How to get Show HN Launch Radar in n8n

Pull Show HN and optional Launch HN posts via the public Hacker News Algolia API. A run saves one row per result.

Set up the Apify actor

Apify is where this run is collected. An actor is the program that collects the rows. A task is that program saved with your settings, so the next section can ask for the latest rows. You need a free Apify account.

01
Open Show HN Launch Radar and click Try for free. Create an Apify account if you do not have one. The Free plan does not ask for a card.

You are on the input form. Keep the sample for this first run.

{
    "feed": "show_hn",
    "sort": "date",
    "lookbackDays": 7,
    "inferSignals": true,
    "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
    "maxItems": 5
}

03
Leave the proxy setting as it is. Click Start and wait until the run says Succeeded.
04
Open Storage, then Dataset. You should see objectId, title, points, numComments.
05
When you want the real list, raise maxItems. The sample cap is only there so the first run stays small.
06
Go back to the input and choose Save as a new task. Name it after this list.
07
Open the task. Copy the task ID from the address bar. Excel, Sheets, Power BI, and the other guides ask for this ID.
08
On the task, open Schedules and add a weekly run if you want fresh rows. Each run pays the start charge and the charge for the rows. The amounts are in the price list on this page.
09
Open Settings, then API & Integrations, and copy an API token. Excel, Sheets, and the other guides put this token in a download link. Anyone with that link can download the rows, so treat it like a password.

How to set up in n8n

Use the task ID and the API token from Set up the Apify actor, above.

Add an Apify node. Choose Run Actor. Pick Show HN Launch Radar. Turn on Wait for finish. Set the input to:

{
    "feed": "show_hn",
    "sort": "date",
    "lookbackDays": 7,
    "inferSignals": true,
    "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
    "maxItems": 5
}

02
Add Get Dataset Items and map objectId, title, points, numComments, createdAt.
03
The weekly schedule from Set up the Apify actor, above, keeps the weekly run. You can also schedule the n8n workflow.

Schema

Examples come from the actor sample, not a live result.

Name	Description	Example
`objectId`	Object Id	`1301478001`
`title`	Title	`Show HN: …`
`points`	Points	`4.6`
`numComments`	Num Comments	`128`
`createdAt`	Created At	`2026-09-20`
`hnUrl`	Hn Url	`https://news.ycombinator.com/item`
`feed`	Feed	`show_hn`
`signals`	Signals	`ai`
`scrapedAt`	Scraped At	`2026-09-24T12:00:00.000Z`

objectIdObject Id1301478001
titleTitleShow HN: …
pointsPoints4.6
numCommentsNum Comments128
createdAtCreated At2026-09-20
hnUrlHn Urlhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item
feedFeedshow_hn
signalsSignalsai
scrapedAtScraped At2026-09-24T12:00:00.000Z