Utility Call Planner API
Returns the calls for a job you describe in plain words, in order: each path, the parameters your words filled, the ones still missing, its price, and a curl with unknown values left as placeholders.
GET /v1/utility/planLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Utility Call Planner API
Use it before writing an integration, when you know the job but not the endpoints. It plans and never runs anything. Free to call.
From the API reference
Turn a job written in plain words ("track mentions of Acme on TikTok and Reddit", "a creator's profile, posts and comments") into the exact calls to make, in order: method, path, the parameters your question filled, the ones still missing, which step's rows fill a later step, the credit price of each call, and a curl for each with every unknown value left as a {placeholder}. Jobs are planned from the task-recipe catalog (GET /v1/utility/recipes: comment exports, creator vetting, review comparisons, monitors, crawls and more) plus brand monitoring, one creator, a topic search, a saved search on a monitor, and one GET /v1/prism/discover run for a brand's reaction, the accounts behind a topic, trends, communities, or names to their own accounts; a one-call question returns that one call, and a job that combines several sources no recipe covers is planned as a chain (one call per source, a monitor per call when it repeats). A request to act on an account (post, reply, like, follow, delete) or about billing returns no steps. Every plan carries total: the whole job's credits (paging and per-row fan-out included, for the recipe's stated size) from the same pricing the API bills with. A question outside those returns uncertain with no steps instead of a guessed chain, and anything the API cannot return (a follower history, a new-post webhook) is listed under cannot. A search value that names no topic (a placeholder such as "keyword", a country name, an English phrase for a Korean or Chinese platform, or most of the sentence) is left out and asked for under missing, with a note saying why. A job that lists several topics plans each search step once per topic and names them under topics; one that names several markets is uncertain and lists them as ISO codes under markets. Beta: recipe matches are reliable; confirm a single-endpoint or multi-source plan with utility/find. Nothing is run. Free to call.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Call Planner API?
The Call Planner endpoint gives you structured Utility data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/utility/plan: Free: 0 credits per call.
# --max-time 10: 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.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 10 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/utility/plan?query=Combine+%40acme%27s+TikTok+profile+with+their+recent+videos+and+the+comments+on+them" && cat response.json# GET /v1/utility/plan: Free: 0 credits per call.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 10 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/utility/plan"
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": "Combine @acme's TikTok profile with their recent videos and the comments on them",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// GET /v1/utility/plan: Free: 0 credits per call.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 10_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/utility/plan");
url.searchParams.set("query", "Combine @acme's TikTok profile with their recent videos and the comments on them");
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| query | No | The job in plain words, in any language. Up to 600 characters are read. Provide this or task |
| task | No | Alias for query (utility/find's name). Provide this or query |
What does the Utility Call Planner API return?
This synthetic fixture shows the documented response shape and fields. Values are illustrative; this is not a live API response.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "utility",
"endpoint": "/v1/utility/plan",
"data": {
"kind": "call_plan",
"version": 3,
"recipe": "creator_profile",
"uncertain": false,
"reason": "planned",
"confidence": 0.91,
"steps": [
{
"id": "tiktok_profile",
"method": "GET",
"path": "/v1/tiktok/profile",
"params": {
"handle": "acme"
},
"missing": [],
"credits": 1,
"run": "ready",
"curl": "curl -H \"x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY\" \\\n \"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile?handle=acme\""
},
{
"id": "tiktok_posts",
"method": "GET",
"path": "/v1/tiktok/profile/videos",
"params": {
"handle": "acme"
},
"missing": [],
"depends_on": "tiktok_profile",
"credits": 1,
"run": "after_approval",
"curl": "curl -H \"x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY\" \\\n \"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile/videos?handle=acme\""
},
{
"id": "tiktok_comments",
"method": "GET",
"path": "/v1/tiktok/post/comments",
"params": {},
"missing": [
"url"
],
"binds": {
"url": "tiktok_posts.items[].post.url"
},
"depends_on": "tiktok_posts",
"credits": 1,
"run": "blocked",
"curl": "curl -H \"x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY\" \\\n \"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/post/comments?url={url}\""
}
],
"ask": [],
"cannot": [],
"cannot_ids": [],
"alternatives": [],
"cheaper": "single_endpoint",
"deeper": null,
"catalog_recipe": "creator-profile-posts-comments",
"size": {
"description": "profile, one page of videos, first comment page on five videos",
"items": 5
},
"total": {
"calls": 7,
"hold": 7,
"expected_min": 7,
"expected_max": 7,
"exact": true,
"priced_with_examples": [
"url"
]
}
},
"credits_used": 0,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": false
}Synthetic fixture for the documented response shape. Values are illustrative, not a production capture.
How does the Utility Call Planner 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
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