HN Follow – Follow Your Friends on HN
HN Follow lets you follow authors on Hacker News, and get email notifications when they post. It was inspired by alerthn.com and hnreplies.com. The app was built in an experimental style on Val Town. We’re trying to create a new web primitive that you can: 1. write like a function 2. run like a script 3. fork like a repo 4. install like an app This is our 5th iteration of this same “HN Follow” app. We launched the 3rd version here on Hacker News six months ago[1], but it was very kindly removed from the front page by dang in favor of us launching Val Town itself first, which we did in…
In plain words
HN Follow enables users to track specific authors on Hacker News and receive email notifications when they post. Inspired by similar tools like alerthn.com and hnreplies.com, the application was built on Val Town as an experimental demonstration of a new web platform. Users can write, run, fork, and install the app, with options to customize it further by modifying the source code for different use cases beyond author tracking.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
HN Follow lets you follow authors on Hacker News, and get email notifications when they post. It was inspired by alerthn.com and hnreplies.com. The app was built in an experimental style on Val Town. We’re trying to create a new web primitive that you can: 1. write like a function 2. run like a script 3. fork like a repo 4. install like an app This is our 5th iteration of this same “HN Follow” app. We launched the 3rd version here on Hacker News six months ago[1], but it was very kindly removed from the front page by dang in favor of us launching Val Town itself first, which we did in January[2]. We’re trying to strike the right balance between something you can use and install with one click, and something you can infinitely customize. For example, you could fork `@rodrigoTello.hnFollowApp`[3] and change the input parameter from authors to a generic query, like I do here[4] to get notifications whenever “val town” is mentioned on HN. In addition to emailing myself (via `console.email`), I also send a message to our team’s Discord. The possibilities are endless, but it can also be overwhelming. We’re trying to find the balance where we help you navigate the space of possible integrations, without limiting you the way a no-code tool would. We would really appreciate your guys’ feedback and suggestions! [1] - HN Follow, first launch: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33533830 [2] - Val Town launch: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34343122 [3] - `@rodrigotello.hnFollowApp`: https://www.val.town/v/rodrigotello.hnFollowApp [4] - My fork of hnFollow: https://www.val.town/v/stevekrouse.hnValTown
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