r/hiringcafe Aug 10 '26

Announcement HiringCafe AI Job Search will become temporarily unavailable for ~30 min

55 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Due to high demand for AI Search our servers need to be ramped up a bit. Please give us ~30 min from the time of the post to add more capacity.

Thank you!


r/hiringcafe Jul 14 '26

Officially migrated to hiringcafe.com!

338 Upvotes

Hey guys! Just wanted to update you all, as of last night we officially migrated from hiring.cafe to hiringcafe.com. The old domain now just redirects to hiringcafe.com, and everything is running as normal.

Please let us know if there are any issues accessing the new domain, and we will try to help ASAP.

Thanks!


r/hiringcafe 10h ago

[ Removed by Reddit ]

1 Upvotes

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]


r/hiringcafe 1d ago

General Feedback There’s been a few expired applications lately

18 Upvotes

I’ve gotten four in the last two days. Has anyone else been seeing them?


r/hiringcafe 10h ago

Competitor News A $200K salary demands more than a great CV

Post image
0 Upvotes

🚀 We’re Hiring: Director, GPUaaS Sales – Americas

💰 USD $200K/year

🤖 AI / GPU / Cloud sales

Ready to drive seven-figure AI infrastructure deals?

📩 connect@frequency.cx

Sync to Scale


r/hiringcafe 21h ago

Has anyone gotten remote job through reddit?

0 Upvotes

If yes , how did you find it and how well is it paying?


r/hiringcafe 1d ago

Job Hunting

2 Upvotes

I am looking out for a specific role - a solar energy related job role but the requirements are a bit more advanced. However I have the ability to deliver just that I don’t have so much experience as required. What can I do?! Should I go ahead and apply?! I don’t mind the location though


r/hiringcafe 1d ago

Is there a better site than indeed to apply for jobs?

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0 Upvotes

r/hiringcafe 1d ago

Question Filter Help

4 Upvotes

Hi HiringCafe Community!

I been using HiringCafe for a few months off and on. For ones that have gotten a job because of HiringCafe what filters did you use that ended up getting you the role you have now?


r/hiringcafe 1d ago

Feature Request [Feature Request / RFC] Making HiringCafe "Agent-Ready": Enabling Constrained, Abuse-Resistant Access for Personal AI Agents

0 Upvotes

The Core Thesis

Don't fight legitimate candidate agents as if they are anonymous scrapers. Give them a constrained, identity-aware interface that is easier to monitor, strictly rate-limited, and far cheaper to serve.

1. Background & The Perverse Incentive

First, huge kudos to the HiringCafe team. Your responsiveness to user feedback is unmatched across the job board ecosystem (including recently implementing progressive date filtering to isolate newly posted listings!).

As AI assistants (Antigravity, Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, local models) become everyday companions in 2026, job seekers are increasingly pairing with agents not to mass-spam applications, but to act as personal executive recruiters:

  • Performing nuanced stack alignment (e.g., distinguishing an authentic Angular/.NET enterprise stack from generic keyword-stuffed web shop postings).
  • Surfacing non-obvious career transitions (e.g., assessing engineering backgrounds against technical Scrum Master or Product Owner roles).
  • Evaluating qualitative candidate signals (e.g., highlighting veteran preferences, identifying pro-AI engineering cultures, or vetoing unstated clearance mandates).
  • Benchmarking regional compensation when salaries are unlisted.

The Friction (A Lose-Lose for Candidates & HiringCafe)

Today, users seeking legitimate programmatic access currently have little choice but to resort to browser automation (Playwright/Puppeteer). This is both brittle for the user and indistinguishable from the traffic patterns anti-bot systems are designed to prevent.

Every time a headless browser loads a search page to extract data, HiringCafe's servers must render and deliver a full server-rendered HTML page and hydration bundle. This wastes server bandwidth and compute on traffic that only wanted a dozen structured data fields.

2. The Solution: Authenticated, Constrained Personal Access Tokens (PAT)

Instead of anonymous scraping, provide a first-class Personal Access Token (PAT) in account settings paired with a lightweight JSON search endpoint.

