TL;DR
Get the latest gadgets delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
HackerTube is a YouTube-style site built from videos recommended in Hacker News comments. Its creator says an AI coding assistant helped process about 40,000 comments into a collection of 6,454 videos across 150 topics; independent details about the data and recommendation system are not provided in the report.
Developer Andrej Karpathy says he has built HackerTube, a YouTube-style site populated with videos recommended in Hacker News comments. The project draws on roughly 40,000 comments and lists 6,454 videos across 150 topics, offering an alternative to YouTube recommendations based on a community’s past link-sharing rather than a user’s viewing history.
In a report published on October 31, 2026, Karpathy described HackerTube as a response to his dissatisfaction with the videos appearing on his YouTube homepage. He said he asked Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 to make a video site using links recommended on Hacker News, the technology discussion forum. The site presents the resulting collection in a YouTube-like interface.
Karpathy said the workflow downloaded Hacker News comments, filtered them, used Claude Sonnet in a workflow to remove spam, and narrowed the material to about 40,000 comments that recommended YouTube videos. He said those recommendations yielded 6,454 videos spanning 150 topics and dating from 2007 through 2026. These figures and descriptions come from Karpathy’s account; the report does not include an independent audit of the dataset.
According to the creator, HackerTube uses a thumbnail shown at 50% size rather than the full uploaded thumbnail and offers custom “For You” recommendations without user accounts. It stores state in the browser session, provides keyboard shortcuts and lets visitors export the site’s data. Karpathy said he used a Google Cloud API key for video metadata, set up a virtual private server and bought the domain, while Claude Code handled much of the implementation and deployment work.
A Different Route to Video Discovery
HackerTube’s premise is to change the source of discovery signals: instead of relying on an individual viewer’s watch history, it draws from links recommended in Hacker News discussions. That makes the collection a record of what members of that forum chose to share, not a representative measure of video quality or general audience preferences. Its usefulness will depend on whether visitors find that community’s choices relevant to their own interests.
The project also shows how a developer can use AI coding tools to assemble a working service from a defined data source. Karpathy said the process took about two hours and that he did not write code or run terminal commands himself. That is his description of this particular project, not evidence that comparable sites can routinely be built in the same time or without technical oversight. The account offers a practical example of AI-assisted development, while leaving the tool’s exact contribution and the amount of checking required unspecified.
For viewers, the site offers a different way to browse videos without creating an account, according to Karpathy. For developers, its export feature may make it easier to reuse the assembled list. The report does not establish how the site handles future removals, unavailable videos or changes to YouTube’s metadata and access systems.
Products Worth Considering
DJI Osmo Mobile 8 Gimbal with Mic Mini Transmitter, Infinity Black
Logitech MX Mechanical Wireless Illuminated Keyboard, Tactile Quiet, Graphite
Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen), Wireless Noise-Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones, Black
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Hacker News Comments to Videos
Hacker News is a discussion forum where users share links and comment on technology and other subjects. Karpathy’s approach treats recommendations embedded in those comments as a source of video suggestions. The project therefore reflects both the material that users linked and the selection decisions made during its collection and filtering.
Karpathy wrote that he started the project after finding his YouTube recommendations repetitive and over-reliant on exaggerated thumbnails. That description is his personal assessment, not a finding about YouTube’s recommendation system as a whole. He said HackerTube instead uses a smaller thumbnail display and draws on the Hacker News collection to populate browsing and recommendation features.
In an edit to his report, Karpathy added that he works through Claude Code’s desktop app for Mac and uses Opus 5.5 at medium effort by default. He described his manual tasks on HackerTube as obtaining a Google Cloud key, starting a server and registering the domain. He said he then gave Claude the server’s IP address and asked it to update, deploy, secure, harden and optimize the code. The report does not provide a technical review or detailed account of those steps.
Dataset and Recommendations Need Scrutiny
The available report is Karpathy’s own account. It does not explain the full filtering criteria, how repeated links were counted, how video availability was checked or how the 150 topic labels were assigned. It also does not say how often the collection will be refreshed or whether the total includes duplicates or videos that are now unavailable.
Karpathy describes custom “For You” recommendations but does not specify the ranking method or what signals those recommendations use. Although the site is said to avoid accounts and store state in a browser session, the report does not offer a privacy review or technical documentation confirming how all data is handled. The project’s availability, audience size and ongoing maintenance are not established by the source material.
The Site’s Next Test Is Use
The immediate next step is for visitors to try HackerTube and see whether a collection built from Hacker News recommendations provides a useful alternative for finding videos. Karpathy’s export feature also gives users a way to take the site’s data and use it to create their own version, according to his report.
Further reporting could establish whether the dataset is publicly documented, how recommendations are generated, and whether the site remains available and up to date. Karpathy has not announced a development schedule or provided figures on usage. Until more information is available, the project’s reported scale and workflow should be understood as details supplied by its creator.
Key Questions
What is HackerTube?
HackerTube is a YouTube-style site populated with videos linked in Hacker News comments, according to its creator, Andrej Karpathy.
How many videos does it include?
Karpathy says the collection contains 6,454 videos across 150 topics, drawn from Hacker News recommendations posted between 2007 and 2026. Those figures have not been independently checked in the report.
How was the site made?
Karpathy says Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Code helped build and deploy the site. He described using Claude Sonnet to help filter comments and remove spam, and said he handled tasks including obtaining a Google Cloud API key, setting up a server and buying the domain.
Does HackerTube require an account?
Karpathy says it does not require user accounts and stores state in the visitor’s browser session. The report does not provide an independent technical or privacy assessment.
How does HackerTube choose its recommendations?
The site’s collection comes from videos recommended in Hacker News comments. Karpathy says it offers custom “For You” recommendations but does not explain the ranking method or signals used.
Source: karpathy.bearblog.dev
