SkillHub

reddit-insights

v2.2.0

Search and analyze Reddit content using semantic AI search via reddapi.dev HTTP API. Use when you need to: (1) Find user pain points and frustrations for product ideas, (2) Discover niche markets or underserved needs, (3) Research what people really think about products/topics, (4) Find content insp...

Sourced from ClawHub, Authored by dowands

Installation

Please help me install the skill `reddit-insights` from SkillHub official store. npx skills add dowands/reddit-insights

Reddit Insights

Semantic search across millions of Reddit posts. Unlike keyword search, this understands intent and meaning.

Powered by reddapi.dev — AI-powered semantic search and vector similarity across 1000+ subreddits with millions of indexed posts, updated continuously.

Key Advantage: - ✅ Two search modes - Semantic (AI summary) + Vector (fast similarity) - ✅ Full Reddit archive - Access historical and real-time discussions - ✅ AI summaries - Semantic search generates comprehensive summaries - ✅ MCP support - Direct integration with Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.

Setup

Get API Key

  1. Create an account at https://reddapi.dev
  2. Subscribe to a paid plan (Lite $9.90/mo, Starter $49/mo, Pro $99/mo, or Enterprise)
  3. Go to https://reddapi.dev/account to view or generate your API key

Environment Variable

export REDDAPI_API_KEY="your_api_key"

Rate Limits

Plan Monthly API Calls Per Minute
Lite 500 50
Starter 5,000 50
Pro 15,000 100
Enterprise Unlimited 1,000

HTTP API Reference

Base URL: https://reddapi.dev

Authentication: All requests require header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

POST /api/v1/search/semantic

AI-powered semantic search with keyword extraction, vector search, and AI summary generation.

curl -X POST "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/semantic" 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" 
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
  -d '{"query": "What do developers think about Rust vs Go for backend services?", "limit": 20}'
Parameter Type Required Description
query string Yes Natural language question
limit number No Results to return (default: 20, max: 100)

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "query": "What do developers think about Rust vs Go for backend services?",
    "results": [
      {
        "id": "1abc234",
        "title": "Switched our microservices from Go to Rust - here's what happened",
        "content": "After 6 months of running Go in production...",
        "subreddit": "rust",
        "upvotes": 847,
        "comments": 234,
        "created": "2026-02-15T10:30:00.000Z",
        "relevance": 0.92,
        "sentiment": "Discussion",
        "url": "https://reddit.com/r/rust/comments/1abc234"
      }
    ],
    "total": 20,
    "processing_time_ms": 12450,
    "ai_summary": "Developers are divided on Rust vs Go for backend services..."
  }
}

POST /api/v1/search/vector

Fast vector similarity search. No LLM processing, returns results in seconds.

curl -X POST "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/vector" 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" 
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
  -d '{"query": "best productivity apps for ADHD", "limit": 30, "start_date": "2026-01-01", "end_date": "2026-03-18"}'
Parameter Type Required Description
query string Yes Search query
limit number No Results to return (default: 30, max: 30)
start_date string No Start date filter (YYYY-MM-DD)
end_date string No End date filter (YYYY-MM-DD)

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "query": "best productivity apps for ADHD",
    "results": [
      {
        "id": "2def567",
        "title": "Finally found an app that works for my ADHD brain",
        "content": "I've tried everything from Todoist to Notion...",
        "subreddit": "ADHD",
        "upvotes": 1203,
        "comments": 456,
        "created": "2026-03-01T14:22:00.000Z",
        "similarity_score": 0.89,
        "url": "https://reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/2def567"
      }
    ],
    "total": 30,
    "processing_time_ms": 3200
  }
}

GET /api/v1/subreddits

List available subreddits with metadata, sorted by subscribers.

curl "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/subreddits?search=programming&limit=10" 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Parameter Type Required Description
search string No Filter by name/title/description
page number No Page number (default: 1)
limit number No Results per page (default: 50, max: 100)
sort string No Sort by "subscribers" or "created" (default: subscribers)
order string No "asc" or "desc" (default: desc)

GET /api/v1/subreddits/{name}

Get detailed information about a specific subreddit with recent posts.

curl "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/subreddits/webdev" 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Parameter Type Required Description
name string Yes Subreddit name without r/ prefix

POST /api/v1/trends

Get trending topics from Reddit based on post engagement.

curl -X POST "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/trends" 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" 
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
  -d '{"start_date": "2026-03-11", "end_date": "2026-03-18", "limit": 20}'
Parameter Type Required Description
start_date string No Start date (default: today)
end_date string No End date (default: today)
limit number No Topics to return (default: 20, max: 100)

MCP Server

reddapi.dev also provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for direct integration with AI clients.