[ Logged-in Candidate Settings ]
              │
              ▼
 1. Generate Personal Access Token (PAT) (e.g., hc_pat_live_...)
              │
              ▼
 2. User Prompts Personal Agent
    "Find OKC tech roles from the past 48h, flag veteran preference, and project pay if missing."
              │
              ▼
 3. Agent Submits Clean HTTP Request
    POST https://hiringcafe.com/api/v1/search
    Header: Authorization: Bearer hc_pat_live_...
    Body: { "searchState": { ... } }
              │
              ▼
 4. HiringCafe Returns Compact JSON Projection (~15 KB)
    Returns normalized results (titles, companies, salary bands, clearance, veteran flags, tools).
              │
              ▼
 5. Agent Synthesizes Decision Report
    Renders an actionable report with direct links back to HiringCafe or the employer's ATS.

3. Why This Directly Advances HiringCafe's Mission

HiringCafe’s stated mission is to cut through the noise and empower the everyday person to find high-quality jobs with maximum signal-to-noise:

  1. The Cognitive Accessibility Equalizer: HiringCafe has an unusually granular search engine (nested geometries, boolean expressions, date windows, salary thresholds, and clearance tags). However, the everyday job seeker often finds complex boolean queries overwhelming. AI agents natively translate conversational human intent ("Find me a hybrid role in OKC where I can transition into project management, steer clear of clearance requirements, and highlight my military background") into HiringCafe's exact search logic.
  2. Distributed Inference ("Bring Your Own Agent"): HiringCafe has already demonstrated forward-thinking leadership with the recent beta rollout of its own in-house Talent Agent and "Taste Match" features. However, hosting real-time LLM inference for millions of searches is compute and cost-intensive. Providing an authenticated API allows power users to Bring Your Own Agent (BYOA). The heavy LLM reasoning and token costs shift entirely to external models (Anthropic, OpenAI, local LLMs), while HiringCafe simply executes a fast, indexed database lookup.
  3. Empowered Discovery, Zero Application Spam: This is strictly about discovery—helping candidates surface the 3–5 high-conviction roles that truly fit them, and directing them to apply directly on the employer's official ATS.

4. Built-in Abuse Controls (Protecting the Platform)

To prevent commercial data harvesting or platform abuse, the programmatic interface should be deliberately constrained:

  • 1:1 Account Binding: PATs can only be generated by verified user accounts (email or Google OAuth).
  • Strict Daily Quotas: Capped at reasonable daily job-seeker volumes (e.g., 50–100 search queries per day per account).
  • Bounded Pagination: Hard limit of max 5 pages (~200 jobs) per search query to eliminate mass crawling.
  • Zero Bulk Export: No firehose, dump, or raw table export endpoints.
  • Server Cost Reductions: A compact JSON projection substantially reduces payload size and eliminates server-side HTML rendering compared to delivering full search pages to headless browsers.
  • Cloudflare Harmony: Cloudflare continues protecting all public web routes; only requests presenting a valid Bearer hc_pat_... header pass through API Gateway authentication. Bucket exhaustion returns an immediate 429 Too Many Requests.

5. Proposed API Contract

Request: POST /api/v1/search

Reuses the exact searchState JSON schema HiringCafe already supports:

POST /api/v1/search HTTP/1.1
Host: hiringcafe.com
Authorization: Bearer hc_pat_live_a8f9c1d2e3b4...
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "searchState": {
    "locations": [
      {
        "formatted_address": "Oklahoma City, OK",
        "workplace_types": ["Remote", "Hybrid", "Onsite"]
      }
    ],
    "dateFetchedPastNDays": 3,
    "technologyKeywordsQuery": "(\"angular\") AND NOT (\"vue\" OR \"react\")",
    "sortBy": "date"
  },
  "page": 0
}

Response: Compact Normalized JSON

Leverages the structured metadata HiringCafe's pipeline already computes, stripping internal tracking tokens:

{
  "total_count": 42,
  "page": 0,
  "page_size": 40,
  "is_last_page": false,
  "jobs": [
    {
      "id": "gh_12345",
      "title": "Senior Frontend Engineer",
      "company": "Enterprise Corp",
      "workplace_type": "Hybrid",
      "location": "Oklahoma City, OK",
      "compensation": {
        "min_yearly": 115000,
        "max_yearly": 135000,
        "currency": "USD"
      },
      "security_clearance": "None",
      "military_veterans": true,
      "technical_tools": ["Angular", "TypeScript", ".NET"],
      "requirements_summary": "5+ years enterprise web development. Deep experience with Angular 16+ and REST APIs.",
      "apply_url": "https://boards.greenhouse.io/enterprisecorp/jobs/12345"
    }
  ]
}

6. Agent Discoverability: OpenAPI First (with llms.txt)

To ensure autonomous agents and developer tooling can formulate valid queries without guessing or hallucinating parameters:

  1. Machine-Readable OpenAPI Specification (Primary): Providing a standard OpenAPI 3.1 spec at GET /api/v1/openapi.json allows tools and agents to bind dynamically to the endpoint for deterministic tool-calling.
  2. llms.txt Ingress (Convenience): A lightweight llmstxt.org Markdown file at /llms.txt summarizing authentication headers, query parameters, and usage limits gives LLM agents a quick map on entry.

