Automated Hacker News Score Threshold Alerts
Every hour, WebRun checks Hacker News for your own submissions and any story mentioning your product, logs the score and comment count to a Google Sheet, and emails you the moment one crosses the score threshold you set so you can join the discussion while it matters.
How do I know when my Hacker News post is taking off?
WebRun checks Hacker News every hour for your submissions and any story mentioning your product, logs the score and comment count to a Google Sheet, and emails you the moment one crosses the score threshold you set. It never posts, comments, or votes itself, leaving the discussion entirely to you.
- You catch a rising post while there's still time to join the discussion
- A full score history builds in Sheets for every tracked submission
- Alerts stay quiet until a post actually crosses your threshold
Built for Startup founders · developer marketers · product teams · indie hackers
What does WebRun do on every run?
The exact actions WebRun takes, in order - in plain language, so you can adjust anything.
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WebRun signs in and gets to work
Opens
news.ycombinator.com/loginin a real browser with your saved login - no setup, no API keys. -
1
Hacker News - check your submissions and mentions
news.ycombinator.com
WebRun opens Hacker News to check your submissions and mentions. - Open Hacker News and check your own submissions and any story mentioning your product
- Record the current score and comment count for each
- Compare against the last check to see how fast it's climbing
Done when Every tracked submission has its current score recorded.
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2
Google Sheets - log score and comment count
google.com
WebRun opens Google Sheets to log score and comment count. - Open the submission tracker sheet
- Add a row for each check with the score and comment count
- Keep a running history so you can see the climb over time
Done when The sheet reflects this hour's score for every tracked submission.
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3
Gmail - email you when it crosses your threshold
gmail.com
WebRun opens Gmail to email you when it crosses your threshold. - Draft an alert email only when a submission crosses your score threshold
- Include the current score, comment count, and a link
- Send it to you from your own Gmail account
Done when You have an email alert as soon as a submission crosses your threshold.
How is each run configured?
Secure by default
Connect once, stays signed in
WebRun signs in once and keeps each session in a persistent environment, so every run picks up right where it left off.
Every action is checked against this policy before it runs.
Questions, answered
Does WebRun post or comment on Hacker News?
No. It only reads scores and comment counts. Posting, commenting, or voting is always something you do yourself.
What counts as the threshold?
Whatever score you set as worth knowing about. It only emails you once a submission crosses that number, not for every small change.
Does it track submissions from other people too?
Yes, it also checks for any story mentioning your product by name, not just submissions posted from your own account.
Related templates
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