I wrote an HN bot to suggest HTTPS url when people post HTTP URLs
It's inspired by this comment I made: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26599746. I actually saw several comments with HTTP URL posted, and that was the only one I bothered to comment on. So I thought that this is something better suited for bots than human. I hacked this together over yesterday and today: https://github.com/fishy/https-bot. Basically it uses the Firebase API (https://github.com/HackerNews/API) to find comments with HTTP URLs in them, try the HTTPS version, compare the contents, post back a comment if the contents are…
I wrote an HN bot to suggest HTTPS url when people post HTTP URLs launched on April 4, 2021 with 17 votes, #1,228 of 3,754 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches.
In plain words
A bot that monitors Hacker News comments for HTTP URLs and replies with HTTPS alternatives when available. It uses the HN Firebase API to scan comments, tests whether HTTPS versions load with substantially identical content (95% similarity threshold), and posts suggestions when conditions are met. Built for users who want to promote secure URLs on the platform without manual monitoring.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
It's inspired by this comment I made: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26599746. I actually saw several comments with HTTP URL posted, and that was the only one I bothered to comment on. So I thought that this is something better suited for bots than human. I hacked this together over yesterday and…
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