On this page

Hacker News
+
Google Sheets
+
Microsoft Excel

Hacker News in your spreadsheet

Import live, refreshable data from Hacker News in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets.

Try it now

Import Hacker News data in your spreadsheet

Hacker News is an online platform that enables its users to submit links, create content, and have discussions about technology topics. This Hacker News spreadsheet integration for Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel enables you to import news and posts from Hackers News. This add-on will enable you to integrate on-demand, refreshable news stories without leaving your spreadsheet.

For example, with this Excel and Google Sheets add-on you can:

  • Import the most recent Hacker News comments matching a search term, including story title and URL, commenter and comment.
  • Extract the most recent news stories matching a search term, including story title, URL, author, points and creation date.
  • Import the most relevant Hacker News comments matching a search term, including story title and URL, commenter and comment.
  • Extract the most relevant news stories matching a search term, including story title, URL, author, points and creation date.

Click here to learn more about the specific syntax for each of the Hacker News spreadsheet functions.

Getting Started

Flex.io makes it easy to create, use and share custom spreadsheet functions that import data from services you know and love. Click on the button below to use the Hacker News function collection with Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

Get started now

Need Help?

Have questions? Need help with installation? Need other Hacker News functions for Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets? Chat with us; we're happy to help!

Functions and Syntax

This integration for Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets includes the following functions:

Hacker News List Comments

Returns the 100-most-recent Hacker News comments matching the search term

Syntax

=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-list-comments", search, [properties])

Parameters

Property Type Description Required
search string Search string to use to find the comments to return true
properties array The properties to return (defaults to all properties). See "Notes" for a listing of the available properties. false

Sample Usage

=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-list-comments", "microsoft")
=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-list-comments", "google")

Notes

The following properties are allowed:

  • title: the title of the story
  • url: the url of the story
  • author: the user who made the comment
  • comment: the comment text
  • parent_id: the parent id
  • created_at: the date the story was created

Hacker News List Stories

Returns the 100-most-recent Hacker News stories matching the search term

Syntax

=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-list-stories", search, [properties])

Parameters

Property Type Description Required
search string Search string to use to find the stories to return true
properties array The properties to return (defaults to all properties). See "Notes" for a listing of the available properties. false

Sample Usage

=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-list-stories", "microsoft")
=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-list-stories", "google")

Notes

The following properties are allowed:

  • title: the title of the story
  • url: the url of the story
  • author: the user who submitted the story
  • points: the number of points the story has
  • num_comments: the number of comments
  • created_at: the date the story was created

Hacker News Search Comments

Returns the 100-most-relevant Hacker News comments matching the search term

Syntax

=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-search-comments", search, [properties])

Parameters

Property Type Description Required
search string Search string to use to find the comments to return true
properties array The properties to return (defaults to all properties). See "Notes" for a listing of the available properties. false

Sample Usage

=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-search-comments", "microsoft")
=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-search-comments", "google")

Notes

The following properties are allowed:

  • title: the title of the story
  • url: the url of the story
  • author: the user who made the comment
  • comment: the comment text
  • parent_id: the parent id
  • created_at: the date the story was created

Hacker News Search Stories

Returns the 100-most-relevant Hacker News stories matching the search term

Syntax

=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-search-stories", search, [properties])

Parameters

Property Type Description Required
search string Search string to use to find the stories to return true
properties array The properties to return (defaults to all properties). See "Notes" for a listing of the available properties. false

Sample Usage

=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-search-stories", "microsoft")
=FLEX("YOUR_TEAM_NAME/hackernews-search-stories", "google")

Notes

The following properties are allowed:

  • title: the title of the story
  • url: the url of the story
  • author: the user who submitted the story
  • points: the number of points the story has
  • num_comments: the number of comments
  • created_at: the date the story was created

Use Hacker News in your spreadsheet now!

Get started now