What can I post as a Show HN?

Something you made that people can try: software they can run, or hardware they can hold (a video or a detailed write-up is fine for hardware). Blog posts, sign-up pages, landing pages, newsletters, lists, fundraisers and other reading material can’t be Show HNs; post those as regular submissions.

How does a Show HN reach the Show page?

Every Show HN appears on /newest and /shownew right away. Once it clears a small points threshold it also appears on /show, the page linked from the top bar. From there it can reach the front page like any story.

Can I ask friends to upvote or comment?

No. Hacker News penalizes or bans submissions, accounts and sites that ask for upvotes or comments, and readers spot booster comments and flag them.

Can I use AI to write my Show HN post?

No. The guidelines ask you not to post generated or AI-edited text, and the moderators’ tips (updated March 2026) say to write every word by hand, not even an LLM edit. Using AI to build the product is fine.

Can I post a Show HN again?

Only for a version that’s significantly different, and then link the previous Show HN and say what changed; the moderators suggest once or twice a year at most. Don’t delete and repost a post that didn’t take off. The moderators sometimes email a repost invite, so put your email in your profile.

Is the link from Show HN dofollow?

It depends on the post. On the Show page we looked at, posts with only a few points had their link marked nofollow, and posts with more points didn’t. Hacker News doesn’t document the rule.

How to launch on Show HN (2026)

What Show HN is for

From the Show HN guidelines:

Something people can try. Software they can run or hardware they can hold. For hardware, a video or a detailed article is fine; for a book, a sample chapter.
Not reading material. Blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters, lists, landing pages and fundraisers can’t be Show HNs. Post them as regular submissions instead.
Non-trivial, and yours. No quickly generated one-offs. It has to be something you worked on yourself and are around to talk about.
It doesn’t have to be polished. Readers are used to early work. But if people can’t try it yet, wait until they can.
Easy to try. Ideally with no sign-up and no confirmation email. You get more feedback that way.
Not a minor release. “Foo 1.3.1 is out” isn’t a Show HN. A major overhaul probably is.

Before you post

Your account

Post as a person, not a brand. The moderators ask that your username isn’t your company’s or project’s name; it doesn’t have to be your real name (Show HN tips). New accounts show in green.
Be a member first. The guidelines say it’s fine to post your own work part of the time, but HN’s main use should be curiosity, not promotion.
Put your email in your profile, so the moderators can reach you, and sometimes invite you to repost.

The title

It has to start with “Show HN”. The usual shape is Show HN: Name – what it does, in plain words.
No capital letters or exclamation marks for emphasis, and nothing that says how great it is. Leave out the site name and gratuitous numbers (guidelines).

The text

From the moderators’ Show HN tips:

Say clearly what it is or does. Otherwise the thread is people asking what it is.
Tell the backstory: how you came to build it and what’s different about it. That starts the discussion in a good direction.
Drop marketing language. Plain, factual words, personal stories and technical details go down well; sales talk doesn’t.
Link earlier HN threads about it, if there are any. Readers like those.
The text shows at the top of the post. If it doesn’t, post it as the first comment.

Write it yourself

The guidelines say not to post generated or AI-edited text on Hacker News, and not to automate posting. In March 2026 the moderators added to their tips: write the text by hand, and don’t use an LLM to edit it even a little, because readers react badly to it. Building the product with AI is fine; it’s the words in the post and the comments that have to be yours. Let your coding agent build and ship the thing, then write the Show HN yourself.

How a Show HN gets seen

It starts on /newest and /shownew. Every Show HN appears there. Once it clears a small points threshold, it also appears on /show in the top bar (FAQ).
Ranking is points against time. Points are divided by a power of the time since the post went up. Flags, anti-abuse software, the demotion of overheated threads, site weighting and the moderators also count. Your karma doesn’t (FAQ).
No asking for upvotes or comments, from anyone. Hacker News penalizes or bans submissions, accounts and sites that do it, and readers flag booster comments from friends and fans as spam.
Threads close after two weeks. After that nobody can comment, so answer while it’s open.

The day you post

Check it can be tried. Open it in a private window: no wall, no broken sign-up, and the demo works on a phone. Check your link preview too: the link gets shared from the thread.
Post when you have the next few hours free. Hacker News doesn’t publish a best time, and the thread needs you.
Answer every question, especially critical ones. Answer the strongest version of the point, with details, without getting defensive.
Don’t send the link round asking for votes. Sharing it in your own places is fine; asking people to upvote or comment isn’t.
If it doesn’t take off, leave it up. Don’t delete it and post it again. Come back with a Show HN once the product has changed a lot, linking this one.

Launch in more than one place

Show HN is one afternoon in front of one audience. Most makers also launch on a few boards with their own rhythm: see where to launch your product, how to launch on Product Hunt and the launch checklist.

Launchdog is a weekly board you launch from your AI coding agent: it drafts the listing from your site and books the week, the launch runs Monday to Sunday, and people vote. Unlike Hacker News, letting your agent do the paperwork is the point. How it works.