How to write a Show HN post that people try

To write a Show HN post, title it "Show HN:" plus the product name and a plain description of what it does, link to something people can try right now without signing up if possible, and add a short first comment explaining why you built it, how it works, and what feedback you want. Then stay in the thread and reply.

That is the whole formula. The rest of this guide covers the details that separate a post people try from one that sinks quietly, based on the community's own published rules.

What Show HN is (and what it is not)

Show HN is a section of Hacker News for sharing things you have made. The Show HN guidelines are short and specific: it is for something people can run, hold, or play with. The project should be yours, and you should be around to discuss it.

The same page lists what does not belong. Blog posts, signup pages, newsletters, lists, landing pages, and fundraisers are off topic as Show HN posts, because readers cannot try them. Minor version bumps usually do not qualify either. You can still submit those as regular stories, but they will not get the Show HN label treatment.

Here is a quick check before you post:

The signup point matters. The guidelines ask that people can try the thing easily, ideally without signups or email gates. A demo account, a playground, a free tier with no credit card, or a short video all lower the bar.

Writing the title

The title is most of the decision a reader makes. Hacker News titles are plain by culture, and the general Hacker News guidelines ask submitters to avoid gratuitous adjectives and clickbait.

A reliable structure:

Show HN: [Name], [what it does in plain words]

Some hypothetical examples:

• Weak: "Show HN: The future of invoicing is here!"
• Better: "Show HN: Ledgerly, invoicing that chases late payments for you"
• Weak: "Show HN: I built an amazing open-source tool"
• Better: "Show HN: Pagekeep, a self-hosted archive for your bookmarks"

Rules of thumb for the title:

• Say what it is, not how you feel about it.
• Use words a developer would use, not marketing terms.
• Mention a distinctive technical angle if there is one ("in 200 lines of C", "runs entirely in the browser", "SQLite-backed").
• Skip "revolutionary", "best", "first", and exclamation marks. They read as ads.
• Keep it short enough to scan in one glance.

If you are unsure, write five versions and read them out loud. Pick the one that would make sense to someone who has never heard of you.

Writing the first comment

Most successful Show HN posts include a comment from the maker, posted right after submission. This is where context goes. Think of it as a short note to a smart colleague, not a press release.

A useful first comment covers four things in roughly this order:

1. Why you built it. The specific problem you had. One or two sentences.
2. What it does and how. The interesting technical choices. Hacker News readers like to know the stack, the tradeoffs, and what was hard.
3. What is rough. Known limits, what is not done yet. Honesty here earns goodwill.
4. What feedback you want. A concrete question invites useful replies.

Here is a short example for the hypothetical Ledgerly:

Hi HN, I freelance as a designer and kept losing track of overdue invoices across a spreadsheet and my inbox. Ledgerly sends polite reminders on a schedule you set and shows what is overdue at a glance.

It is a Rails app with Postgres. The reminder scheduler was the tricky part because of time zones and clients who pay partially. There is a demo account on the homepage, no signup needed.

Known gaps: no multi-currency yet, and the PDF export is basic. I would love feedback on the reminder wording, since that is the part clients actually see.

Notice what is missing: superlatives, a pitch, pricing pressure, and a call to sign up. If pricing matters, mention it briefly and plainly.

Make the link easy to try

The URL you submit should land on the thing itself, or a page where trying it takes one click.

• For web apps: a live demo or a sandbox account. Prefill sample data so the first screen is not empty.
• For libraries and CLIs: link the GitHub repository with a clear README, install command, and a short example near the top.
• For hardware or physical projects: a page with photos, a video, and build details.

Check that the page loads fast and works on mobile. A traffic spike from Hacker News can be large for a small server, so make sure your hosting can cope or put static assets behind a CDN.

Handling the comments

The thread is where a Show HN post earns its reputation. Plan to stay online and reply for several hours after posting.

• Thank people briefly, then answer the actual point. Skip "Great question!" filler.
• Take criticism seriously. If someone says the signup is annoying, agree and say what you will change. Arguing rarely helps.
• Be specific about technical details. If someone asks why you chose a database, explain the tradeoff.
• Do not ask for votes or have friends post praise. The guidelines prohibit soliciting votes, and coordinated comments are easy to spot.
• Do not delete and resubmit to reset the clock.

If a commenter finds a bug, fix it and reply when it is fixed. Few things build trust faster.

Timing and reposts

There is no official best time to post. What you can control is being available. Pick a time when you can respond for the next several hours.

If your post gets no traction, it is not a verdict on your project. Many good posts go unnoticed because the front page was busy. The Hacker News FAQ says a small number of reposts is fine for a story that has not had significant attention, but do not repost the same link over and over. If you think a post was overlooked, emailing the moderators (the contact is in the site footer) is the respectful route.

A pre-flight checklist

Run through this before you click submit:

• Title starts with "Show HN:" and plainly says what it is
• The link lands on something people can try, with minimal signup
• Demo data is loaded so the first screen is useful
• The first comment is drafted: why, how, what is rough, what feedback you want
• Your server can handle a spike
• You have several free hours to answer comments
• Nobody has been asked to upvote

For a reusable version of this process, see the Show HN post skill. If Hacker News is one stop in a wider launch, the founder's launch playbook covers Product Hunt, X, Reddit, LinkedIn, and newsletters in the same format.

How Thig helps

The Hacker News agent drafts Show HN titles and first comments from your product docs, and finds existing discussions where your experience is relevant. Every draft lands in your feed for review, and nothing is posted without your approval.