AI Hacker News Trend Reporter: Daily Historical Tech Insights via Gemini & Telegram

Unlock Daily Historical Tech Perspectives with this AI Agent

This AI-driven n8n workflow automates the process of revisiting Hacker News front-page headlines from the same calendar day across multiple past years (back to 2007). The agent then leverages the analytical power of Google Gemini to identify recurring themes, key developments, and the evolution of the tech landscape as reflected in these headlines. The output is a neatly formatted Markdown report, providing a unique "On This Day in Tech" perspective, delivered daily to your Telegram.

This agent empowers you to effortlessly track how discussions, technologies, and focus areas have shifted over time, offering valuable context for strategic decisions, content creation, or simply staying informed.

Key Features & Benefits

• Automated HN Time Travel: Fetches Hacker News front-page headlines for the current day/month, looking back annually to 2007.
• AI-Powered Trend Analysis: Employs Google Gemini (specifically gemini-1.5-pro) to analyze years of headlines, identifying key topics and shifts in technology focus.
• Thematic Categorization: Gemini intelligently groups headlines into relevant themes, making it easy to digest complex information and spot patterns.
• Markdown Formatted Reports: Delivers a clean, readable summary with headlines hyperlinked to their original HN discussions, prefixed by year for easy reference.
• Daily Telegram Delivery: Get your tech "lookback" report conveniently in a specified Telegram channel every day.
• Customizable Schedule: Runs daily by default, but the schedule can be easily adjusted within n8n to fit your preference.
• Deep Tech Insights: Gain a unique understanding of how specific tech topics, companies, and discussions have evolved on this particular calendar day throughout the years.

• An n8n instance (Cloud or self-hosted).
• A Google Gemini API Key with access to the gemini-1.5-pro model (or a compatible alternative).
• A Telegram Bot Token.
• The Chat ID of the Telegram channel or user where reports should be sent (e.g., @YourChannelName or your personal numeric chat ID).

1. Download the n8n workflow JSON file.
2. Import the workflow into your n8n instance.
3. Configure the 'Schedule Trigger' node: By default, it runs daily at 21:00 UTC. Adjust the time or frequency as needed.
4. Configure the 'Google Gemini Chat Model' node:
   • Select or create new credentials for 'Google Gemini API'.
   • Enter your Google Gemini API Key.
   • Ensure the 'Model Name' parameter is set to models/gemini-1.5-pro or an equivalent model you have access to.
5. Configure the 'Telegram' node:
   • Select or create new credentials for 'Telegram API'.
   • Enter your Telegram Bot Token.
   • Update the 'Chat ID' parameter with your target Telegram channel ID (e.g., @YourChannelName) or your personal/group numeric chat ID.
6. (Optional) You can inspect the prompt in the 'Basic LLM Chain' node. While well-optimized, you can tailor it further if you have specific formatting or analytical requirements.
7. Activate the workflow. The agent will now run according to the schedule, gather historical Hacker News data, process it with Gemini, and send the summarized report to your designated Telegram chat.