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
A developer has published HackerTube, a YouTube-style site built from videos recommended in Hacker News comments. The creator says it filters a dataset of comments to identify 6,454 videos across 150 topics, but independent verification, audience figures and the site’s longer-term plans are not provided.
Developer karpathy says he has published HackerTube, a YouTube-style site populated with videos recommended in Hacker News comments. He describes a collection of 6,454 videos across 150 topics, drawn from comments posted between 2007 and 2026, offering an alternative way to browse videos without relying on a personal YouTube account or its recommendations.
In a post dated October 31, 2026, karpathy said the project began after he found YouTube’s recommendations and thumbnails unappealing. The next morning, he asked an AI coding agent he calls Opus 5.5 to build a video site from recommendations found on Hacker News, then shared the result at hackertube.org.
According to the creator, the workflow downloaded Hacker News comments, filtered them, used Sonnet in a processing workflow, removed spam and lower-quality material, and selected about 40,000 comments that recommended a YouTube video. Those comments pointed to 6,454 distinct videos, the post says. The source does not provide an independent audit of the collection or explain the precise criteria used to classify recommendations and quality.
Karpathy says HackerTube presents the collection in a YouTube-like interface, groups it into 150 topics and generates “ForYou” recommendations without user accounts. The post also describes using an alternative thumbnail treatment, keeping state in the browser session, adding keyboard shortcuts and making site data exportable for use with an AI agent. The creator estimates the build took about two hours; that is his account, not an independently measured development time.
A Community-Based Video Discovery Alternative
HackerTube tests a different approach to video discovery: rather than tailoring recommendations around a viewer’s YouTube activity, it assembles links that people have shared in Hacker News discussions. For users who find their usual recommendations repetitive, that can provide another route to technical talks, explainers and other videos surfaced by an online community.
The project also shows how a developer can use automated processing to turn a large archive of comments into a browsable collection. That does not establish that the resulting recommendations are more accurate or higher quality than YouTube’s. Hacker News commenters are a specific audience, and the source does not describe comparative testing, user research or how the site handles videos that are removed or made private.
Its account-free recommendation setup may appeal to people who want to browse without creating a profile. At the same time, a fixed collection of historical recommendations is not the same as a continuously updated feed tailored to an individual. The difference matters: HackerTube’s value depends on the scope and quality of its source material, the way it organizes that material and whether the service remains available.
Products Worth Considering
Logitech MX Mechanical Wireless Illuminated Performance Keyboard – Clicky
Logitech MX Keys S Wireless Keyboard, Graphite
Samsung 27-Inch Odyssey QD-OLED G8 4K 240Hz Gaming Monitor
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Hacker News Comments to Video Pages
Hacker News is a technology-focused discussion site where users post links and comment on them. Video recommendations can appear within those discussions, but they are not necessarily formal endorsements: a link may be shared to support a point, invite criticism or provide context. HackerTube’s creator says the project treated relevant comments as a source for video recommendations, then filtered the resulting dataset.
The project’s stated range, 2007–2026, spans much of Hacker News’ history, while the reported 150 topics provide a way to navigate the collection. The source post does not list those topics, detail the filtering rules or state how often the site will refresh its data. It also does not identify a partnership with YouTube or Hacker News. The announcement presents HackerTube as an independent project that uses YouTube video links found in Hacker News comments.
“Let’s write our own YouTube clone based on whatever videos have been recommended on Hacker News.”
— Karpathy, in the HackerTube announcement
Dataset Rules and Site Plans
The announcement is the creator’s account of the project; the provided material includes no independent review of the 40,000 comments or 6,454-video total. It does not explain the exact definition of a recommendation, how the automated filtering was checked, or how the 150 topics were assigned. The description of “quality” is the creator’s characterization, not a measured result.
It is also unclear whether HackerTube is intended to be a short-lived experiment or a maintained service, whether its collection will be refreshed, and how it will respond to broken links or changes to YouTube videos. The post gives no traffic figures, user feedback, operating costs or details about data retention beyond saying browsing state stays in the local browser session. No claims about improved recommendations have been supported with comparisons or testing.
The Site’s Next Updates
HackerTube is available at hackertube.org, according to the announcement. The creator has not set out a schedule for new data, named a next release or described a plan for maintaining the site. Readers can currently assess the project by browsing its collection and the features described in the post; whether the site continues to develop will depend on updates from its creator.
The most useful follow-up details would be the collection’s filtering criteria, the list of topics and the process for keeping video links current. Until those are published, the reported counts and the project’s quality claims should be understood as the creator’s description rather than independently verified findings.
Key Questions
What is HackerTube?
HackerTube is a YouTube-style site that karpathy says organizes videos recommended in Hacker News comments. The creator says it contains 6,454 videos across 150 topics.
Where did its videos come from?
Karpathy says the project processed Hacker News comments posted from 2007 to 2026, filtering them to about 40,000 comments that recommended a YouTube video. The announcement does not publish an independent verification of those figures.
Does HackerTube require an account?
The creator says its recommendations work without user accounts and that state is stored in the local browser session. The post does not provide further technical detail about data handling.
Is HackerTube officially connected to YouTube or Hacker News?
The announcement describes an independent project built from YouTube links shared in Hacker News comments. It does not mention an official partnership with either service.
Will the collection be updated?
No update schedule is stated in the announcement. Whether HackerTube will add recommendations or maintain existing links remains unclear.
Source: karpathy.bearblog.dev
