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Comment by dang

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Comment by dang

Edit (2026-03-28): we can't respond to emails about this any more because there are far too many of them. But the tips below are still valid. I can add another important one too:

Write your text by hand. Don't use an LLM to generate any of it (not even a tiny bit, including to edit or spruce it up). Reason: the community is super fussy about this right now, and LLM language leaves imprints on your text which are generating quite some backlash when it appears on HN itself. This is a big dividing line at present!

(This is not, of course, to say that you shouldn't use LLMs - we use them heavily ourselves and are all in favor of doing so. Just don't use them to generate or edit text that you post to HN.)

----

If you're sharing your own work and there's a way to try it out, put "Show HN" in the title. Make sure you've read the Show HN guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html.

Include text giving the backstory of how you came to work on this, and explaining what's different about it. That tends to seed discussion in a good direction. (Your text should show up at the top of the Show HN submission, but if for some reason it doesn't, add it as a first comment to the thread. Either way is fine.)

Include a clear statement of what your project is or does. If you don't, the discussion will consist of "I can't tell what this is".

Include links to any previous HN threads that are relevant. Readers like those.

Drop any language that sounds like marketing or sales. On HN, that is an instant turnoff. Use factual, direct language. Personal stories and technical details are great.

For Show HN, the product/project needs to actually exist and there needs to be a way for people to try it out. It can't just be a landing page or market test or fundraiser or a blog post or a curated list or other reading material. Please respect this rule. If we allowed "Show HN" on all those things, nearly every post would be a Show HN.

Please make it easy for users to try your thing out, preferably without having to sign up, get a confirmation email, and other such barriers. You'll get more feedback that way, plus HN users get ornery if you make them jump through hoops.

If it's hardware or something that's not so easy to try out over the internet, find a different way to show how it actually works—a video, for example, or a detailed post with photos.

Don't have your username be that of your company or project. It creates a feeling of using HN for promotion and of not really participating as a person. You don't have to use your real name, just something to indicate that you're here as a human, not a brand. If you'd like to change your username, email hn@ycombinator.com.

If you're comfortable doing so, put your email address in your profile so we can contact you if we notice anything, and also so we can send you a repost invite. We do that sometimes.

Make sure your friends and users do not add booster comments in the thread. HN users are adept at picking up on those, they consider it spamming, and they will flame you for it. If a friend or a fan has something interesting to say, that's fine, but comments should not be promotional.

You can post a new release as a Show HN only if the new version is significantly different. It shouldn't just be an incremental upgrade. If you do repost, add a comment linking to the previous Show HN and explaining what is different from last time. This should probably only happen once or twice a year—more starts to be excessive.

Replies dang · 2020-02-15
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