Tools Hacker News keeps asking for

This project mines Hacker News discussions from 2008 to 2026 for recurring requests such as “I wish there was” and “is there a tool.” It screened 63,300 comments and posts, used an AI classifier to identify 12,441 software requests, then revisited the 1,433 requests underlying its 100 highest-ranked ideas. The ranking weighs how many separate threads raised each idea, how many years it appeared, and how often it surfaced in 2024-26. Examples include a way to mute topics in news feeds, a cleaner paid version of Windows, a browser people can pay for, private paid email, and search without ads. The interactive timeline shows when each idea was requested; individual counts link to the discussions behind them.

The findings suggest that recurring demand is less about inventing new categories than delivering software people can trust and control. Forty-six of the 100 ideas primarily seek local or private tools, while only eight primarily seek AI; four of the top ten involve paying to avoid ads, telemetry, or other unwanted features. Yet 81 ideas have already appeared in 1,423 Show HN launches, and people still ask for them; 64 were first requested by 2012 or earlier. The collection frames this as a problem of finishing and meeting the whole need, not a lack of attempts. It also identifies a shift toward improving existing products: 27% of requests since 2024 seek better versions, compared with 14% in 2008-11.