitors, then the rest, one line each with source, score and link. With no new mentions, say so in one line.
With BRIEFKIN_TOKEN set, the agent sends the result as one card that updates in place every run. Without it, you get the report in the chat.
Pick your agent, where the data comes from and how to schedule it; the commands below follow.
One command. It puts the SKILL.md in ~/.claude/skills and in ~/.agents/skills, which Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI and OpenCode read too.
shellcurl -fsSL https://briefkin.dev/skills/reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions/install | shAsk Claude Code:
promptRun the reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions skillOr paste the prompt instead of installing:
promptFind new mentions of my brand and these competitors from the last 24 hours on Hacker News and Reddit. For Hacker News, use the Algolia HN Search API (search_by_date, tags=(story,comment), numericFilters=created_at_i greater than 24 hours ago). For Reddit, use the official API search with sort=new and t=day, plus the newest comments in the subreddits I list. Drop matches where the word means something else and merge duplicates. Tag each as question, complaint, praise, comparison or neutral, and list questions and complaints first, each with source, score and link. End with the one thread I should answer first.Every day at 8:00, from cron on any machine where Claude Code is signed in:
crontab0 8 * * * claude -p "Run the reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions skill"Add it with crontab -e. A laptop asleep at that time runs it when it wakes if you use launchd or Task Scheduler instead; GitHub Actions works for the API route.
Connect Briefkin once with curl -fsSL https://briefkin.dev/install | sh and every run lands on your board as a report card. How setup works
SKILL.md---
name: reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions
description: "Each morning: new Reddit posts and Hacker News stories and comments that name your brand or competitors, with score, tone and a link. Use when the user asks for this, or when it runs on a schedule."
---
# Reddit and Hacker News brand mentions digest
Each morning: new Reddit posts and Hacker News stories and comments that name your brand or competitors, with score, tone and a link.
The most honest feedback about a developer tool or a SaaS product is usually on Hacker News or a niche subreddit, and it is usually found by accident, three days late, after the thread has decided what it thinks. Alert tools that cover these sites tend to be noisy or pricey.
The agent searches both every morning for your brand, product names and the competitors you list, drops the false matches, and posts what is left with its score, its tone and a link. Questions and complaints come first, because those are the ones where a reply from you still changes the thread.
## Two ways to get the data
Use the API or MCP route when you have an MCP server, a CLI or an API token for the app. Otherwise, if you can drive a browser the user is signed in to (Claude in Chrome, a Playwright or Chrome DevTools MCP server), use the browser route. Say which one you used.
## Route A: API or MCP server
### What you need
- Nothing for Hacker News: the Algolia HN Search API is free and needs no key.
- A Reddit script app with the `read` scope, and `REDDIT_CLIENT_ID`, `REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET` and `REDDIT_USER_AGENT` set. Since November 2025, new apps need Reddit's approval under its Responsible Builder Policy, and commercial use falls under Reddit's data terms.
If something is missing, say what and stop; do not invent numbers.
### Steps
1. **Set the search terms**: List your brand and product names, common misspellings and the competitors to watch, plus words that rule out false matches (for a brand called Acme: `-"acme corporation" -looney`). Quote multi-word names.
2. **Search Hacker News** (Hacker News): Call the free Algolia HN Search API, `GET https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search_by_date?query=<term>&tags=(story,comment)&numericFilters=created_at_i><unix time 24h ago>&hitsPerPage=100`, once per term. Link each hit as `https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=<objectID>`.
3. **Search Reddit** (Reddit): With an app-only OAuth token, `GET https://oauth.reddit.com/search?q=<terms>&sort=new&t=day&type=link&limit=100` and a descriptive `User-Agent`. Search returns posts; for comments, read `GET /r/<subreddit>/comments?limit=100` for the few subreddits you care about and match the terms in the text.
4. **Filter and tag**: Drop matches where the word means something else, merge duplicates, and tag each mention as question, complaint, praise, comparison or neutral. Keep score and comment count so busy threads stand out.
5. **Post the digest**: Questions and complaints first, then comparisons with competitors, then the rest, one line each with source, score and link. With no new mentions, say so in one line.
## Route B: the browser
### What you need
- No sign-in for Hacker News. Reddit search works signed out, but a signed-in Reddit account shows more results and fewer interstitials.
If something is missing, say what and stop; do not invent numbers.
### Steps
Start at https://hn.algolia.com/. The user is signed in already; never type passwords or codes, and ask if a sign-in page appears.
1. **Search Hacker News**: Open HN Search, type the first term, and set the filters above the results to **All** (stories and comments), **by Date** and **Last 24h**. Read each hit's title or comment text, points and comment count, and the `news.ycombinator.com/item?id=` link. Repeat for each brand, product and competitor term.
2. **Search Reddit posts and comments**: Open `https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=<term>&sort=new&t=day`, read the **Posts** tab, then click the **Comments** tab for the same query. Record subreddit, title or comment excerpt, upvotes, comment count and link. Quote multi-word names.
3. **Check the subreddits you care about**: For the 3 to 10 communities you listed, open `https://www.reddit.com/r/<subreddit>/new/` and skim the last day of posts for mentions the search missed.
4. **Filter, tag and post**: Drop matches where the word means something else, merge duplicates, tag each as question, complaint, praise, comparison or neutral, and list questions and complaints first with source, score and link. With no new mentions, say so in one line.
Note: Reddit's web search has a Comments tab, which finds comments the API search cannot, so this route sees more on Reddit than the API one. Reddit may show a sign-in or age wall on some subreddits; the person opens it once first. HN Search caps a results page at 30 hits, so page through busy terms.
