minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented on Hacker News

Comments vs points is likely the reason it is gone. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flame-...

comment by joveian · 2026-10-28 · in Wealth Inequality in America drawn to scale

…unofficial repo maintained by minimaxir that collects the undocumented features, for this question https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#green-...

comment by gus_massa · 2026-10-28 · in Ask HN: What Are the User in Green?

Related: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by culi · 2026-09-20 · in How Hacker News ranking works: scoring, controversy, and penalties (2013)

Here's a decent write up https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by smalltorch · 2026-09-11 · in Ask HN: Can we please limit the AI news flood?

You might enjoy this list of undocumented HN features, which includes an answer to your question: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/m...

comment by optionalsquid · 2026-09-10 · in Ask HN: Why can I only downvote select comments?

Then you get to be today's 10,000 to the rest of the undocumented Hacker News features: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi...

comment by kotaKat · 2026-08-21 · in HTML Can Do That

https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#second... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380

comment by someothherguyy · 2026-08-16 · in I built a browser-native SysEx librarian for 80s/90s synthesizers

Its one of the features that is behind a minimum karma requirement. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/m...

comment by kdbg · 2026-07-06 · in GPT-5.6 Sol Ultra will be in Codex

Accounts with zero karma don’t have the ability to downvote comments. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#downvo... > After users reach 501 Karma, they gain the ability to downvote another comment.

comment by aspenmayer · 2026-06-10 · in AI misidentification results in wrongful arrest; man seeks justice

…enabled can see it. This repo [1] explains a little more how this site works. not my repo [1] - https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Bender · 2026-05-29 · in Can you see my post?

…article [1] probably needs more clarification. Or an update to the site FAQ would be nice. [1] - https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi...

comment by Bender · 2026-05-23 · in Google is currently struggling to define words like disregard, stop and ignore

…how it works: >enough flags will strongly reduce the rank of the submission, or kill it entirely https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi...

comment by r721 · 2026-05-13 · in Operation: Epic Furious

…referring to? This[0] one explicitly states: > Although submissions cannot be downvoted, [...] [0]: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi...

comment by whilenot-dev · 2026-05-12 · in A HN post with negative points – how?

…here's a list of undocumented HN features/rules (although I don't know how up to date it is): https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Unai · 2026-05-12 · in A HN post with negative points – how?

…News hides the reply link on deeply nested replies for a little while to try and prevent flamewars. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#hidden... says you can work around this by clicking on the comment's timestamp.

comment by csande17 · 2026-05-10 · in Rotten Dot Com

https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/m...

comment by mikequinlan · 2026-04-27 · in Ask HN: What Is the "Lore" of HN?

▲ 2

Ask HN: Shouldn't we increase flagging threshold?

story by alkyon · 2026-04-13 · 2 comments

Some useful information not documented on HN [1] not my repo [1] - https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Bender · 2026-03-06 · in US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

…the list of undocumented HN features on GitHub but it’s not. There is an open PR (by simonw btw): https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/pull/4...

comment by sjosh · 2026-02-23 · in Ladybird adopts Rust, with help from AI

The "vouch" button only appears in "[dead]" comments. Take a look at the unoficial FAQ by minimaxir https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented?tab=re... @dang does nothing, but you can write to hn@ycombinator.com

comment by gus_massa · 2026-02-10 · in Ask HN: Unflag a Post Gone

…Moderators can overrule the downranking for appropriate, not-actually-a-flame-war discussions. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by etrvic · 2026-02-08 · in LLMs as the new high level language

https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented Normally most users can vouch for flagged submissions. The fact that this is non-vouchable is interesting.

comment by nerdsniper · 2026-01-30 · in Best Gas Masks

…If a user has 31 Karma they can also Vouch for a submission. [1] It can then get re-flagged. [1] - https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi...

comment by Bender · 2026-01-30 · in Why was some recent news on a journalist flagged?

