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A developer has launched HackerTube, a YouTube-style site built from videos recommended in Hacker News comments between 2007 and 2026. The creator says the project was assembled with Claude Code and contains 6,454 videos across 150 topics; independent details about its recommendations, moderation and usage are not provided in the source report.
Developer Andrej Karpathy says he has launched HackerTube, a YouTube-style site populated with videos recommended in Hacker News comments, after deciding YouTube’s recommendations were not serving his preferences. The site’s collection, as described in his October 31, 2026 report, contains 6,454 videos across 150 topics, drawn from comments posted between 2007 and 2026.
Karpathy wrote that he asked Anthropic’s Claude Code to build a video site around links recommended by Hacker News users. According to his account, the process downloaded Hacker News comments, filtered them, used a Claude model in a workflow to remove spam, and narrowed the material to about 40,000 comments recommending YouTube videos. Those comments yielded the 6,454-video collection.
HackerTube presents the videos in an interface modeled on YouTube. Karpathy says it includes topic browsing, custom “For You” recommendations that do not require accounts, keyboard shortcuts and an option to export the site’s data. He also says its thumbnails use a frame from halfway through each video rather than the image uploaded for the video. These are features described by the creator; the source report does not include independent testing of how they work.
Karpathy estimated that the build took about two hours. He said his manual tasks included creating a Google Cloud API key for YouTube metadata, setting up a virtual private server and buying the domain. He described Claude Code as handling the coding and deployment work, including instructions to secure, harden and optimize the site. The report does not provide a separate technical audit or a breakdown of the time spent on each step.
A Different Route to Video Discovery
HackerTube offers a small-scale alternative to browsing videos through a platform’s own recommendation feed: it organizes links that members of a particular online community had previously shared. That approach may appeal to viewers seeking recommendations based on a community’s discussions rather than their individual viewing history. It also makes the source of the collection more legible: the videos were cited in Hacker News comments, rather than selected solely through a viewer-specific feed.
The project is also an example of how a creator says AI coding tools can speed up the construction of a working web service. Karpathy’s account describes a workflow in which a model handled much of the code and deployment, while he provided the goal and carried out a few setup tasks. His estimate reflects his own experience with this project, not a measured benchmark for software development or evidence that a similar service can routinely be built in the same time.
The concept has limits. Hacker News commenters represent one online community, and a video being recommended in a comment does not establish that it is accurate, high-quality or suitable for every viewer. The collection’s usefulness will depend on how its recommendations are formed and whether users can understand or control them.
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From Hacker News Comments to Videos
Hacker News is a discussion site where users submit links and comment on technology and other subjects. Karpathy’s project uses recommendations embedded in those comments as its source material, rather than claiming to reproduce YouTube’s full catalog. The reported dataset spans 2007 to 2026, so it combines links shared over many years instead of representing only current recommendations.
In his post, Karpathy said frustration with YouTube’s recommendations prompted the project. He characterized the feed he saw as dominated by exaggerated thumbnails and repetitive topics; that description is his personal assessment, not an independently measured judgment about YouTube’s recommendations for all users. He said he wanted a custom video browser and tasked Claude Code with making one.
His follow-up description names three tasks he performed directly: obtaining a Google Cloud key to query YouTube for metadata, provisioning a VPS and purchasing a domain. He said he used Claude Code’s desktop application for Mac with Opus 5.5 at medium effort. The source does not document the application’s code, hosting configuration or the model’s work beyond Karpathy’s account.
Limits of the Published Account
The available source is Karpathy’s own project report. It does not independently verify the 6,454-video count, the filtering process, the claimed removal of spam or the two-hour build estimate. No details are supplied about the number of unique commenters, how often a video had to be recommended to make the collection, or how the 150 topics were defined.
It is also unclear how HackerTube generates its “For You” recommendations without accounts, what information is stored in a browser session, or how users can report broken, misleading or unsuitable links. The report says the site’s data can be exported, but does not specify the export format, license or whether the underlying source data can be redistributed. The source provides no independent security review, user figures or information on the site’s long-term operation.
Use and Verification Ahead
Karpathy’s report describes HackerTube as built and deployed, but does not announce a scheduled next release, launch event or maintenance plan. The next concrete step for readers is to visit the site and check its available topics and controls; claims about the interface and dataset remain attributable to the creator unless independently examined.
Further reporting could establish how the site handles YouTube metadata and links, what its export contains, and whether the recommendation system works as described. It is also not yet clear whether Karpathy plans to publish technical documentation, updates to the dataset or information about how the project will be maintained.
Key Questions
What is HackerTube?
HackerTube is a YouTube-style video browsing site that Karpathy says was built from YouTube links recommended in Hacker News comments.
How many videos does the site include?
Karpathy reports a collection of 6,454 videos across 150 topics, drawn from Hacker News comments posted between 2007 and 2026. Those figures come from his report and are not independently verified in the source material.
How was HackerTube built?
Karpathy says he used Claude Code to process comments and build and deploy the site. He also says he personally created a Google Cloud API key, set up a VPS and bought the domain.
Does HackerTube require an account?
Karpathy says its custom “For You” recommendations work without user accounts and that state is kept in a local browser session. The source report does not describe the implementation in detail.
Is HackerTube an official YouTube service?
The source describes HackerTube as a project made by Karpathy, not as an official YouTube product. It presents videos hosted on YouTube through a separate interface.
Source: karpathy.bearblog.dev
