Learn Anything from HN - Get Top Resource Recommendations from Hacker News
Discover and learn about any topic from the collective intelligence of Hacker News with this automated workflow. It starts by taking a topic you want to learn about from a manual trigger, then uses the SearchAskHN node to find relevant discussions on Hacker News. The workflow then intelligently extracts the most insightful comments using the SplitOutChildrenIDs and FindHNComments nodes, combining them into a single text with CombineIntoSingleText. This aggregated information is then fed into a Google Gemini Chat Model via the Basic LLM Chain to summarize and extract top resource recommendations. Finally, these recommendations are converted to HTML using Convert2HTML and sent directly to your email inbox using SendEmailWithTopResources, providing you with a curated learning path without manual searching. This workflow is ideal for developers, researchers, or anyone looking to quickly grasp new concepts or find expert-vetted resources on a given subject, saving significant time and effort in information gathering and synthesis.
Workflow JSON
{"nodes": [{"id": "41183066-0045-4a75-ba23-42f4efcfeccc", "name": "Google Gemini Chat Model", "type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmChatGoogleGemini", "position": [720, 720], "parameters": {"options": {}, "modelName": "models/gemini-1.5-flash"}, "credentials": {"googlePalmApi": {"id": "", "name": "[Your googlePalmApi]"}}, "typeVersion": 1}, {"id": "eb061c39-7a4d-42e7-bb42-806504731b11", "name": "Basic LLM Chain", "type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.chainLlm", "position": [700, 560], "parameters": {"text": "=Your Task is to find the best resources to learn {{ $('GetTopicFromToLearn').item.json[\"I want to learn\"] }}. \n\nI have scraped the HackerNews and The following is the list of comments from HackerNews on topic about Learning {{ $('GetTopicFromToLearn').item.json[\"I want to learn\"] }}\n\n\nFocus only on comments that provide any resouces or advice or insight about learning {{ $('GetTopicFromToLearn').item.json.Learn }}. Ignore all other comments that are off topic discussions.\n\nNow based on these comments, you need to find the top resources and list them. \n\nCategorize them based on resource type (course, book, article, youtube videos, lectures, etc) and also figure out the difficultiy level (beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert).\n\nYou don't always to have fill in these categories exactly, these are given here for reference. Use your intution to find the best categorization.\n\nNow based on these metrics and running a basic sentiment analysis on comments you need to figure out what the top resources are. \n\nRespond back in Markdown formatted text. In the following format\n\n**OUTPUT FORMAT**\n\n```\n\n## Top HN Recomended Resources To Learn <topic Name> \n\n### Category 1\n\n- **Resource 1** - One line description\n- **Resource 2** - One line description\n- ... \n\n<add hyperlinks if any exists>\n\n### Category 2\n\n- **Resource 1** - One line description\n- **Resource 2** - One line description\n- ... \n\n<add hyperlinks in markdown format to the resource name itself if any exists. Example [resource name](https://example.com)>\n\n...\n```\n\nHere is the list of HackerNews Comments.\n\n{{ $json.text }}", "promptType": "define"}, "typeVersion": 1.5}, {"id": "94073fe0-d25c-421e-9c99-67b6c4f0afad", "name": "SearchAskHN", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.hackerNews", "position": [-160, 560], "parameters": {"limit": 150, "resource": "all", "additionalFields": {"tags": ["ask_hn"], "keyword": "={{ $json[\"I want to learn\"] }}"}}, "typeVersion": 1}, {"id": "eee4dfdf-53ab-42be-91ae-7b6c405df7c2", "name": "FindHNComments", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest", "position": [260, 560], "parameters": {"url": "=https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/{{ $json.children }}.json?print=pretty", "options": {}}, "typeVersion": 4.2}, {"id": "e57d86ae-d7c1-4354-9e3c-528c76160cd9", "name": "CombineIntoSingleText", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.aggregate", "position": [480, 560], "parameters": {"options": {}, "fieldsToAggregate": {"fieldToAggregate": [{"fieldToAggregate": "text"}]}}, "typeVersion": 1}, {"id": "b2086d29-1de5-48f4-8c1e-affd509fb5f7", "name": "SplitOutChildrenIDs", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.splitOut", "position": [40, 560], "parameters": {"options": {}, "fieldToSplitOut": "children"}, "typeVersion": 1}, {"id": "6fe68a4b-744b-48c8-9320-d2b19e3eb92b", "name": "GetTopicFromToLearn", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.formTrigger", "position": [-340, 560], "webhookId": "4524d82f-86a6-4fab-ba09-1d24001e15f3", "parameters": {"options": {"path": "learn", "buttonLabel": "Submit", "respondWithOptions": {"values": {"formSubmittedText": "We'll shortly send you an email with top recommendations."}}}, "formTitle": "What do You want to learn ?", "formFields": {"values": [{"fieldLabel": "I want to learn", "placeholder": "Python, DevOps, Ai, or just about anything"}, {"fieldType": "email", "fieldLabel": "What's your email ?", "placeholder": "john.doe@example.com", "requiredField": true}]}, "formDescription": "We'll find the best resources from HackerNews and send you an email"}, "typeVersion": 2.2}, {"id": "72fcb7f3-6706-47cc-8a79-364b325aa8ae", "name": "SendEmailWithTopResources", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.emailSend", "position": [1320, 560], "parameters": {"html": "=FYI, We read through {{ $('SplitOutChildrenIDs').all().length }} comments in search for the best.\n\n{{ $json.data }}", "options": {}, "subject": "=Here are Top HN Recommendations for Learning {{ $('GetTopicFromToLearn').item.json[\"I want to learn\"] }}", "toEmail": "={{ $('GetTopicFromToLearn').item.json[\"What's your email ?\"] }}", "fromEmail": "allsmallnocaps@gmail.com"}, "credentials": {"smtp": {"id": "", "name": "[Your smtp]"}}, "typeVersion": 2.1}, {"id": "b4d50b42-9e40-46b0-a411-90210b422de3", "name": "Convert2HTML", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.markdown", "position": [1100, 560], "parameters": {"mode": "markdownToHtml", "options": {}, "markdown": "={{ $json.text }}"}, "typeVersion": 1}, {"id": "b79e867a-ea3b-4a94-9809-b5a01ee2820f", "name": "Finished", "type": "n8n-nodes-base.noOp", "position": [1540, 560], "parameters": {}, "typeVersion": 1}], "pinData": {}, "connections": {"SearchAskHN": {"main": [[{"node": "SplitOutChildrenIDs", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}, "Convert2HTML": {"main": [[{"node": "SendEmailWithTopResources", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}, "FindHNComments": {"main": [[{"node": "CombineIntoSingleText", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}, "Basic LLM Chain": {"main": [[{"node": "Convert2HTML", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}, "GetTopicFromToLearn": {"main": [[{"node": "SearchAskHN", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}, "SplitOutChildrenIDs": {"main": [[{"node": "FindHNComments", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}, "CombineIntoSingleText": {"main": [[{"node": "Basic LLM Chain", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}, "Google Gemini Chat Model": {"ai_languageModel": [[{"node": "Basic LLM Chain", "type": "ai_languageModel", "index": 0}]]}, "SendEmailWithTopResources": {"main": [[{"node": "Finished", "type": "main", "index": 0}]]}}}How to Import This Workflow
- 1Copy the workflow JSON above using the Copy Workflow JSON button.
- 2Open your n8n instance and go to Workflows.
- 3Click Import from JSON and paste the copied workflow.
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