Reddit Search Comments API
Returns comments matching a phrase from Reddit's comment index, each with its parent post inline: ext.post_title, ext.subreddit, ext.post_score and ext.post_url.
GET /v1/reddit/search/commentsLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Reddit Search Comments API
Use it when the phrase lives in a reply rather than a title, and for author:username or subreddit:name sweeps. parent_id is null: the upstream does not report thread position.
From the API reference
Searches Reddit's COMMENT index directly, so a phrase that only ever appears three levels deep inside someone's reply is reachable in one call. Every other comment surface on this API needs a post you have already found; this one does not. Each hit arrives with its parent post inline, because a bare comment body off a search index is unreadable without it: ext.post_title, ext.subreddit, ext.subreddit_subscribers, ext.post_score, ext.post_comment_count, ext.post_author, ext.post_published_at, ext.post_flair, ext.post_url and ext.content_language. Reddit's search operators work in query, which is where most of the power is: author:username returns that account's indexed comments, subreddit:name terms scopes the sweep to one community, and quoted phrases tighten a loose match. comment.parent_id is null on this lane and that is honest rather than missing — the upstream does not say whether a hit is a top-level comment or a deep reply, and this API does not guess. Up to 25 hits per page; paginate with cursor. A query that matches nothing returns an empty items list and costs nothing. When the main source is unavailable, the first page is answered by a backup that reads the same comment index with the same fields, parent-post block included, and carries no next cursor. If that backup fails too, a third source answers with the same hits in the same order, up to 10 on a page, and its pages carry a next cursor that pages on that same source; on those pages ext.subreddit_subscribers, ext.post_author, ext.post_flair, ext.content_language and author.display_name are null, and the rest of the parent-post block is filled. If that fails as well, a fourth source answers the first page with the same hits but without the parent-post block, so ext.post_title, ext.post_url, ext.subreddit_subscribers, ext.post_score, ext.post_comment_count, ext.post_author, ext.post_published_at, ext.post_flair, ext.content_language and author.avatar_url are null on that page; ext.subreddit is still filled. A later page has no second source: it is answered by the source that served the page before it, and returns an error to retry when that source is unavailable.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Search Comments API?
The Search Comments endpoint gives you structured Reddit data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/reddit/search/comments: 1 credit per page. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 55: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
# Next page: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until pagination.has_more is false.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 55 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/reddit/search/comments?query=best+project+management+software" && cat response.json# GET /v1/reddit/search/comments: 1 credit per page. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 55 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/reddit/search/comments"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"query": "best project management software",
}
# Walk the list: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until has_more is false.
MAX_PAGES = 10 # each page is one call
items = []
for _ in range(MAX_PAGES):
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is None:
break
items.extend(body["data"]["items"])
page = body.get("pagination") or {}
if not page.get("has_more") or not page.get("next_cursor"):
break
params["cursor"] = page["next_cursor"]
print(f"{len(items)} items")// GET /v1/reddit/search/comments: 1 credit per page. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 55_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/reddit/search/comments");
url.searchParams.set("query", "best project management software");
// Walk the list: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until has_more is false.
const MAX_PAGES = 10; // each page is one call
const items: unknown[] = [];
for (let page = 0; page < MAX_PAGES; page++) {
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (!body) break;
items.push(...body.data.items);
const next = body.pagination?.next_cursor;
if (!body.pagination?.has_more || !next) break;
url.searchParams.set("cursor", next);
}
console.log(`${items.length} items`);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| query | Yes | Search phrase. Reddit's operators work here: `author:username` for one account's comments, `subreddit:name terms` to scope to a community, and quotes for an exact phrase. |
| sort | No | Sort order for the comment hits. (relevance | top | new) |
| cursor | No | Cursor to get more results. Get 'cursor' from the previous response. |
| switch_from | No | Optional brand. data.switch_receipts lists comments where the author says they personally left that brand, with the verbatim text, the reason, where they went, and a link. There is no percentage. A comment that is not a switch, or that is not confident, is left out. No extra credits. |
| since | No | Only rows published on or after this date: YYYY-MM-DD (midnight UTC) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Rows older than it are left off the page, and the page that reaches one ends the walk: `next_cursor` is not returned and `pagination.stopped_at` is `since`. Sending it sets the newest-first sort shown in this endpoint's sort parameter (any other sort value is a free 400). The page still costs what a page costs, so you pay for the pages you walk and no more. A row with no date is kept. `published_after`, `start_date`, `from_date`, `publish_time` (`yesterday`, `this-week`, `this-month`, `last-3-months`, `last-6-months`) and `max_age_days` are accepted and applied as `since`. |
