--- 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=&tags=(story,comment)&numericFilters=created_at_i>&hitsPerPage=100`, once per term. Link each hit as `https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=`. 3. **Search Reddit** (Reddit): With an app-only OAuth token, `GET https://oauth.reddit.com/search?q=&sort=new&t=day&type=link&limit=100` and a descriptive `User-Agent`. Search returns posts; for comments, read `GET /r//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=&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//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/", "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