Hacker News TUI

A terminal-based user interface for browsing Hacker News with Vim-style navigation and Claude AI integration for story summarization.

Quickstart

Install Rust

Install Rust by going here and following the instructions: https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install

Install Hackertauh

Install and run immediately with Cargo:

git clone https://github.com/program247365/hackertuah.git
cd hackertuah
cargo run --release

Or install globally from the latest source:

cargo install --git https://github.com/program247365/hackertuah

Now you can call it on your commandline:

hackertuah

Features

• 🚀 Browse top Hacker News stories in your terminal
• ⌨️ Vim-style navigation (j/k, arrows, etc.)
• 🤖 Claude AI integration for story summarization
• 🌐 Open stories directly in your default browser
• 💚 Classic green-on-black terminal aesthetic
• 🎯 Minimalist, distraction-free interface
• 🔍 Instant search/filter: Press / or use the command palette to filter stories as you type
• 🧑‍💻 Command Palette: Press Ctrl+K to access all commands, including search, section switching, and more
• 📝 Options menu for each story (summarize, open, close)
• 🏷️ Section switching: Top, Ask, Show, Jobs
• 🛠️ Easy install & run with Cargo

Command Palette 🧑‍💻

Press Ctrl+K to open the command palette:

• 🔎 Search for commands as you type
• ⚡ Quickly switch sections (Top, Ask, Show, Jobs)
• 🔄 Refresh current or all sections
• 🔍 Activate search mode (type 'search' and press Enter)
• 🌐 Open in browser, 💬 Open comments, 🤖 Summarize
• ❌ Quit the app
• ⬆️⬇️ Navigate with Up/Down arrows, Esc to close

Search 🔍

• Press / to start searching, or open the command palette and type 'search'
• Type to filter stories by title in real-time
• Use Up/Down arrows to navigate filtered results
• Press Enter to open the selected story, or Esc to cancel
• Works across all sections (Top, Ask, Show, Jobs)

Keyboard Controls

• j or ↓: Move down
• k or ↑: Move up
• Enter: Open selected story in default browser
• C: Open comments for selected story
• o: Open options menu
• q: Quit application
• Esc: Close menus/summaries
• T: Switch to Top stories
• A: Switch to Ask HN
• S: Switch to Show HN
• J: Switch to Jobs
• h/l: Navigate between sections
• r: Refresh current section
• R: Refresh all sections
• Ctrl+K: Open command palette (search and execute commands)
• /: Start search (type to filter stories)

Installation

Cargo

cargo install --git https://github.com/program247365/hackertuah

Prerequisites

• Rust and Cargo (Latest stable version)
• A Claude API key from Anthropic

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/program247365/hackertuah
cd hackernews-tui

2. Add your Claude API key to your environment:

export CLAUDE_API_KEY=your_key_here

3. Build and run:

cargo build --release
cargo run

Usage

Keyboard Controls

• j or ↓: Move down
• k or ↑: Move up
• Enter: Open selected story in default browser
• C: Open comments for selected story
• o: Open options menu
• q: Quit application
• Esc: Close menus/summaries
• T: Switch to Top stories
• A: Switch to Ask HN
• S: Switch to Show HN
• J: Switch to Jobs
• h/l: Navigate between sections
• r: Refresh current section
• R: Refresh all sections
• Ctrl+K: Open command palette (search and execute commands)
• /: Start search (type to filter stories)

Command Palette

Press Ctrl+K to open the command palette, which provides:

• Searchable list of all available commands
• Real-time filtering as you type
• Command descriptions
• Execute commands with Enter
• Navigate with Up/Down arrows
• Close with Esc

Available commands now include:

• Open in Browser
• Open Comments
• Summarize
• Search (activate search/filter mode)
• Switch to Top/Ask/Show/Jobs
• Refresh/Refresh All
• Quit

Options Menu

Press o to open the options menu, which provides:

1. Summarize this post (uses Claude AI)
2. Open in browser
3. Close menu

Story Information

Each story displays:

• Title
• Score
• Author
• Direct link to article or discussion

Dependencies

[dependencies]
ratatui = "0.21.0"
crossterm = "0.26.0"
tokio = { version = "1.0", features = ["full"] }
reqwest = { version = "0.11", features = ["json"] }
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1.0"
open = "3.2"

Project Structure

src/
├── main.rs          # Main application logic
├── types.rs         # Data structures and type definitions
├── ui.rs            # UI rendering and layout
└── hn_api.rs        # Hacker News API integration

Features in Detail

Hacker News Integration

• Fetches top 30 stories from Hacker News API
• Real-time score and comment updates
• Direct access to article URLs and discussion pages

Claude AI Integration

• Summarizes long articles and discussions
• Provides concise, intelligent summaries of complex topics
• Accessible through the options menu with o

Terminal UI

• Built with ratatui for smooth rendering
• Classic green-on-black color scheme
• Efficient memory usage and fast rendering
• Responsive layout that adapts to terminal size

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.