Research competitor mentions on Hacker News from Slack
Send the company or technology name in a DM and get relevant public discussions to review.
Trigger
Direct Message Received
Triggered when a new direct message (DM) is sent to a user in Slack. Catches all DMs across all DM channels.
Action
Search Hackernews Posts
Get relevant posts from hacker news based on a full-text query and optional filters. results can be limited using the size parameter.
Why this helps
Competitor questions arrive in private notes but can remain unanswered while the founder handles more urgent work.
- Start a search at the moment a competitor comes to mind.
- Review related community discussion in one report.
- Turn a private note into a concrete research step.
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Slack and Hackernews to Notis once through the portal.
- 2Create the automation in the portal or ask Notis to set it up conversationally.
- 3Write one instruction asking Notis to search Hacker News for a company or technology named in your DM and summarize relevant results.
- 4Choose Direct Message Received and select a channel for run reports.
- 5Test by DMing a competitor or technology name with a clear search request.
Questions about this workflow
Can I include more than a company name?
Yes. Include a question or specific aspect of the competitor you want to investigate, and describe that intent in the instruction.
Does Hacker News provide a complete competitor profile?
No. This action searches posts for relevant public discussion, which can offer context for further research.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Slack to Hackernews. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Slack triggers
Hackernews actions
Recurring trigger
Notis starts this workflow on a schedule, such as daily, weekly, or during business hours.
Get Hackernews Frontpage
Get the frontpage posts of hacker news.
Webhook trigger
Notis starts this workflow when an external tool or custom backend sends an HTTP request.
Get Hackernews Item
Get a specific item from hacker news using its id. limits response size to prevent context overflow.
New Channel Created Trigger
Triggered when a new channel is created in Slack.
Get Latest Hackernews Posts
Get the latest posts from hacker news based on optional filters. results can be limited using the size parameter.
Channel Message Received
Triggered when a message is posted in a Slack channel (public, private, or multi-party IM). Does NOT match direct messages.
Get Hackernews Today Posts
Get today's posts from hacker news.
Direct Message Received
Triggered when a new direct message (DM) is sent to a user in Slack. Catches all DMs across all DM channels.
Get Hackernews User
Get a specific user from hacker news using their username.
Message Reaction Added
Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Search Hackernews Posts
Get relevant posts from hacker news based on a full-text query and optional filters. results can be limited using the size parameter.
Message Reaction Removed
Triggered when a reaction is removed from a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Reaction Added Trigger
DEPRECATED: use `SLACK_MESSAGE_REACTION_ADDED` instead. Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack.
Connect any two apps with Notis in the middle.
Slack and Hackernews, or any other combination from 1,000+ integrations.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Save your first hour today.
7-day trial of any paid plan, with 20$ of usage included.
No card. Works with personal or business Hackernews.