News
Connect Toby to Hacker News and, optionally, The Guardian to fetch latest headlines and search recent articles from chat.
The News plugin ships with Toby.app under ~/.toby/plugins/.
Prerequisites​
- None for Hacker News
- Optional: a free Guardian Open Platform API key for world news (no credit card)
Configure​
Open Toby.app → Integrations → News and enter:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Default source | all (Hacker News plus Guardian when a key is set), hacker-news, or guardian |
| Guardian API key | Optional Open Platform key for The Guardian |
| Default Guardian section | Optional desk for Guardian requests that do not specify a section |
Save the configuration.
You can also use the Setup Guide button on the News detail page.
Connect​
Click Connect on the News detail page. Toby checks Hacker News immediately. If you added a Guardian key, it validates that too.
Verify​
Return to Integrations in the sidebar. News should show as connected and healthy.
Disconnect​
Open the News detail page and click Disconnect. This clears Toby's connection flag. Remove the API key in configure if you want it gone from stored credentials.
What you can do in chat​
| Capability | Examples |
|---|---|
| Hacker News | “What's on the HN front page?” / “Any good Show HN posts today?” |
| World news | “What are the top world headlines?” (needs a Guardian key) |
| Topic search | “Search Hacker News for SQLite” / “What has The Guardian written about interest rates?” |
Each story is attributed to Hacker News or The Guardian. Toby returns headlines, short summaries, dates, and article URLs — not the full article body.
Example chat prompts​
- “What's on Hacker News right now?”
- “Search news about the Fed and inflation.”
- “Show me recent Ask HN posts.”
- “Any recent science stories I should know about?”
Tips​
- Ask for Hacker News explicitly when you want the front page, Show HN, or Ask HN.
- Guardian sections include
world,us-news,uk-news,technology,business,sport,science,environment,culture, andpolitics. - For a specific subject, ask Toby to search rather than only fetch latest headlines.
- If Guardian Connect fails, re-copy the key from the Open Platform dashboard. Hacker News still works without it.