# rig20 HN Top Stories

> rig20 HN Top Stories is a paid API for AI agents from play1.devcheater.com, paid per call via x402, $0.01/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-16).

Returns the top N Hacker News stories (up to 30) as a paywalled, pay-per-call API using x402/USDC micropayments.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://play1.devcheater.com/hn/top
- Price: $0.01/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-16
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/rig20-hn-top-stories-6dd9b588
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_zfGSr0BcXLMmYGmkTb2dG

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability rig20-hn-top-stories-6dd9b588
```

Example prompt: Pull the top 20 stories from Hacker News right now and summarize what's trending in tech.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need programmatic, pay-per-call access to Hacker News top stories without API keys or OAuth — ideal for AI agents that use x402 micropayment authentication and need current HN front-page data on demand without a subscription.

## Known failure modes

- Payment failure or insufficient USDC balance returns a 402 Payment Required response
- n parameter out of range (less than 1 or greater than 30) may return an error or be clamped
- Upstream Hacker News API unavailability causes fetch failure
- Rate limiting if the payment flow is bypassed or malformed

## How this service works

Paywalled public-data and LLM-insight endpoints for AI agents. Pay per call in USDC via x402 — payment is authentication.

## Output

A JSON object containing a ranked list of the top N Hacker News stories (default 15, up to 30), likely including titles, URLs, scores, authors, and metadata for each story, delivered after a successful x402 USDC micropayment.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "n": {
   "type": "integer",
   "description": "How many top stories to return (1–30, default 15)."
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object"
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/rig20-hn-top-stories-6dd9b588/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from play1.devcheater.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/play1.devcheater.com/llms.txt)