| until | No | Only rows published on or before this date: YYYY-MM-DD (that whole UTC day is included) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Newer rows are left off each page and the walk does not stop, so older pages follow. A row with no date is kept. `published_before`, `end_date` and `to_date` are accepted and applied as `until`. |
| max_pages | No | 1 to 50 (default 1, or 50 when `max_items` or `max_credits` is sent). Walk up to this many pages in one call and return the rows from all of them. Each page walked is billed exactly as one call to this endpoint (a cached page is free) and counts against your rate limit; its charge and any refund are recorded under the page's own request id, listed in `data.walk.request_ids`. The walk stops early at the last page, or when the request's time budget runs low; `data.walk.stopped` says why (`end`, `max_pages`, `max_items`, `max_credits`, `time_budget`, `page_error`) and `pagination.next_cursor` continues from where it stopped. |
| max_items | No | 1 to 5000. Get more in one call: keep walking pages until the response holds at least this many rows, then stop with `data.walk.stopped: "max_items"`. The last page is returned whole (it was billed), so `data.items` can hold up to one page more than this, and `pagination.next_cursor` resumes right after it without skipping a row. Walks up to 50 pages unless `max_pages` says fewer; each page is billed as one call (a cached page is free). Add `max_credits` to cap the spend. A long walk can stop on the time budget first (`"time_budget"`): send the returned cursor with the same params to continue. |
| max_credits | No | 1 to 100000. The most this call may spend, across every page it walks. A page starts only while the credits already spent plus that page's price (or, when higher, the most any page of this walk has cost) still fit, so the call never goes past it; the walk then stops with `data.walk.stopped: "max_credits"` and the cursor to resume. Sent alone, it walks as far as the budget goes (up to 50 pages). A value below the price of one page is a free 400 whose `error.details.page_credits` names that price. Credits a row join (`include=`) adds are known only once a page has run, so page 1 is checked against its own price. |
What does the Reddit Search Comments API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "reddit",
"endpoint": "/v1/reddit/search/comments",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"comment": {
"id": "p8jlxam",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/1wangyc/comment/p8jlxam/",
"parent_id": null,
"post_id": "1wangyc",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted).",
"author": {
"username": "user_95c8d1",
"display_name": "user_d4d61e",
"avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_36cbc5.png",
"verified": null
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 174,
"replies": null
},
"flags": {
"pinned": null,
"deleted": false
},
"published_at": "2026-09-08T13:37:34.616Z",
"ext": {
"published_at_epoch": 1788874654,
"post_title": "theLastOReillyJustDropped",
"post_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/t3_1wangyc/",
"subreddit": "ProgrammerHumor",
"subreddit_subscribers": 4765922,
"post_score": 13632,
"post_comment_count": 284,
"post_author": "user_dfee63",
"post_published_at": "2026-09-08T12:47:34.490000+0000",
"post_flair": "Other",
"content_language": "und"
}
},
"computed": {
"language": "en"
}
},
{
"comment": {
"id": "p7ojstd",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1w6km5i/comment/p7ojstd/",
"parent_id": null,
"post_id": "1w6km5i",
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted).",
"author": {
"username": "user_bf049a",
"display_name": "user_89ab7f",
"avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_1df840.png",
"verified": null
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 96,
"replies": null
},
"flags": {
"pinned": null,
"deleted": false
},
"published_at": "2026-09-03T23:55:35.758Z",
"ext": {
"published_at_epoch": 1788479735,
"post_title": "Volkswagen board approves turnaround plan, flags 50,000 possible job cuts across group",
"post_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/t3_1w6km5i/",
"subreddit": "europe",
"subreddit_subscribers": 11667913,
"post_score": 911,
"post_comment_count": 271,
"post_author": "user_15cd0b",
"post_published_at": "2026-09-03T21:22:22.400000+0000",
"post_flair": "News",
"content_language": "en"
}
},
"computed": {
"language": "en"
}
}
],
"next_cursor": "sc2.eyJzIjoicCIsImMiOiJNalE9In0",
"total": null,
"comment_recency": {
"policy_version": "d09-1",
"n": 24,
"counted": 24,
"abstained": 0,
"share_last_24h": 0,
"share_later_half": 0.2917,
"too_few": false,
"stage": "slowing",
"order": "default",
"recent_share_is_floor": true,
"receipts": []
},
"dropped": 0
},
"credits_used": 1,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": false,
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": "sc.eyJ2IjoyLCJjIjoic2MyLmV5SnpJam9pY0NJc0ltTWlPaUpOYWxFOUluMCIsImUiOiJyZWRkaXQvc2VhcmNoL2NvbW1lbnRzIiwicCI6ImN1cnNvciJ9",
"has_more": true,
"page_size": 24
},
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"source": "captured",
"captured_at": "2026-10-02T15:39:28.516Z",
"redacted": true
}Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.
How does the Reddit Search Comments API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
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Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
See your data before you code
Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usHow do I search Reddit comments rather than posts?
Do Reddit search operators work in the query?
Do I get the post each comment belongs to?
Is this a Pushshift replacement?
How much does the Reddit Comments Search API cost?
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