Chrome side panel that polls public HN data locally to surface replies to your stories and comments, no login or server required.
Key Takeaways
HNswered exploits HN’s public API structure: every reply records its parent ID, so matching against your authored items requires no privileged access.
All state lives in Chrome storage; no backend, no auth, no write access to HN accounts.
Ships with a pre-built dist/ directory, so installation needs no Node or build toolchain.
A self-contained security audit prompt at docs/security-audit.md is bundled for contributors who want to verify the extension’s scope.
Unread badge in the Chrome toolbar plus on-demand refresh handles the case where Chrome was closed or sleeping between sessions.
Hacker News Comment Review
Several commenters pointed out that HN already exposes a native threads page (/threads?id=username) covering most of the same use case without any extension, which undercuts the urgency of the tool for casual users.
There is a recurring pattern on HN of similar reply-notification tools appearing and fading; commenters noted existing alternatives including hnreplies.com and hnrss.github.io RSS feeds, suggesting the space is crowded with partial solutions rather than one dominant one.
One commenter flagged that the README reads as AI-generated, raising a low bar for project presentation even in a technically sound repo.
Notable Comments
@mindcrime: Notes a long history of near-identical projects shipping and disappearing, questioning why none achieve lasting adoption.
@donatj: Raises that HN also blocks replies on very old posts, so notification tools alone do not solve the full engagement loop.
