hn_ask_hn

Get Ask HN posts from Hacker News.

SERVERUnClick SOURCEcreativelead/unclick

Low RISK CLASS

Category Read

Parameters 10 required

Recommended Allowedsee the rule below

Registry record Grade F, identity unverified Pull the record →

This record as markdown: /tools/creativelead-unclick/hn-ask-hn.md

WHAT IT DOES

What hn_ask_hn does on UnClick

AI agents call hn_ask_hn to retrieve information from UnClick without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`limit`	number	—

Parameters from the server's own tool schema.

RISK

Why hn_ask_hn is rated Low

This tool retrieves publicly available posts from Hacker News without modifying, executing, deleting, or creating any data. It has no external side effects and presents minimal risk of misuse by an AI agent. Read-only access to public information warrants a 'low' severity classification.

From the tool's definition Tool name 'hn_ask_hn' and description 'Get Ask HN posts from Hacker News' indicate data retrieval with no modification or side effects. The verb 'Get' is explicitly retrieving posts from a public data source.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

RECOMMENDED RULE

The rule that runs hn_ask_hn safely

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and UnClick, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For hn_ask_hn, this is the rule to start with:

hn_ask_hn Allowed

hn_ask_hn is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

View as policy code

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "hn_ask_hn": {}
  }
}

ALLOW ONLY THIS TOOL → Instant setup, no code required.

The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect UnClick, apply this rule, and every hn_ask_hn call is checked against it from then on.

FAQ

Questions about hn_ask_hn

What does the hn_ask_hn tool do? +

Get Ask HN posts from Hacker News. It is categorised as a Read tool in the UnClick MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

What parameters does hn_ask_hn accept? +

hn_ask_hn accepts 1 parameter: limit. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.

How do I enforce a policy on hn_ask_hn? +

Register the UnClick MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for hn_ask_hn: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches UnClick. Nothing to install.

What risk level is hn_ask_hn? +

hn_ask_hn is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit hn_ask_hn? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the hn_ask_hn rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.

How do I block hn_ask_hn completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for hn_ask_hn. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.

What MCP server provides hn_ask_hn? +

hn_ask_hn is provided by the UnClick MCP server (creativelead/unclick). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

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