Hacker News Profile API
Scrape Hacker News Profile data with one API call. Returns public profile information for a Hacker News user — id, username, bio (`about`), karma, and account-creation date — mapped to the unified Author schema. HN has no follower / following / posts_count / verified concept, so those unified fields resolve to null.
Last updated August 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
Returns a Hacker News user's public profile: id, username, bio, karma, and the date the account was created.
Use it to check who someone is on Hacker News. The site has no follower or post counts, so those come back empty.
Searching 48 platforms in parallel
TikTok·
Instagram·
YouTube·
Facebook·
X·
LinkedIn·
Reddit·
Threads·
Pinterest·
Twitch·
Truth Social·
Snapchat·
Kick·
Bluesky·
Kwai·
Rumble·
Spotify·TikTok Shop·
Amazon Shop·
Google Shopping·
Trustpilot·
TripAdvisor·
Linktree·
Komi·
Pillar·
lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Google Finance·
Polymarket·
Tavily·
Hacker News·
GitHub·
Perplexity·
Naver·Utility·
Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Google Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Google Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Google Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal SearchWhat can you do with the Profile API?
The Profile endpoint gives you structured Hacker News data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/hackernews/profile?handle=pg"import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/hackernews/profile",
params={
'handle': 'pg',
},
headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
data = response.json()const response = await fetch(
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/hackernews/profile?handle=pg",
{
headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
},
);
const data = await response.json();Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| handle | Yes | Hacker News username (case-sensitive, e.g. `pg` or `kogir`). |
What does the Hacker News Profile API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/profile",
"data": {
"author": {
"id": "6917704832925746181",
"username": "duolingo",
"display_name": "Duolingo",
"avatar_url": "https://p19-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-useast5-avt-0068-tx/6b2beff1167b40574fcd2ea2caf1444d~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter:1080:1080.jpeg?dr=9640&refresh_token=f3757781&x-expires=1784674800&x-signature=9OCuBINSoeHVQPclR1XuqeA1j%2FE%3D&t=4d5b0474&ps=13740610&shp=a5d48078&shcp=81f88b70&idc=useast5",
"bio": "hot owl summer 🔥🦉",
"verified": true,
"followers": 17100000,
"following": 310,
"posts_count": 1129,
"likes_count": 482200000,
"url": null,
"private": false,
"joined_at": null
},
"computed": {
"engagement_rate": null,
"language": null,
"content_category": "other",
"estimated_reach": null
},
"_warnings": [
"computed.engagement_rate: author ratio exceeded 1.0 (raw: 28.19883); returned null — a lifetime likes/followers ratio is not a real engagement rate"
]
},
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"request_id": "req-8Kq2ZmR4vT9xLb3P",
"cached": false
}Example captured from the TikTok API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your Hacker News Profile response has the same fields.
How does the Hacker News Profile API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 48 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 48 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language — ready to use.
See your data before you code
Visual Data Explorer — paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usHow do I get a Hacker News user profile with an API?
What fields does the Hacker News User API return?
Where do I get the user handle from?
Can I use this to check author credibility?
How much does the Hacker News User API cost?
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