NODUS HN Radar — A signal layer for Hacker News

📡 Chrome Extension · Free · No account

A signal layer for Hacker News

Same Hacker News. Less eye pain. More signal. Read comfortably, pin threads with tags, see what's actually rising in real time.

Local-first. No tracking. No server. Your reading stays in your browser.

Install for Chrome

See features ↓

How it works

Install once. Read better forever.

No setup, no account, no configuration. Open Hacker News and the extension takes over the rough edges.

Install the extension

Add NODUS HN Radar to Chrome (Firefox coming). 280KB. Local-only. Zero permissions beyond Hacker News itself.

Open Hacker News

The Lens layer activates automatically. Dark mode, readable fonts, post-type badges, gray-out for visited links — silently.

Open the side panel

Click the extension icon. Pin threads, tag them, watch the Radar surface rising posts with velocity scores in real time.

Features

Designed by someone who reads HN every day.

Not a "modern theme" — a reading and signal layer that respects the HN aesthetic while killing its rough spots.

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Lens reading layer

Dark, light or auto theme. Adjustable font size. Reading-width control. Gray-out for visited posts. Compact rows option.

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Type badges

Inline SHOW / ASK / LAUNCH / TELL / POLL pills on titles. Color-coded row tints. Click to open the panel.

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Pin & tag threads

Pin any post. Add multi-colored tags (color hashed from tag name). Tags propagate to the HN page next to the title.

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Radar dashboard

Top / Show HN / Ask HN / Best — each with velocity score per post (points + comments per hour). Spot what's rising before it's hot.

Velocity & delta

Each post shows current velocity AND its change over the last interval. Know what's accelerating vs. losing steam.

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OP active badge

Golden badge appears when the post author has replied in the thread. The "founder is here" signal HN users love.

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Comment war alert

Subtle chip when a thread crosses 150+ comments. Glowing red 🔥 heated when it crosses 400+. Threads worth visiting.

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Inline preview

Hover the "X comments" link on any pinned card — the top 5 comments expand inline. No tab-switching to scan a discussion.

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Built-in translation

Uses Chrome's local Translator API (138+) for post titles and comment previews. No API keys, no cloud, no cost.

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Domain muting

Tired of medium.com posts? x.com? Add domains to your mute list and they vanish from the Radar.

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Zebra striping

Optional alternating row backgrounds with custom color + intensity. Excel-style scanning for the front page.

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17 languages

Interface fully translated to English, Português, Español, Français, Deutsch, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, 中文, Русский and more.

Local-first by design — not as a feature.

Everything you pin, tag, or hide stays in your browser. The extension makes exactly two kinds of network calls: to news.ycombinator.com (the public site) and to Hacker News's public Firebase API (to fetch trending lists). That's it.

No server. No account. No telemetry. No tracking. No advertising SDKs. Source code is reviewable in the .crx package.

Full privacy policy →

Zero backend infrastructure

Zero credentials, zero API keys

Zero data leaves your browser

No login, no account creation

No third-party analytics

Uninstall = full data deletion

Ready to read HN like it deserves?

Free. Local. No account. Available on Chrome, Firefox coming soon.

Install free