Endpoint: https://reddapi.dev/api/mcp Protocol: MCP Streamable HTTP Transport

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-search-api": {
      "transport": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "https://reddapi.dev/api/mcp",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP tools: reddit_semantic_search, reddit_vector_search, reddit_list_subreddits, reddit_get_subreddit, reddit_get_trends

Use Case Recommended Why
Exploratory research Semantic LLM extracts keywords, generates summary
Known-topic monitoring Vector Faster, direct matching, no LLM overhead
Batch processing Vector 5x faster per request
Answering complex questions Semantic AI summary synthesizes insights
Real-time dashboards Vector Low latency (~5s vs ~20s)

Best Use Cases (Tested)

Use Case Effectiveness Why
Product comparisons (A vs B) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reddit loves debates
Tool/app recommendations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ High-intent discussions
Side hustle/money topics ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Engaged communities
Pain point discovery ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Emotional posts rank well
Health questions ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Active health subreddits
Technical how-to ⭐⭐⭐ Better to search specific subreddits
Abstract market research ⭐⭐ Too vague for semantic search
Non-English queries ⭐ Reddit is English-dominant

Query Strategies

✅ Excellent Queries (relevance 0.70+)

Product Comparisons (best results!):

"Notion vs Obsidian for note taking which one should I use"
→ Relevance: 0.72-0.81 | Found: Detailed comparison discussions, user experiences

"why I switched from Salesforce to HubSpot honest experience"  
→ Relevance: 0.70-0.73 | Found: Migration stories, feature comparisons

Side Hustle/Money Topics:

"side hustle ideas that actually make money not scams"
→ Relevance: 0.70-0.77 | Found: Real experiences, specific suggestions

✅ Good Queries (relevance 0.60-0.69)

Pain Point Discovery:

"I hate my current CRM it is so frustrating"
→ Relevance: 0.60-0.64 | Found: Specific CRM complaints, feature wishlists

Tool Evaluation:

"AI tools that actually save time not just hype"
→ Relevance: 0.64-0.65 | Found: Real productivity gains, tool recommendations

❌ Weak Queries (avoid these patterns)

Too Abstract: "business opportunity growth potential" → 0.52-0.58 Non-English: "学习编程最好的方法" → 0.45-0.51

Query Formula Cheat Sheet

Goal Pattern Relevance
Compare products "[A] vs [B] which should I use" 0.70-0.81
Find switchers "why I switched from [A] to [B]" 0.70-0.73
Money/hustle topics "[topic] that actually [works/makes money] not [scam/hype]" 0.70-0.77
App recommendations "[category] apps which one is [accurate/best] and why" 0.67-0.72
Pain points "I hate my current [tool] it is so [frustrating/slow]" 0.60-0.64
Solutions seeking "[problem] tried everything what actually works" 0.60-0.63

Example Workflows

Market Research:

curl -X POST https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/semantic 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" 
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
  -d '{"query": "frustrated with project management tools switching from Jira", "limit": 50}'

Brand Monitoring (fast):

curl -X POST https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/vector 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" 
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
  -d '{"query": "your-brand-name reviews complaints", "limit": 30}'

Deep Research (combine both): 1. Vector search first to quickly scope the landscape 2. Semantic search for deep analysis on specific angles

Time-Filtered Sentiment Tracking:

curl -X POST https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/vector 
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" 
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
  -d '{"query": "ChatGPT quality", "start_date": "2026-01-01", "end_date": "2026-03-18"}'

Tips

  1. Natural language works best - Ask questions like a human would
  2. Include context - "for small business" or "as a developer" improves results
  3. Combine emotion words - "frustrated", "love", "hate", "wish" find stronger opinions
  4. Filter by engagement - High upvotes/comments = validated pain points
  5. Use vector search for speed - ~5s vs ~20s for semantic
  6. Use date filters - Track sentiment changes over time periods

Error Handling

All endpoints return consistent error responses:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Error description",
  "message": {
    "title": "Human-readable title",
    "message": "Detailed explanation",
    "cta": "Suggested action",
    "ctaLink": "/pricing"
  }
}

Common status codes: 400 (invalid params), 401 (bad API key), 403 (plan limit), 429 (rate limit), 500 (server error)