Tell HN: HN was down

Outage behavior and scope

• Many users worldwide saw errors like “having trouble serving your request.”
• Strong pattern: authenticated sessions broke while logged-out/cached pages often loaded.
• Front page sometimes worked (served from CDN/cache), but comment pages, login, and user profiles frequently failed.
• Some users found that clearing cookies, using private windows, or switching devices/browsers temporarily worked.
• CLI tools and API access appeared to function for some, reinforcing that the HTML frontend/backend path was the main issue.

Root cause and operations

• A moderator later explained a working theory: crawler/traffic overload after recently relaxing anti-crawler protections to avoid blocking legitimate users.
• This overload combined with a secondary failure: PagerDuty triggered at ~5:24am, a quick manual check appeared fine, and the alert was incorrectly marked resolved while the real issue persisted.
• Anti-crawler systems had previously produced false positives, especially for VPN users or privacy-hardened browsers, leading to “Sorry” or blocked pages and even mistaken assumptions of IP bans.

Status pages and monitoring

• Several third-party “HN status” and outage monitors failed to detect the incident because they only checked cached, unauthenticated pages.
• One such status page has since been updated to also test authenticated requests.
• Users suggested an official status page on a separate domain and joked about “downdetectors for downdetectors.”
• Some relied on user-report-based services, which correctly reflected the outage.

User reactions, habits, and “addiction”

• Many reported reflexively opening HN (e.g., Ctrl/⌘+T, n, Enter) and repeatedly refreshing during the outage.
• People described disrupted morning routines, irrational annoyance, or joking relief at being “forced to be productive” or “touch grass.”
• There was extended discussion on habit vs. addiction, and how easy it is to fall into mindless refresh loops.

Self-control tools

• Users highlighted HN’s built-in “noprocrast” profile setting to limit session length and frequency.
• Others use browser extensions (e.g., timers, LeechBlock), hosts file blocks, router-level blocks, or small friction (5-second delays) to interrupt reflexive visits.
• Some questioned why such tools are needed vs. “just stop,” with others explaining habitual behavior and the value of external nudges.

Perceptions of HN community

• Some framed HN as uniquely smart and high-quality; others strongly disagreed, calling it average, with notable blind spots, especially on social/political topics.
• Meta-point: nearly every moderated online community tends to see itself as “the smartest/best”; HN is seen by many here as good but not exceptional.