| 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:
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh subreddit ClaudeCode --sort top --time week --limit 5
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh subreddit LocalLLaMA --sort new --limit 10
${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:
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh post "https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/abc123/some_title/"
${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:
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/reddit-fetch.sh search "MCP server setup" --subreddit ClaudeCode --limit 5
${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
