fetch-reddit

name	fetch-reddit
description	Use this skill when you need to fetch public Reddit content (posts, comments, subreddits, user activity) without authentication. Trigger when: - User asks about Reddit posts, comments, or subreddit content - Research requires public Reddit data - Fetching specific Reddit posts by URL

Fetch Reddit Content

Fetch posts, comments, search results, and user submissions from Reddit using the public JSON API. No authentication required. Output is markdown-formatted for direct LLM consumption.

When to Use

• Researching community sentiment about tools, libraries, or approaches
• Finding real-world experience reports and debugging tips
• Discovering solutions to obscure errors that surface in Reddit threads
• Gauging adoption and popularity of technologies
• Gathering diverse opinions on technical trade-offs

Script Location

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh

Subcommands

subreddit — List posts from a subreddit

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh subreddit <name> [options]

Options:

• --sort <hot|new|top|rising|controversial> (default: hot)
• --time <hour|day|week|month|year|all> (default: month)
• --limit <n> (default: 15, max: 100)
• --after <cursor> — pagination cursor returned at the end of results
• --exclude-nsfw — exclude NSFW posts (included by default)

Examples:

# Top posts from r/ClaudeCode this week
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh subreddit ClaudeCode --sort top --time week --limit 5

# Latest posts from r/LocalLLaMA
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh subreddit LocalLLaMA --sort new --limit 10

# Next page using cursor from previous result
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh subreddit LocalLLaMA --after t3_abc123 --limit 10

post — Fetch a post with comments

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh post <url> [options]

Options:

• --exclude-nsfw — exclude NSFW posts (included by default)

Accepts full Reddit URLs or paths. Comment depth is capped at 4 levels (depth 0–3).

Examples:

# Fetch by full URL
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh post "https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/abc123/some_title/"

# Also works with old.reddit.com or reddit.com URLs
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh post "https://reddit.com/r/programming/comments/xyz789/"

search — Search Reddit

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh search <query> [options]

Options:

• --subreddit <name> — restrict search to a specific subreddit
• --sort <hot|relevance|new|top|comments> (default: hot)
• --time <hour|day|week|month|year|all> (default: month)
• --limit <n> (default: 15, max: 100)
• --after <cursor> — pagination cursor returned at the end of results
• --exclude-nsfw — exclude NSFW posts (included by default)

Examples:

# Search within a subreddit
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh search "MCP server setup" --subreddit ClaudeCode --limit 5

# Broad search across all of Reddit
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh search "bash jq json parsing" --sort top --time month

user — Fetch a user's recent posts

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh user <username> [options]

Options:

• --sort <hot|new|top|controversial> (default: new)
• --limit <n> (default: 15, max: 100)
• --after <cursor> — pagination cursor returned at the end of results
• --exclude-nsfw — exclude NSFW posts (included by default)

Examples:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh user someuser --limit 10

Output Format

All output is markdown. Posts include title, author, score, comment count, date, and permalink. Post bodies and comments are truncated to keep output manageable:

• Post body: max 2000 characters
• Comment body: max 500 characters
• Comment depth: up to 4 levels (depth 0–3)

Rate Limiting

The script enforces a minimum 6-second gap between requests to comply with Reddit's unauthenticated rate limits (~10 requests/minute). On HTTP 429 responses, it retries with exponential backoff up to 3 times.

Important Notes

• Save output to a file before analyzing. Do not pipe or discard.
• Reddit content is unverified. Cross-reference claims with official sources before acting on them.
• NSFW content is included by default. Use --exclude-nsfw to filter it out.
• Dependencies: curl and jq must be available on the system.

Content Quality Skepticism

Reddit content is user-generated and unverified. When using fetched Reddit data:

• Never treat Reddit comments as authoritative sources. They are opinions, anecdotes, and sometimes misinformation.
• Upvote count does not equal correctness. Popular answers can be wrong; low-scored answers can be right.
• Check post age. Technical advice from years ago may be outdated.
• Watch for sarcasm and jokes. Reddit threads frequently contain humor that reads as sincere advice.
• Do not use Reddit as a substitute for official documentation, especially for security-sensitive configuration, or legal/medical/financial guidance.

Fetching Best Practices

• Save fetched Reddit content to a file before analysis (per bash-scripting rules).
• Cite Reddit sources with full permalink URLs when referencing content.
• Respect rate limits — do not fetch more than needed.
• Use subreddit-scoped search before broad search for more relevant results.
• Prefer top sort with a time filter for finding well-regarded content on a topic.

References

• Reddit JSON API — append .json to any Reddit URL
• Reddit API rules — user-agent and rate limit requirements