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Hacker News

Hacker News comments
exported, full tree

Big Show HN and Ask HN threads are where builders say what they think of a product. CommentGrab pulls the whole discussion from the official API, with every reply in place.

Add to Chrome, it's free See the steps

Official HN APIFull reply treeNo cap

Hacker News at a glance

Pages	Item pages (news.ycombinator.com/item)
Read from	The official Hacker News API
Replies	The full tree, with depth
Score	Not available (HN hides comment points)
Limit	None
Formats	CSV, JSON, Markdown, copy

What it does

What the Hacker News export
gives you

Every comment in the discussion comes out with its author, exact time and depth, so a 500-comment Ask HN reads like a structured document instead of a scroll.

The full comment tree, at any depth
Exact timestamps from the API
Links people shared, pulled into their own column
No score column, because Hacker News doesn't expose comment points

Columns in every Hacker News export

Author	HN username
Time	Exact date and time
Depth	Position in the tree
Is Reply	Yes for replies
Permalink	Link to the comment
Links	URLs inside the comment
Text	The comment

Steps

How to export
an HN thread

CSV opens in Excel and Google Sheets, JSON suits code and AI tools, and Markdown pastes into notes.

01

Open the discussion

Any news.ycombinator.com/item page.

02

Click the widget

CommentGrab fetches every comment from the official API.

03

Export

CSV, JSON or Markdown, with depth to rebuild the tree.

In the app

What it looks like
on Hacker News

CommentGrab widget open on a Hacker News discussion page after a capture, with CSV, JSON, Markdown and copy buttons — The widget on a Hacker News discussion page, after a capture.

A saved Hacker News collection in the CommentGrab dashboard, Comments tab — The saved Hacker News collection in the dashboard, ready to export or analyze.

Use it for

Hacker News comments
put to work

Launch feedback

Export the Show HN thread for your product and sort the objections.

→

Ask HN research

Turn a long Ask HN into themes and repeated answers.

→

Collect the links

Every URL people recommended, in one column.

→

Other platforms

Same widget
on 12 more sites

See all platforms

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Google Maps reviewsPlace reviews and owner replies

Reddit threadsFull threads, profiles, batches

Stack ExchangeAnswers by votes

Steam reviewsUp to 10,000 reviews

Trustpilot reviewsCompany reviews with stars

YouTube commentsVideo comments and replies

Compared with other tools

Instant Data Scraper alternativeFlat rows, no reply depth

FAQ

Hacker News export
questions

How do I export Hacker News comments?

Open the discussion page, click the CommentGrab widget and pick CSV, JSON or Markdown. The full tree comes from the official HN API.

Why is there no score column?

Hacker News doesn't make comment points public, so there's nothing to export.

Is there a limit on comments?

No. The whole discussion is exported, however long.

Is CommentGrab free for Hacker News?

Yes. Every export is free, with no account and no credits. AI analysis is optional and runs on your own OpenAI key.

Does it send my Hacker News data anywhere?

No. Exports and saved threads stay in your browser. The only outside service is OpenAI, and only when you start an analysis with your own key.

Export Hacker News threads free

Install CommentGrab, open a Hacker News discussion and click the widget. Free, no account.