# Lemmy Scraper: Posts, Communities & Comments (`cynix_dev/lemmy-scraper`) Actor

Fetch Lemmy posts, discover communities, and search posts across the fediverse via the open Lemmy API. No API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/cynix\_dev/lemmy-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Cynix Dev](https://apify.com/cynix_dev) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.45 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Lemmy Scraper: Posts, Communities & Comments

Fetch **Lemmy** posts, discover communities, and search posts across the fediverse via the open **Lemmy API** — no API key, no login.

![Lemmy](https://img.logo.dev/lemmy.ml?token=pk_f3e1270e3c2e4cb5a0c3a8d86e96b90a\&size=200\&retina=true\&format=png)

### What it does

Lemmy is a self-hostable, open-source Reddit alternative with near-zero scraping competition on Apify (the leading actor has 2 users). This actor talks to any Lemmy instance's open REST API and returns structured post + community data.

### Modes

| Mode | What it returns |
|------|-----------------|
| **Posts** | Recent posts in a community: title, body, URL, score, votes, comments, creator |
| **Communities** | Search communities: name, subscriber count, post count, description |
| **Search** | Search posts across the instance by keyword |

### Example Inputs

#### Latest posts in !technology on lemmy.ml

```json
{ "mode": "posts", "communityName": "technology", "instance": "lemmy.ml", "maxResults": 20 }
```

#### Find communities about Linux

```json
{ "mode": "communities", "query": "linux", "instance": "lemmy.ml", "maxResults": 10 }
```

#### Search posts on a different instance

```json
{ "mode": "search", "query": "self hosting", "instance": "sh.itjust.works", "maxResults": 50 }
```

### Output

Rows carry `source_mode` plus: `community_name`, `post_name`, `post_body`, `post_url`, `score`, `upvotes`, `downvotes`, `comment_count`, `creator`, `published`, `instance`, `scraped_at`.

### Data Source

[Lemmy HTTP API](https://join-lemmy.org/api) — free, open, no auth for public data.

### Use Cases

- **Fediverse monitoring**: track communities and trending posts
- **Content research**: niche community insights
- **Community discovery**: find engaged communities by topic

### Limitations

- Only public posts/communities (no authenticated private communities)
- Instance-dependent rate limits

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Which Lemmy data to fetch.

## `communityName` (type: `string`):

Lemmy community name (e.g. technology). Used in posts mode.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Search term for communities/search modes.

## `instance` (type: `string`):

Lemmy instance host (default lemmy.ml).

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum posts/communities to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "posts",
  "communityName": "technology",
  "query": "",
  "instance": "lemmy.ml",
  "maxResults": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing all scraped records

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "communityName": "technology",
    "instance": "lemmy.ml"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("cynix_dev/lemmy-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "communityName": "technology",
    "instance": "lemmy.ml",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("cynix_dev/lemmy-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "communityName": "technology",
  "instance": "lemmy.ml"
}' |
apify call cynix_dev/lemmy-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,cynix_dev/lemmy-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/UZT4hGJAhoFgxJEKO/builds/n9co69JDG0myvY3Mm/openapi.json