Top HN is our Hacker News digest. It publishes a daily edition for readers who want a quick scan of the day and a weekly edition for people who would rather catch up in one sitting.

The product exists because of a familiar Hacker News problem. A title gets your attention, but the real value is often deeper in the thread: a correction from someone who has done the work before, a reply that adds missing context, or a practical comment that is more useful than the original article.

We did not want a thin list of links with vague summaries attached. We wanted a Hacker News summary that captured what people were actually talking about and why a story was worth reading for technical readers.

What makes a good Hacker News digest

For us, a good digest does two things well. First, it tells you which stories were worth your time. Second, it tells you what the conversation added.

That second part is more important than it looks. Hacker News is full of posts that get a burst of points and then fade out without much substance. Those may be fine front-page items, but they are weak digest material. A useful digest should prioritize stories that led to strong discussion, disagreement, explanation, or firsthand experience.

That is the core idea behind Top HN. We are not trying to mirror the front page. We are trying to make Hacker News easier to follow for people who care about the signal.

How Top HN picks stories

We fetch stories inside a strict UTC window and rank them, but points alone are not enough. We also look for signs that a thread is alive.

If a post has impressive points but too little real discussion, it is often not worth a place in the digest. On the other hand, a story with strong engagement and a rich thread tends to produce better reading, better summaries, and better reasons to click through.

The goal is to find Hacker News stories that people actually argued about, explained, expanded on, or learned from.

Why comment summaries help

Most Hacker News digests stop at the headline and link. That misses a lot of the reason people read Hacker News in the first place.

Top HN summarizes both parts of the experience:

1. the linked article or source
2. the comment thread that made the story worth opening

That means a reader can understand the basic news item, then quickly see whether the discussion added useful technical, product, or business context.

We also keep the thread summaries grounded. When a comment is especially useful, surprising, or important, the digest links back to the original discussion so the reader can inspect the source in context.

That makes Top HN feel less like detached commentary and more like a guided map of the conversation.

Daily vs weekly digest

The daily digest is the short version. It is for people who want to keep up with Hacker News in a few minutes a day.

The weekly digest is the broader catch-up. It is for readers who want the strongest stories and discussions from the week without needing a daily reading habit.

Together, they give readers two good ways to follow the same source of attention: once a day for a quick habit, or once a week for a more complete review.

Who this is for

Top HN is built for:

• developers who want a fast read on what technical people are discussing
• founders and product teams who want to see which ideas are landing or getting challenged
• investors and operators who want a higher-signal view of where technical attention is moving
• curious readers who like Hacker News but do not want the time cost of reading every thread

Why we think this format works

Reading Hacker News directly is still great when you have time. But many readers do not want to monitor the front page, sort through weaker threads, and decide which discussions are worth twenty minutes of attention.

A good Hacker News digest should reduce that work. It should help you decide what deserves a click, what can be safely skipped, and what the discussion added beyond the headline.

That is the standard we are aiming for with Top HN.

If you want to try it, you can read the latest daily digest, browse the weekly digest, or subscribe to the daily RSS feed.