…this effect is when the number of comments on a submission exceeds its score.") Quotes from here: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by r721 · 2026-01-12 · in Ask HN: Erratic HN front page algorithm

…now. Fascinating. I checked the unofficial guide on GitHub again to confirm my understanding: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi... > A [dead] submission (that does not also show [flagged]) is killed by a…

comment by Tadpole9181 · 2026-01-07 · in Minneapolis driver shot and killed by ICE

I know a bit how HN works: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented But as noted by freehorse, dang has stated it multiple times and I personally have not seen any threads memoryholed and would call out YC if they were.

comment by minimaxir · 2026-01-05 · in RevisionDojo, a YC startup, is running astroturfing campaigns targeting kids?

dang won't like me sharing this repo ( sorry !) but hn-undocumented has a relevant section on this: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented?tab=re... > Currently, there is no evidence that non-job submissions about a YC…

comment by culi · 2025-12-22 · in Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves

I've found this list of "undocumented rules" to be useful https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Areibman · 2025-12-18 · in Ask HN: Does anyone understand how Hacker News works?

…features and behavior of HN. not my repo... This somewhat explains submission ranking. [1] - https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Bender · 2025-11-28 · in Ask HN: How does Hacker News determine which posts appear in the top?

…is not a good critique and so it's not all that surprising that it was not well-received. [0]: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/m...

comment by aw1621107 · 2025-11-24 · in Rust Isn't the Future of Systems Programming – It's Just the Hype Cycle

…dying. A Hacker News submission about the death will usually be on the front page at that time. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented?tab=re...

comment by Brajeshwar · 2025-11-18 · in Ask HN: Why the Black Line on Top?

…are additional features of HN. not my repo [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html [2] - https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Bender · 2025-10-21 · in I Have a Question

…are both technical and political. Some externally documented HN features: [1] not my repo [1] - https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Bender · 2025-10-08 · in Ask HN: How many politics threads are flagged, and by who? is NH being censored?

▲ 60

A List of Hacker News's Undocumented Features and Behaviors

story by aubanel · 2025-10-04 · 10 comments

…the title to update it accordingly (with the caveat being mods may make changes at any time). See https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented?tab=re... for more details

comment by toomuchtodo · 2025-09-16 · in Does HN automatically change the title of post without human intervention?

Take a look at https://news.ycombinator.com/lists and https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by gus_massa · 2025-09-15 · in Best Comments on Hacker News

…ways of the HN are deep and mysterious, so that's just a guess. This is the best guide I've found: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by mooreds · 2025-08-20 · in The value of hitting the HN front page

…you seem to have been shadowbanned[1]: almost all of your comments appear dead to me. [1] https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/m...

comment by mananaysiempre · 2025-08-13 · in Claude says “You're absolutely right!” about everything

…this course of action. I'm guessing you're not in the VC or founder club. I only found about that https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented > Additionally, founders of YC companies see each other's usernames show up in orange,…

comment by mystraline · 2025-08-06 · in I gave the AI arms and legs then it rejected me

There is, for users with at least 501 karma[1]. [1] https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/m...

comment by mananaysiempre · 2025-08-01 · in Our Farewell from Google Play

…More info about this feature from resident cool HN person minimaxir: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/#secon...

comment by aspenmayer · 2025-08-01 · in British man claims he's unable to watch porn as tattoos confuse age check system

…... but you need some minimum karma for the "flag" and "vouch" options. The unofficial FAQ says 31: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented?tab=re...

comment by yorwba · 2025-07-11 · in Show HN: I built a playground to showcase what Flux Kontext is good at

…(31 karma[0] - although it's not public, I'm sure the unofficial guides adjust accordingly) [0]: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi...

comment by gnabgib · 2025-06-16 · in Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

More info about downvoting and other features of HN collected by HN user minimaxir here: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by aspenmayer · 2025-06-02 · in Bohemians at the Gate?

https://news.ycombinator.com/pool https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by aspenmayer · 2025-05-12 · in The Acid King (2001)

That and all the things listed in this repo [1] not my repo . [1] - https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Bender · 2025-04-28 · in Did 5G kill the IMSI catcher?

…get a green username for 2 weeks or so. More details in tha unoficial FAQ mantained by minimaxir https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/m...

comment by gus_massa · 2025-04-27 · in Show HN: My self-written hobby OS is finally running on my vintage IBM ThinkPad

…I did not know about the vast majority of the items on this list until I encountered it: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented

comment by Philpax · 2025-04-24 · in Manufactured consensus on x.com

…it's tied to total karma, but someone would have to provide more information there. According to https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented "After users reach 501 Karma, they gain the ability to downvote another comment." I…

comment by r721 · 2025-04-14 · in A Reddit bot drove me insane

…If you post with a link and then add the text as a first comment you have more visibility. Source: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented?tab=re...

comment by jampa · 2025-04-01 · in Ask HN: Why do text posts have such low contrast?