## The report
- **Counts**: new mentions on Reddit and on Hacker News in the last 24 hours.
- **Needs a reply**: questions and complaints, with score and link.
- **Comparisons**: threads that name you next to a competitor.
- **Everything else**, one line each.
- One line on the thread worth answering first.
## Post it to Briefkin
When `BRIEFKIN_TOKEN` is set, or `~/.config/briefkin/env` exists (the installer from https://briefkin.dev/docs writes it), also send the result to the user's Briefkin board as one card. Keep the `item_key` the same on every run so the card updates in place, use a new `event_id` per run, and put today's real numbers in place of the example ones. If the request fails, say so once and carry on.
```bash
[ -n "${BRIEFKIN_TOKEN:-}" ] || . ~/.config/briefkin/env
curl -sS -X POST "${BRIEFKIN_URL:-https://briefkin.dev}/v1/events" \
-H "authorization: Bearer $BRIEFKIN_TOKEN" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d @- <<'JSON'
{
"v": 1,
"event_id": "reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions/<date of this run, e.g. 2026-10-16>",
"item_key": "reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions",
"project": "Acme",
"source": "Reddit and Hacker News brand mentions digest skill",
"kind": "update",
"title": "7 new mentions, one complaint on Hacker News",
"summary": "**7 mentions** in the last 24 hours: 4 on Reddit, 3 on Hacker News. A comment on a 214-point HN story says CSV exports broke after the last update.",
"widget": [
{
"type": "Table",
"props": {
"columns": [
"Where",
"Mention",
"Score",
"Tone"
],
"align": [
"left",
"left",
"right",
"left"
],
"rows": [
[
"HN comment",
"CSV export has been broken since Tuesday's update",
214,
"Complaint"
],
[
"r/smallbusiness",
"Acme or Rival A for a 3-person agency?",
38,
"Comparison"
],
[
"r/freelance",
"How do I set up late fees in Acme?",
12,
"Question"
],
[
"HN story",
"Show HN: open-source invoice parser (mentions Acme API)",
67,
"Neutral"
],
[
"r/SaaS",
"Switched from Rival B to Acme, notes after 6 months",
51,
"Praise"
],
[
"HN comment",
"We use Acme for billing, works fine",
214,
"Praise"
],
[
"r/Entrepreneur",
"Invoicing tools list (Acme, Rival A, Rival C)",
9,
"Neutral"
]
]
}
},
{
"type": "Callout",
"props": {
"text": "Answer the HN export complaint first: the story is on the front page and the comment is the top reply.",
"tone": "warn"
}
}
]
}
JSON
```
Widgets come from the Briefkin catalog (https://briefkin.dev/v1/catalog). Without a token, just give the user the report.
## Run it on a schedule
Suggested: Every day at 8:00 (`0 8 * * *`). From cron, with the agent signed in on that machine:
```bash
0 8 * * * claude -p "Run the reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions skill"
# Codex: codex exec, Gemini CLI: gemini -p, Copilot CLI: copilot -p, OpenCode: opencode run
```
Or use the agent's own scheduler (Claude Code routines, Codex automations, Claude or ChatGPT scheduled tasks): https://briefkin.dev/skills/reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions#schedule
Source: https://briefkin.dev/skills/reddit-hacker-news-brand-mentions
Nothing for Hacker News: the Algolia HN Search API is free and needs no key.
A Reddit script app with the read scope, and REDDIT_CLIENT_ID, REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET and REDDIT_USER_AGENT set. Since November 2025, new apps need Reddit's approval under its Responsible Builder Policy, and commercial use falls under Reddit's data terms.
reddit.com/prefs/apps, store REDDIT_CLIENT_ID, REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET and REDDIT_USER_AGENT (for example brand-digest/1.0 by u/yourname), and request only the read scope.A token with only the read scope can't post, comment, vote or send messages. Keep the schedule modest, daily rather than every few minutes, since Reddit rate-limits each client.
HN_QUERIES (for example acme,acme.com,"Acme CLI"). An agent with web access can also fetch the URLs above directly.There is no account or token to scope; keep the list of terms short and the schedule daily rather than hourly.
Partly. Reddit's API search covers posts, so comments are found by reading the newest comments in the subreddits you list. Name the 3 to 10 communities where your customers talk; a comment in a subreddit you did not list will be missed.
For a new app, yes. Since November 2025 Reddit reviews API access requests under its Responsible Builder Policy before an app can call the API. Until yours is approved, the skill runs on Hacker News alone and says so on the card.
No. The skill runs with your own agent and gives you the report in the chat. With a Briefkin token set, each run also posts it to your board as a report card, so you can glance at it instead of asking again.
Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenCode, Windsurf and Amp all read SKILL.md files. The install command puts it in ~/.claude/skills and ~/.agents/skills, where they look. ChatGPT, the Claude app and Grok take the prompt instead. Pick your agent under "Install and run it" and the commands change to match.
Yes. Switch the data source to "Your browser" and the steps change to the Reddit and Hacker News pages themselves: the agent opens hn.algolia.com in a browser you are signed in to and reads the numbers off the page. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Claude app and ChatGPT can drive a browser out of the box; Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI and OpenCode need a Playwright or Chrome DevTools MCP server first. It is slower than the API and needs you signed in, so it suits a report you run by hand or from a scheduler on your own computer.
Skills are free to use with any agent. Briefkin is where their results land: one board for every report, number and question your agents send, with a ping when something needs you.
Free during the open beta. No card.