# Yc Reader

Look up Y Combinator companies and batches from the public yc-oss API, a static JSON...

- Repository: https://github.com/himself65/finance-skills (3487 stars)
- Category: Data and ML
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-10-25
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add himself65/finance-skills --skill yc-reader -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add himself65/finance-skills --skill yc-reader -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add himself65/finance-skills --skill yc-reader -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add himself65/finance-skills --skill yc-reader -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add himself65/finance-skills`

## Description

Look up Y Combinator companies and batches from the public yc-oss API, a static JSON dataset refreshed daily: company profiles, batch rosters (e.g. W25, S24), companies by industry or tag, top companies, who is hiring, founder-diversity lists, and overall YC stats. Use this skill whenever the user asks about YC-backed startups, a YC batch, YC companies in a sector or tag or that are hiring, the Y Combinator portfolio, or startup and venture research that draws on YC data. Read-only.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Y Combinator Reader (Read-Only)

If your host has not already executed the shell probes below (for example, in Codex), run the commands inside the `!` wrappers with its shell tool before choosing a setup path. Use the actual output; if shell access is unavailable, report that limitation.

Fetches Y Combinator company data from the [yc-oss/api](https://github.com/yc-oss/api), an unofficial open-source API that indexes all publicly launched YC companies. The data is sourced from YC's Algolia search index and updated daily via GitHub Actions.

**This is a read-only data source.** It provides company profiles, batch listings, industry/tag breakdowns, hiring status, and diversity data. No write operations exist, the API serves static JSON files.

**No authentication required.** The API is public and free. Just use `curl` to fetch JSON endpoints.

---

## Step 1: Verify Prerequisites

This skill only needs `curl` (to fetch data) and `jq` (to parse/filter JSON). Both are pre-installed on most systems.

```
!`(command -v curl > /dev/null && echo "CURL_OK" || echo "CURL_MISSING") && (command -v jq > /dev/null && echo "JQ_OK" || echo "JQ_MISSING")`
```

If `JQ_MISSING`, install it:

```bash
# macOS
brew install jq

# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt-get install jq
```

If `jq` is unavailable, you can still fetch raw JSON with `curl` and parse it inline with Python or other tools, but `jq` makes filtering much easier.

---

## Step 2: Identify What the User Needs

Match the user's request to the appropriate endpoint. See `references/api_reference.md` for full details.

The rest: https://github.com/himself65/finance-skills/blob/HEAD/plugins/social-readers/skills/yc-reader/SKILL.md