Yc Reader

# yc-reader

Read-only Y Combinator company data skill using the [yc-oss/api](https://github.com/yc-oss/api).

## What it does

Fetches Y Combinator company data for startup and venture research — company profiles, batch listings, industry/tag breakdowns, hiring status, and diversity data. Capabilities include:

- **Company collections** — top companies, all companies, currently hiring, non-profits, diversity data
- **Batch lookup** — companies by YC batch (e.g., Winter 2025, Summer 2024)
- **Industry filter** — companies by industry (fintech, healthcare, B2B, etc.)
- **Tag filter** — companies by tag (AI, developer tools, SaaS, climate, etc.)
- **Metadata** — overall YC stats, valid batch/industry/tag names
- **Client-side search** — find companies by name or description via jq filters

**This is a read-only data source.** The API serves static JSON files — no write operations exist.

## Authentication

None required. The API is public and free — just `curl` the endpoints.

## Triggers

- "YC companies in fintech", "top Y Combinator companies", "latest YC batch"
- "YC startups hiring", "find YC companies tagged AI", "W25 batch"
- "Y Combinator portfolio", "startup research", "which YC companies do X"
- Any mention of Y Combinator or YC in context of startup/venture research

## Platform

Works on **Claude Code** and other CLI-based agents. Does **not** work on Claude.ai — the sandbox restricts network access required for API calls.

## Setup

```bash
# As a plugin (recommended — installs all skills)
npx plugins add himself65/finance-skills --plugin finance-social-readers

# Or install just this skill
npx skills add himself65/finance-skills --skill yc-reader
```

See the [main README](../../../../README.md) for more installation options.

## Prerequisites

- `curl` (pre-installed on macOS and most Linux)
- `jq` (for JSON filtering — `brew install jq` or `apt-get install jq`)

## Reference files

- `references/api_reference.md` — Complete endpoint reference with company schema, all URLs, and research workflow examples


# yc-oss API Reference

Complete reference for the [yc-oss/api](https://github.com/yc-oss/api), an unofficial open-source API indexing all publicly launched Y Combinator companies.

**Base URL:** `https://yc-oss.github.io/api/`

**Authentication:** None required — all endpoints are public.

**Format:** Static JSON files, updated daily via GitHub Actions.

---

## Company Schema

Each company object contains:

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `id` | number | Internal ID |
| `name` | string | Company name |
| `slug` | string | URL-safe identifier |
| `former_names` | string[] | Previous company names |
| `small_logo_thumb_url` | string | Logo thumbnail URL |
| `website` | string | Company website URL |
| `all_locations` | string | Comma-separated locations |
| `long_description` | string | Full company description |
| `one_liner` | string | One-line summary |
| `team_size` | number | Current team size |
| `industry` | string | Primary industry |
| `subindustry` | string | Sub-industry classification |
| `launched_at` | number | Unix timestamp of YC launch |
| `tags` | string[] | Category tags |
| `tags_highlighted` | string[] | Featured tags |
| `top_company` | boolean | Whether it's a top YC company |
| `isHiring` | boolean | Currently hiring |
| `nonprofit` | boolean | Non-profit organization |
| `batch` | string | YC batch (e.g., "Winter 2026", "Summer 2009") |
| `status` | string | Company status ("Active", "Acquired", "Inactive", "Public") |
| `industries` | string[] | All industry classifications |
| `regions` | string[] | Geographic regions |
| `stage` | string | Company stage |
| `url` | string | YC profile URL (ycombinator.com) |
| `api` | string | API endpoint URL for this company |

---

## Endpoints

### Metadata

```bash
curl -s https://yc-oss.github.io/api/meta.json | jq .
```

Returns overall statistics: total company count, list of all batches (with counts), all industries (with count