Show HN post: how to write one that gets read, not flagged

To write a Show HN post, lead with the thing you built and how someone can try it, keep the title to the product name plus one plain fact, and cut every line that reads like marketing. Hacker News is explicit about what qualifies: a Show HN has to be something people can play with, not a blog post, a sign-up page, or a newsletter. Get that one rule right and the rest is editing.

Read this before you write the post

This format only works if the thing already exists and a stranger can reach it without a barrier. If your product still needs an account, an invite, or a call to be seen, this format will not fix that — the product launch checklist covers what has to be in place first. If you have not decided which communities fit your product, start with how to choose startup directories, and treat Hacker News as one channel among several rather than the only one.

Why Show HN has its own rules

Hacker News is one of the few places where a founder gets to present work to a technical audience that will actually try it, and the rules exist to keep that from turning into an ad feed. The official guidelines open by defining the format around one test: it is for "something you've made that other people can play with," and the off-topic list is just as clear — "blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters, lists, and other reading material" cannot qualify because they cannot be tried out.

On Show HN, a landing page is not a product, and a product is something a stranger can try in one click.

The audience reads the post before it reads your site, and it decides in the first line whether you are sharing work or buying attention. That is why the writing advice from the forum's own moderators is mostly subtraction: state what it is, say what is different, and remove the sales language, because "on HN, that is an instant turnoff."

What qualifies as a Show HN post

Run the idea through this table before you write anything. It is taken from the official guidelines, read on 2026-10-16, and a single item in the right column is enough to send you back to a regular submission.

The last row is the one people miss. A new version is only worth a fresh submission if it is significantly different, not an incremental upgrade, and even then the same guidelines ask you to link the previous thread and explain what changed.

How to write the Show HN post, step by step

Write the post by hand, in one sitting, after the product is live. The moderator's current advice is blunt about this: do not use a language model to generate or even to edit the text, because the community treats machine phrasing as a signal and reacts to it. Each step below has a check you can run before moving on.

1. Confirm the thing can be tried. Open your own link in a private window and reach the working product without signing up. If you cannot, fix that before writing, not after.
2. Set the title. It must begin with the words "Show HN", followed by the project name and a short, literal description. No exclamation marks, no benefit claims.
3. Write the first paragraph as the backstory. One or two sentences on how you came to build it, then one clear sentence on what it does. The guidelines warn that without a plain statement of what it is, the thread fills up with "I can't tell what this is".
4. Add what is different. One paragraph that a skeptic could check: what it does that the obvious alternative does not. This is the part readers quote.
5. Post it, then answer in the thread. You are expected to be around to discuss, so block out the next few hours to reply to questions directly and without defensiveness.

The post template you can copy

Fill this in before you open the submit form, then paste the finished text. Keeping it out of the form stops you from editing the interesting parts away under time pressure.

TITLE:            Show HN: <project name> – <what it does, in plain words>

BODY (or first comment, both are fine):
1. Backstory: why I built this, in one or two sentences.
2. What it is: the single sentence a stranger could repeat.
3. How to try it: the direct link, no signup required.
4. What is different: one thing a skeptic can verify.
5. What I am unsure about: the honest weak spot.

DO NOT: use a company name as your username · ask for upvotes or comments ·
        add a point release · dress it up as a launch

Before you submit, the post has to pass all six checks below. The left column is the check; the right column is where it comes from, so a failing row is a rule you broke rather than a preference you ignored.

What gets a Show HN ignored or flagged

Three failures show up again and again, and each one is avoidable before you hit submit.

• Posting something that cannot be tried. A waitlist, a teaser, or a deck will be flagged as off topic, because the guidelines name those cases directly. The fix is not a nicer title; it is waiting until there is a working link.
• Writing like a launch post. Marketing language is the fastest way to lose a technical audience. Replace every adjective with a fact, and delete the sentence that asks for support.
• Recruiting votes. Asking friends to upvote or comment is against the rules, and the community spots it quickly. If people find it, they find it.

A short sentence belongs here too: ship, then submit once.

Where this advice stops

None of this can make this land. Traction depends on the project, the day, and a readership we do not control, and we cannot predict whether a given post will get comments or attention. The guidelines even say the post does not need to look polished or be finished, which cuts the other way: the format lowers the gate but does not raise your odds on its own.

We also won't claim the rules are permanent. Hacker News has changed them before — the LLM caution quoted above was added in 2026 — so check the current guidelines page before you post rather than trusting a checklist from last year.

Common questions

What is a Show HN?

It is a Hacker News submission whose title begins with those two words, used to present something you made that other people can try for themselves. It is not a category you opt into; it is a title prefix plus a set of content rules.

How do I post on Hacker News?

Create a personal account, open the submit page, and enter a title and a URL. For this format, the title starts with those two words, and you put the backstory either in the text field or as the first comment on the thread.

Why was my Show HN flagged?

The most common reason is that it could not be tried — This format does not cover blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters, or reading material. The next most common is a title or body that reads like a press release.

Can I repost a Show HN for a new version?

Only if the new version is significantly different rather than an incremental upgrade. If you repost, link the earlier thread and say what changed, and keep it to roughly once or twice a year.

Next step

This format is one channel in a larger routine, and it works best when the product is ready to be tried and your account already looks like a person rather than a brand. If you are still lining up the smaller channels, pair this with how to promote your product on Reddit so the same project is presented to both audiences without repeating the same post.

QueryWin keeps the product record and the channel-by-channel status in one distribution workspace, so you can tell what you submitted where instead of tracking it in your head.