For developers drowning in information overload, a new open-source tool offers a radical solution: hacker5news delivers only the top 5 stories from Hacker News. Built with Rust's performance and safety guarantees and the Axum web framework, this minimalist application addresses a growing pain point—curation fatigue—by forcing ruthless prioritization in technical news consumption.

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The Philosophy of Constrained Curation

Hacker News is a critical resource for tech professionals, but its firehose of content can induce anxiety and wasted time. Developer Mateo Lafalce created hacker5news to combat this, intentionally limiting output to the five highest-ranked articles.

"This constraint isn't arbitrary—it mirrors how many of us actually consume news," explains Lafalce. "We skim headlines, click maybe five interesting ones, and ignore the rest. hacker5news automates that triage."

Technical Architecture: Lean and Fast

The stack reveals intentional choices:
- Rust: Ensures memory safety and blazing performance for API requests
- Axum: A lightweight async web framework ideal for simple services
- Zero JavaScript: Renders server-side HTML for instant loading

The entire application is ~500 lines of code, emphasizing maintainability. Installation is streamlined via Cargo:

git clone https://github.com/mateolafalce/hacker5news.git
cd hacker5news
cargo install --path .
hacker5news # Automatically opens in browser
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The minimalist interface displays only essential information: titles, points, and direct links.

Why This Matters for Developers

Beyond convenience, hacker5news reflects broader trends:
1. Anti-Overload Tools: Rising demand for apps enforcing digital boundaries
2. Rust for Web Services: Showcases Rust's viability beyond systems programming
3. Purposeful Constraints: How limiting options can improve decision-making

As one early user noted: "It removes the guilt of missing out. If it's truly important, it'll be in the top five tomorrow."

Available under the MIT License, hacker5news exemplifies how focused technical solutions can reclaim cognitive bandwidth—proving that sometimes, less infrastructure delivers more value.

Source: hacker5news GitHub Repository