Lemmy Posts Scraper

Collect public posts from Lemmy communities and instances. Choose an instance, select a sorting method, optionally filter by community, and retrieve structured post information for research, monitoring, and analysis. Export results in JSON, CSV, Excel, or other supported Apify dataset formats.

What It Does

This actor retrieves public post listings from Lemmy instances. It collects post titles, ActivityPub identifiers, publication dates, community names, creator information, scores, and comment counts.

The actor uses cursor-based pagination with limit and page_cursor, removes duplicate posts using their IDs, and stops when the configured maxItems limit is reached.

Key Features

• Collect public posts from different Lemmy instances.
• Retrieve posts using multiple sorting options.
• Filter results by community name.
• Collect post metadata and engagement information.
• Automatically paginate through available results.
• Remove duplicate posts using post IDs.
• Configure request delays and timeout settings.
• Export results in multiple formats.

Input Example

{
  "instance": "lemmy.world",
  "sort": "Hot",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "requestDelayMs": 1000
}

Input Parameters

Field	Type	Default	Description
instance	string	lemmy.world	Lemmy instance hostname without a scheme
sort	string	Hot	Sorting method, such as Hot, New, or TopDay
communityName	string	Empty	Optional community name filter
maxItems	integer	100	Maximum successful records per run; hard maximum is 1,000
requestDelayMs	integer	1000	Delay between requests in milliseconds
userAgent	string	ActorResearch/1.0	User-Agent header used for requests
timeoutSecs	integer	300	Overall actor run timeout in seconds
requestTimeoutSecs	integer	30	Timeout for an individual request in seconds
proxyConfiguration	object	Proxy off	Optional proxy configuration

Output Example

{
  "postId": 53019480,
  "name": "Chronic rule",
  "ap_id": "https://lemmy.world/post/53019480",
  "published": "2026-10-12T04:45:48.054379Z",
  "community": "onehundredninetysix",
  "creator": "ickplant",
  "score": 17,
  "comments": 1,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-12T05:30:00+00:00"
}

Output Fields

Field	Description
postId	Unique Lemmy post identifier
name	Post title
ap_id	ActivityPub identifier for the post
published	Post publication timestamp
community	Community where the post was published
creator	Username of the post creator
score	Post score
comments	Number of comments
scrapedAt	Timestamp when the record was collected

The dataset overview highlights post ID, title, ActivityPub ID, publication date, community, creator, score, and comment count.

Use Cases

• Feed Monitoring: Track Hot, New, or other sorted posts from a Lemmy instance.
• Community Research: Collect posts from specific communities for analysis.
• Engagement Analysis: Examine post scores and comment counts.
• Content Research: Explore publicly available discussions and trending topics.
• Data Export: Build structured Lemmy post datasets for spreadsheets and downstream tools.
• Sort Comparisons: Compare Hot, New, and TopDay results to explore different post collections.

Limits and Responsible Collection

• Keep request frequency around one request per second.
• Increase requestDelayMs if the instance returns HTTP 429 responses.
• Respect individual instance policies and applicable rate limits.
• Consider copyright and privacy requirements before reusing user-generated content.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this actor collect?

It collects public Lemmy post metadata, including titles, post IDs, publication dates, communities, creators, scores, and comment counts.

Can I collect posts from different Lemmy instances?

Yes. Set the instance input to the hostname of the Lemmy instance you want to collect from, such as lemmy.world.

Can I filter posts by community?

Yes. Provide a community name using communityName to collect posts from a specific community.

Which sorting options are supported?

The actor supports Lemmy sorting methods such as Hot, New, and TopDay.

How many posts can one run collect?

The maximum is 1,000 successful records per run. Use maxItems to configure a smaller collection limit.

How does pagination work?

The actor retrieves posts in batches using limit and page_cursor, removes duplicate post IDs, and continues until the item limit is reached or no more results are available.

What happens when a page request fails?

The actor continues processing and stores an error record instead of stopping the entire run.

What export formats are supported?

You can export results as JSON, CSV, Excel, and other formats supported by Apify datasets.

Can I schedule recurring collections?

Yes. Configure an Apify schedule to automatically collect updated Lemmy posts at your preferred interval.

Trademark Notice

Lemmy and related names, logos, and trademarks belong to their respective owners. They are referenced only to identify the source of the collected post information. This actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Lemmy project or any individual Lemmy instance.

Disclaimer

This actor is an independent data collection tool. Post availability, content, and engagement information depend on the selected Lemmy instance. Users are responsible for verifying collected information and complying with applicable laws, instance policies, privacy requirements, and content licensing conditions.

Is Web Scraping Legal?

This actor collects publicly accessible post information without bypassing login screens, paywalls, or technical security measures. How collected information can be used depends on applicable laws and the source instance's policies.

• Personal Data: Public posts may contain usernames or other information that identifies individuals. Handle collected data responsibly and comply with applicable privacy laws, including GDPR or CCPA where relevant.
• Copyright and Licensing: Posts may contain copyrighted user-generated content. Avoid unauthorized reproduction or redistribution and respect applicable content licences.
• Platform Terms and Rate Limits: Collect responsibly, respect instance policies, and avoid excessive requests.
• Disclaimer: This information is general guidance, not legal advice. Consult a qualified legal professional if you are unsure about your intended use.

Is web scraping legal?