Top Hacker News stories on your desktop wallpaper. A QuickSheet extension that shows the current top stories from Hacker News with scores and comment counts — without opening a browser.
Developers check HN multiple times per day. Instead of context-switching to a browser tab, hntop: puts the headlines right on your wallpaper. It's the "replace a browser tab" pattern applied to the feed you already check obsessively.
In any QuickSheet cell, type:
ext: github:Deskworks/quicksheet-hntop
QuickSheet clones the repo and starts the extension automatically.
hntop: 10 # Show top 10 stories (default)
hntop: 5 # Show top 5 stories
hntop: 20 # Show top 20 stories (max 30)
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| A | Rank + Title (truncated at 60 chars) |
| B | ▲ Score |
| C | 💬 Comment count |
Footer shows last update time.
Uses the HN Firebase API — completely free, no API key required, no rate limits documented. Results are cached for 5 minutes to be polite.
- Top stories:
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json - Item details:
https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/{id}.json
This extension uses the QuickSheet JSON-lines protocol. Cells are emitted as flat {r, c, v} objects.
MIT