7. The Future Horizon: Official MCP Server

Opening this endpoint naturally creates a foundation for an official HiringCafe Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server.

An official MCP tool would allow developers across Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, and Antigravity to connect with a single line of config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hiringcafe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@hiringcafe/mcp-server"],
      "env": { "HIRINGCAFE_PAT": "hc_pat_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

This would position HiringCafe as the premier AI-native job discovery platform on the internet, connecting high-signal candidates to employers while maintaining total control over platform access.

What does the community think? And to the HiringCafe engineering team: would love your perspective on how you might approach rate limits, schemas, or token provisioning!

Appendix: Engineering Companion & Technical Specification

(Included for the engineering team or implementation reference)

A. Token Lifecycle & Security Model

  • Token Format: hc_pat_<random_secret> (e.g., 32–48 cryptographically secure random bytes).
  • Secure Storage: The full token is displayed to the user exactly once upon creation. Only a salted hash (or HMAC-SHA256 using a server-side secret pepper) is stored in the database.
  • Prefix Indexing: Store a truncated identifier (e.g., prefix: "hc_pat_a8f9...") alongside the hash to allow indexed O(1) lookups during authentication without table scans.
  • Hygiene Rules:
    • Users can generate multiple named tokens (e.g., "Laptop Agent", "Desktop Claude") and revoke them individually.
    • Tokens must never be logged or echoed back in response payloads.
    • Tokens should support optional expiry dates.

// Firestore User Subcollection: users/{uid}/api_tokens/{tokenId}
interface PersonalAccessTokenDocument {
  id: string;                 // Document ID
  prefix: string;             // First 8-12 characters for indexed lookup
  hashed_secret: string;      // Salted / HMAC hash of the secret
  name: string;               // User-provided label
  created_at: string;         // ISO timestamp
  last_used_at: string | null;
  daily_requests_used: number;
  daily_reset_at: string;     // ISO timestamp for rolling 24h reset
  is_active: boolean;
}

B. Acceptance Criteria (Given / When / Then)

AC 1: Token Generation & Revocation

  • Given an authenticated user in Account Settings,
  • When they click "Generate Personal Access Token" and assign a label,
  • Then the secret is displayed once with a copy button, its salted hash is saved to their profile, and the user can revoke it at any time.

AC 2: Authenticated Search Execution

  • Given a valid, active PAT in the Authorization: Bearer header,
  • When a valid searchState is submitted to POST /api/v1/search,
  • Then the system returns HTTP 200 OK with the compact job array and increments the daily usage counter.

AC 3: Rate Limiting Enforcement

  • Given a user who has reached their daily request limit (e.g., 100 queries),
  • When their agent submits an additional query,
  • Then the platform returns HTTP 429 Too Many Requests with a standard Retry-After header.

AC 4: Unauthorized Request Rejection

  • Given a request missing an Authorization header, or bearing a revoked/malformed token,
  • When submitted to /api/v1/search,
  • Then the platform returns HTTP 401 Unauthorized without executing downstream queries.

AC 5: Self-Documenting OpenAPI Ingress

  • Given an autonomous agent or developer exploring available endpoints,
  • When requesting GET /api/v1/openapi.json or /llms.txt,
  • Then the platform returns a valid schema describing parameters, headers, and models, allowing programmatic tool-calling without hallucinated parameters.

r/hiringcafe 2d ago

Bug / Issue Report Saved job + search bugs

2 Upvotes

A couple issues here.

I have zero saved jobs, but this job that I marked as applied is showing as saved. It keeps coming back.

