Reddit Subreddit Search API
Returns posts matching a query inside one subreddit, each with title, score, comment count, and permalink. This upstream sends no post body, so ext.selftext is null without include_body.
GET /v1/reddit/subreddit/searchLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Reddit Subreddit Search API
Use it to search one community. Bodies cost extra here, so prefer search with query=subreddit:name plus your terms: bodies for one credit, though it returns a different set of rows.
From the API reference
Searches for posts within a specific subreddit. Returns matching posts with titles, scores, comment counts, permalinks and, where the row carries them, the post body at ext.selftext, the author's avatar, structured media, the upvote ratio, the flair and Reddit's own content language. One result page is assembled from more than one index: the first rows are the community's own relevance ranking, unchanged and in its original order, and further rows are appended from Reddit's search index scoped to the same community. A page holds up to 25 posts and the exact count varies between calls, so read the length of items rather than assuming a number — pages of about 7 are what you get when only the first index answers. Because the page spans two indexes, three leaves are reported for only part of it and are null on the rest: post.flags.spoiler, post.engagement.shares and post.engagement.saves. A null there means the index that returned that row does not report the field, never that the value is false or zero, so do not aggregate over them. Omitting query returns the community listing from the first index alone, because Reddit's scoped search needs terms to match. include_body=true is still accepted and rarely needed now that bodies arrive on the rows themselves: it costs 1 extra credit per post that actually comes back with a body, up to 25 per page, and refunds every credit it does not spend. Ranking is a voice-of-customer sweep rather than precision retrieval, so expect some off-topic matches on short queries, and use quoted phrases to tighten them.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Subreddit Search API?
The Subreddit Search 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/subreddit/search: Metered: holds 1 credit per page up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 13: 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 13 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/reddit/subreddit/search?subreddit=technology" && cat response.json# GET /v1/reddit/subreddit/search: Metered: holds 1 credit per page up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 = 13 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/reddit/subreddit/search"
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 = {
"subreddit": "technology",
}
# 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/subreddit/search: Metered: holds 1 credit per page up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 = 13_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 ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/reddit/subreddit/search");
url.searchParams.set("subreddit", "technology");
// Walk the list: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until has_more is false.
const MAX_PAGES = 10; // each page is one call
const items: unknown[] = [];
for (let page = 0; page < MAX_PAGES; page++) {
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (!body) break;
items.push(...body.data.items);
const next = body.pagination?.next_cursor;
if (!body.pagination?.has_more || !next) break;
url.searchParams.set("cursor", next);
}
console.log(`${items.length} items`);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| subreddit | Yes | Subreddit name (e.g. 'Fitness', not 'r/Fitness' or a full URL) |
| query | No | Search query to find matching content |
| sort | No | Sort order. For posts/media: relevance, hot, top, new, comments. For comments: relevance, top, new (relevance | hot | top | new | comments) |
| timeframe | No | Only return posts from this window. Applied on sort=relevance, sort=top and sort=comments. It has no effect with sort=new, which is already ordered newest-first and returns recent posts regardless. (all | year | month | week | day | hour) |
| cursor | No | Cursor to get more results. Get 'cursor' from previous response. |
| include_body | No | Set to true to include each post's body (selftext) on the search page. 1 extra credit per post that comes back with a body, unused credits refunded. Link posts have no body, so they are looked up and not charged for. |
| 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 each page. This list is not in date order, so the walk does not stop at the date: keep following `next_cursor`, and each page costs what a page costs even when every row on it is filtered out. 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 Subreddit Search 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/subreddit/search",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"post": {
"id": "1g42vo0",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1g42vo0/invisible_text_that_ai_chatbots_understand_and/",
"content": {
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted).",
"media_urls": null,
"thumbnail_url": null,
"duration_seconds": null
},
"author": {
"username": null,
"display_name": null,
"avatar_url": null,
"verified": null
},
"engagement": {
"views": null,
"likes": 123,
"comments": 12,
"shares": null,
"saves": null
},
"flags": {
"nsfw": false,
"spoiler": false,
"pinned": null,
"deleted": false
},
"published_at": "2024-10-15T08:23:22.000Z",
"ext": {
"subreddit": "technology",
"title": "Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted). Sample comment text (redacted).",
"selftext": null,
"upvote_ratio": null,
"flair": null,
"content_language": null,
"published_at_epoch": 1728980602
}
},
"computed": {
"engagement_rate": null,
"language": "en",
"content_category": "other",
"estimated_reach": null
}
},
{
"post": {
"id": "1phuhlh",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1phuhlh/what_happens_when_an_infinitemoney_machine/",
"content": {
"text": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"media_urls": null,
"thumbnail_url": null,
"duration_seconds": null
},
"author": {
"username": "user_2391e3",
"display_name": "user_b7fc5f",
"avatar_url": null,
"verified": null
},
"engagement": {
"views": null,
"likes": 66,
"comments": 15,
"shares": null,
"saves": null
},
"flags": {
"nsfw": false,
"spoiler": false,
"pinned": null,
"deleted": false
},
"published_at": "2025-12-09T01:22:41.000Z",
"ext": {
"subreddit": "technology",
"title": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
"selftext": null,
"upvote_ratio": null,
"flair": null,
"content_language": null,
"published_at_epoch": 1765243361
}
},
"computed": {
"engagement_rate": null,
"language": "de",
"content_category": "other",
"estimated_reach": null
}
}
],
"next_cursor": "sc2.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",
"total": null,
"dropped": 0,
"_warnings": [
"This upstream surface returns titles without post bodies, so ext.selftext is null on every row here. /v1/reddit/search?query=subreddit:technology <your search terms> returns subreddit-scoped results WITH bodies for the same 1 credit, but it reads a different index: expect a different set of posts rather than this page with bodies added (measured, the two surfaces shared 10 of 42 rows across six subjects). The operator needs search terms beside it; on its own it errors. Use include_body=true on this endpoint only if you need this endpoint's sort and cursor: it costs 1 extra credit per hydrated post."
]
},
"credits_used": 1,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": false,
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": "sc.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",
"has_more": true,
"page_size": 7
},
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"source": "captured",
"captured_at": "2026-10-02T07:33:09.800Z",
"redacted": true
}Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.
How does the Reddit Subreddit Search 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
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
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 within a specific subreddit?
How is this different from the Reddit Search API?
What sort and timeframe options are supported?
How do I paginate subreddit search results?
How much does the Subreddit Search API cost?
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