{
  "$schema": "https://promptfoo.tech/schemas/workflow-template.json",
  "name": "n8n: Hacker News Launch Monitor with AI Ranking",
  "slug": "n8n-hn-launch-monitor",
  "platform": "n8n",
  "category": "n8n",
  "difficulty": "Beginner",
  "tags": [
    "n8n",
    "hackernews",
    "monitoring",
    "openai"
  ],
  "summary": "Watch HN's front page for competitor launches, YC batches, or keywords — get a ranked Slack digest with the ones actually worth reading.",
  "overview": "The HN front page is a firehose. This n8n workflow pulls the top 30 posts hourly, filters against your keyword and domain list, uses GPT-4o-mini to rank relevance and add a one-line summary, and posts a Slack digest twice a day. It's the fastest way to stop missing launches in your category.",
  "variables": {
    "WEBHOOK_URL": "<your webhook URL>",
    "API_KEY": "<your provider API key>",
    "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-..."
  },
  "steps": [
    {
      "order": 1,
      "name": "Load your keyword list",
      "description": "Include product names, category phrases, and 'Show HN' filters for a broad sweep."
    },
    {
      "order": 2,
      "name": "Fetch and de-dupe",
      "description": "Store item.id in a small table; skip anything seen in the last 7 days."
    },
    {
      "order": 3,
      "name": "Rank with GPT-4o-mini",
      "description": "Prompt: 'Given this HN title + URL description, rate 0-10 relevance to {my keywords} and write one line on why.'"
    },
    {
      "order": 4,
      "name": "Slack digest formatting",
      "description": "Group by topic; include HN link and score. Keep under 10 items per digest."
    },
    {
      "order": 5,
      "name": "Tune weekly",
      "description": "Add a thumbs-up/thumbs-down reaction on Slack posts. Weekly, feed those back to refine the ranking prompt."
    }
  ],
  "howItWorks": [
    "Cron trigger every 30 minutes.",
    "Fetch HN top stories via Firebase API.",
    "Function node dedupes against Postgres/Notion.",
    "For matches, GPT-4o-mini writes: 1-line summary + relevance score (0-10).",
    "Slack digest posts at 9am and 4pm with score >= 6 grouped by topic."
  ],
  "benefits": [
    "Never miss a competitor launch by more than a few hours.",
    "Signal-to-noise beats browsing HN yourself.",
    "Runs on free tiers — HN API is public, GPT-4o-mini costs pennies."
  ],
  "useCases": [
    "Founders in a fast-moving category (AI tools, dev tools, no-code).",
    "PMMs monitoring category trends.",
    "Investors watching batches from YC, S24, W25."
  ],
  "example": "Digest: '[9/10] Show HN: Semantic search over your inbox (competitor to us) — clean UX, YC S25.'",
  "faqs": [
    {
      "q": "What about Product Hunt?",
      "a": "Same pattern. Swap HN API for PH's GraphQL. Combine both into one digest."
    },
    {
      "q": "Why not just use HN's search alerts?",
      "a": "They don't rank or summarize. This is HN + a signal filter, not a raw feed."
    },
    {
      "q": "Cost?",
      "a": "Under $2/month for 30-item hourly runs on GPT-4o-mini."
    }
  ],
  "source": "https://promptfoo.tech/workflows/n8n-hn-launch-monitor",
  "updated": "2026-06-16",
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0"
}