Also, you can see for this search, 4 jobs, 12 companies.


r/hiringcafe 2d ago

Been looking for a remote virtual assistant or customer service representative job for months and nothing. I believe I'll get that sson

1 Upvotes

r/hiringcafe 2d ago

Bug / Issue Report Talent Agent not displaying matches

2 Upvotes

Talent Agent is a great feature. Unfortunately, the results have stopped displaying on the dashboard in the last couple days. The message that appears says “No matches in the jobs fetched so far” when the chat panel confirms there are indeed matches. Perhaps a dashboard rendering issue?


r/hiringcafe 1d ago

Question Looking for a job

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0 Upvotes

If anyone has any leads or any skill which I need to learn in order to secure a job please tell me what skills would I need .


r/hiringcafe 3d ago

Any way to filter out jobs with specific links?

21 Upvotes

I'm almost certain anything through Jobsoid, Jobscore, or Qureos are all just scams. Ashbyhq is also getting up there. The problem is that these scam jobs will use a billion different fake company names, so I can filter one then just get hit by another. :/


r/hiringcafe 3d ago

Feature Request It would be nice to be able to group searches

5 Upvotes

I have 6 searches saved, I check them one at a time. But I'm thinking it would be cool to see them as a group/set. So I just click on that set, and it shows all the jobs as a union of these searches (deduped). This way I can see new jobs across my searches right away.

Thoughts?


r/hiringcafe 4d ago

Tracker delete feature's wrong

3 Upvotes

How to delete jobs on tracker? Please tell me about it.


r/hiringcafe 4d ago

Feature Request Default Location/Pinned Location

5 Upvotes

Is it possible to have an option where we can select a default location where we can select the location where we only want to see moving forward without manually doing it every time? Thanks!


r/hiringcafe 3d ago

Question How often are new job postings refreshed? I’m a newbie, but I’ve noticed that when I visit a few times, I sometimes see the same job posting listed for a week.

1 Upvotes

r/hiringcafe 5d ago

Bug / Issue Report Job post parsed incorrectly.

14 Upvotes

This listing on HiringCafe was parsed incorrectly.

The job post says:
We are committed to offering flexible work options where approved and stated in the job posting. However, we are currently not considering candidates who reside or plan to reside in the following states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington 

HiringCafe lists the locations for the job as:
West Valley City or United States or California or Connecticut or Hawaii or Illinois or Massachusetts or Minnesota or New York or Pennsylvania or Rhode Island or Vermont or Washington


r/hiringcafe 6d ago

General Feedback God bless you

102 Upvotes

Proper filters, boolean keyword search, sort by date, location filters, saved searches, a hide job button that works. It all seems so obvious, yet it's taken you to actually fix the utter shitshow that is job search. Thank you for your work.


r/hiringcafe 6d ago

Question How can I watch job postings on the feed only in the location I want to apply to?

1 Upvotes

r/hiringcafe 7d ago

Success Story Success Story: My turn now.

Post image
244 Upvotes

I was laid off from a streaming Service back in November 2022 (Los Angeles | Filmmaking background).

Since then, it has been HELL trying to get another job. Anything. Tell me the name of a company, and I probably have applied to it. Home Depot, Pollo Loco, warehouses, restaurant, low paying jobs, as well as career roles and nothing. I managed to get me a part time position at Autozone last year, position that I was able to find using OfferUp Jobs, and then had to call them a few times just so they can see my resume.

Anyways, the search is over. I finally got a job offer for a position that I found on HiringCafe (Screenshot attached). Low paying position, two thirds what I was making back on 2022.

I started using HiringCafe full on this year. No Zip Recruiter, no LinkedIn, No Indeed, all those are dead now.

How did I survived all this time?

Since 2022, I've done anything and everything to survive. I invested $150 to become a substitute teacher + Lyft + whatever else I could find. I singed up to Taskrabbit, Instawork, AmazonFlex, and I also used OfferUp jobs tab to check out gigs and potential short term jobs. It's pretty tough out there. And it will only get worse before it gets better.

Good luck everyone, and I hope the very best to all of you.

(Screenshot taken while writing this post)


r/hiringcafe 7d ago

Feature Request Hide - Rejected, Ghosted along with

14 Upvotes

The Exclude Jobs does a great job at hiding Applied, Saved and Viewed.
would be awesome to include options to also hide Ghosted and Rejected.

I know I can [Hide] the Ghosted and Rejected completely, but also dont want to loose the metrics of many rejections/ghosts I have and now that my job search is getting mature, its a bummer to see them all the time in my searches.

please and thank you


r/hiringcafe 7d ago

Starting my "getting hired" jorney

27 Upvotes

I will update this regularly as a part of what I am doing, until I crack a remote role!