Hacker News Wire Ticker Screensaver
The Wire Ticker screensaver is a teletype-style ticker that scrolls live Hacker News headlines with their points and comment counts across the screen, fetched straight from the key-less Hacker News API. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Wire Ticker screensaver works
The saver reads the Hacker News API for the current top, newest or best stories — a public, key-less feed from Y Combinator.
It fetches each story's title, score, comment count and link domain, then lays them end to end as a continuous ticker.
The headlines scroll smoothly in a monospace CRT style, looping seamlessly around the list.
The feed refreshes in the background every minute, swapping in new stories without interrupting the scroll.
A worked example
Across the bottom of your screen flows a steady stream like ▲342 Show HN: … (github.com) · by pg · 88 comments, one story after another, refreshing quietly so the latest front-page discussion is always rolling past.
Settings & tips
- Feed switches between top, newest and best stories.
- Scroll speed sets how fast the ticker moves.
- Accent recolours the headline highlights.
Frequently asked questions
- Are the headlines live?
- Yes. They come from the Hacker News API and refresh every minute, so the ticker tracks the current front page.
- Does it need an API key?
- No. The Hacker News API is public and key-less; the saver just needs an internet connection.
- Can I read the linked articles?
- It's a display-only ticker, so it shows titles, scores and comment counts rather than opening links.
- Which stories does it show?
- Whichever feed you pick — top, newest or best — starting from the current front of that list.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, runs in your browser.