reddit-readonly

name	reddit-readonly
description	Browse and search Reddit in read-only mode using public JSON endpoints. Use when the user asks to browse subreddits, search for posts by topic, inspect comment threads, or build a shortlist of links to review and reply to manually.
metadata	{"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🔎","requires":{"bins":["node"]}}}

Reddit Readonly

Read-only Reddit browsing for Clawdbot.

What this skill is for

• Finding posts in one or more subreddits (hot/new/top/controversial/rising)
• Searching for posts by query (within a subreddit or across all)
• Pulling a comment thread for context
• Producing a shortlist of permalinks so the user can open Reddit and reply manually

Hard rules

• Read-only only. This skill never posts, replies, votes, or moderates.
• Be polite with requests:
  • Prefer small limits (5–10) first.
  • Expand only if needed.
• When returning results to the user, always include permalinks.

Output format

All commands print JSON to stdout.

• Success: { "ok": true, "data": ... }
• Failure: { "ok": false, "error": { "message": "...", "details": "..." } }

Commands

1) List posts in a subreddit

node {baseDir}/scripts/reddit-readonly.mjs posts <subreddit> \
  --sort hot|new|top|controversial|rising \
  --time day|week|month|year|all \
  --limit 10 \
  --after <token>

2) Search posts

# Search within a subreddit
node {baseDir}/scripts/reddit-readonly.mjs search <subreddit> "<query>" --limit 10

# Search all of Reddit
node {baseDir}/scripts/reddit-readonly.mjs search all "<query>" --limit 10

3) Get comments for a post

# By post id or URL
node {baseDir}/scripts/reddit-readonly.mjs comments <post_id|url> --limit 50 --depth 6

4) Recent comments across a subreddit

node {baseDir}/scripts/reddit-readonly.mjs recent-comments <subreddit> --limit 25

5) Thread bundle (post + comments)

node {baseDir}/scripts/reddit-readonly.mjs thread <post_id|url> --commentLimit 50 --depth 6

6) Find opportunities (multi-subreddit helper)

Use this when the user describes criteria like: "Find posts about X in r/a, r/b, and r/c posted in the last 48 hours, excluding Y".

node {baseDir}/scripts/reddit-readonly.mjs find \
  --subreddits "python,learnpython" \
  --query "fastapi deployment" \
  --include "docker,uvicorn,nginx" \
  --exclude "homework,beginner" \
  --minScore 2 \
  --maxAgeHours 48 \
  --perSubredditLimit 25 \
  --maxResults 10 \
  --rank new

Suggested agent workflow

1. Clarify scope if needed: subreddits + topic keywords + timeframe.
2. Start with find (or posts/search) using small limits.
3. For 1–3 promising items, fetch context via thread.
4. Present the user a shortlist:
   • title, subreddit, score, created time
   • permalink
   • a brief reason why it matched
5. If asked, propose draft reply ideas in natural language, but remind the user to post manually.

Troubleshooting

• If Reddit returns HTML, re-run the command (the script detects this and returns an error).
• If requests fail repeatedly, reduce --limit and/or set slower pacing via env vars:

export REDDIT_RO_MIN_DELAY_MS=800
export REDDIT_RO_MAX_DELAY_MS=1800
export REDDIT_RO_TIMEOUT_MS=25000
export REDDIT_RO_USER_AGENT='script:clawdbot-reddit-readonly:v1.0.0 (personal)'