# Lemmy Scraper - Posts, Comments, Communities & Search (`navy_currant/lemmy-fediverse-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Lemmy (any instance) via the official public REST API v3: a site-wide feed by sort/type, posts from named communities, recent comments, and full-text search over communities/posts/users/comments. Federated Reddit-alternative data, no credentials, no proxy required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/navy\_currant/lemmy-fediverse-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ishaan](https://apify.com/navy_currant) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 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.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use 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, Comments, Communities & Search

Scrape **Lemmy** (any instance) using the official **public REST API v3** — no account, no API key, no proxy spend required. Lemmy is the federated, open-source **Reddit alternative**; point this actor at `lemmy.world` (default, largest) or any other instance.

### What it does

- **Feed** — a site-wide post feed by sort (`Active`/`Hot`/`New`/`TopDay`…) and listing type (`All` federated feed or `Local` only)
- **Community** — pull posts from any named community, e.g. `technology` or `technology@lemmy.world`, across many communities in one run
- **Comments** — recent comments site-wide or scoped to specific communities
- **Search** — find **communities**, **posts**, **users**, or **comments** by keyword (or `All` at once)
- **Unified output** — posts, comments, communities and users in one dataset with consistent field names, ready for analysis or AI pipelines

### Why use this actor

| Competitor actor | Problem | This actor |
|---|---|---|
| Single-community Lemmy scrapers | **One community per run** — instance-wide needs many runs | Site-wide **feed** + multi-community + comments + search in one |
| Post-only scrapers | No comments, no community/user discovery | Posts **+** comments **+** communities **+** users |
| Roll-your-own API calls | Cursor vs page pagination, view-object flattening, charge logic to maintain | One input, clean flat schema, pay per result |

The Fediverse is a fast-growing, **open** social network. Lemmy in particular is the leading federated **Reddit alternative** — a natural input for **social listening**, brand monitoring, academic research, and **RAG pipelines** that want public discourse without platform lock-in or API keys.

### Output fields

**Posts** (`type: "post"`): `id`, `ap_id`, `title`, `body`, `external_url`, `thumbnail_url`, `embed_title`, `embed_description`, `published`, `updated`, `nsfw`, `locked`, `featured_community`, `featured_local`, `language_id`, `score`, `upvotes`, `downvotes`, `comments_count`, `newest_comment_time`, `community_id`, `community_name`, `community_title`, `community_actor_id`, `creator_id`, `creator_name`, `creator_display_name`, `creator_actor_id`, `creator_instance_id`

**Comments** (`type: "comment"`): `id`, `ap_id`, `content`, `path`, `published`, `updated`, `distinguished`, `language_id`, `score`, `upvotes`, `downvotes`, `child_count`, `post_id`, `post_title`, `community_id`, `community_name`, `community_actor_id`, `creator_id`, `creator_name`, `creator_display_name`, `creator_actor_id`

**Communities** (`type: "community"`): `id`, `name`, `title`, `actor_id`, `description`, `published`, `nsfw`, `posting_restricted_to_mods`, `instance_id`, `icon`, `banner`, `subscribers`, `posts_count`, `comments_count`, `users_active_day`, `users_active_week`, `users_active_month`, `users_active_half_year`

**Users** (`type: "user"`): `id`, `name`, `display_name`, `actor_id`, `bio`, `published`, `banned`, `bot_account`, `instance_id`, `avatar`, `banner`, `matrix_user_id`, `post_count`, `comment_count`

### Usage examples

Site-wide hot feed:

```json
{ "mode": "feed", "instance": "lemmy.world", "postSort": "Hot", "listingType": "All", "maxResultsPerTerm": 500 }
````

Posts from two communities:

```json
{
  "mode": "community",
  "instance": "lemmy.world",
  "communities": ["technology", "selfhosted@lemmy.world"],
  "postSort": "TopWeek",
  "maxResultsPerTerm": 300
}
```

Recent comments in a community:

```json
{ "mode": "comments", "communities": ["technology"], "commentSort": "New", "maxResultsPerTerm": 200 }
```

Find communities about a topic:

```json
{ "mode": "search", "searchTerms": ["selfhosted", "privacy"], "searchType": "Communities" }
```

### Pricing

**Pay per event:** $0.003 per result.

Example: 5,000 items ≈ **$15**.

### Technical notes

- Uses each instance's official Lemmy REST API v3 (`/post/list`, `/comment/list`, `/search`) — free, public, no key
- **Zero proxy cost** — official API, no anti-bot bypass
- Handles both pagination models for you: `/post/list` uses **opaque cursor** pagination (`next_page` → `page_cursor`), while `/comment/list` and `/search` use classic 1-indexed `page`
- Polite rate limiting between pages
- Automatically stops when the user's spending limit is reached — charge respected per result, no overrun

#### Honest scope / limits

- **Feed / community post ordering** honors Lemmy's server-side `sort`; `Top*` windows are relative to run time (snapshot, not live).
- **Comments mode** returns comments as a flat list with a `path` field (materialized tree position) — reconstruct threads client-side from `path` if needed.
- **Search** depends on what the chosen instance has federated and indexed; a term may return fewer rows on a small instance than on `lemmy.world`.
- Snapshot at run time; schedule recurring runs for live updates.

### Common use cases

- **Social listening / brand monitoring** — track a community or keyword across the Fediverse
- **RAG pipelines** — feed fresh, open public discourse into retrieval systems
- **Community discovery** — find and rank Lemmy communities by activity/subscribers for a topic
- **Academic / network research** — collect public posts, comments and community metadata at scale

### Data compliance

This actor accesses only **public** Lemmy data through each instance's official, publicly documented REST API. No login credentials are used. Public posts, comments and communities are intentionally public; suitable for research and business use. Respect each instance's terms and the authors' content.

# Actor input Schema

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

What to scrape. feed = site-wide posts by sort/type; community = posts from named communities; comments = recent comments (site-wide or per community); search = find communities/posts/users/comments by keyword.

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

Instance host to query (Lemmy is federated — no global API). Default lemmy.world (largest). Any Lemmy instance exposes the same /api/v3 REST API.

## `communities` (type: `array`):

Community names to pull posts for, e.g. 'technology' (local) or 'technology@lemmy.world' (federated). Each runs as a separate query.

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Keywords to search. Each term runs as a separate query.

## `postSort` (type: `string`):

How to order posts.

## `listingType` (type: `string`):

All = the whole federated feed the instance sees; Local = only communities hosted on this instance.

## `commentSort` (type: `string`):

How to order comments.

## `searchType` (type: `string`):

What to search for.

## `maxResultsPerTerm` (type: `integer`):

Maximum results per community / search term (feed mode is a single query). Higher values increase cost and run time.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "feed",
  "instance": "lemmy.world",
  "communities": [
    "technology"
  ],
  "searchTerms": [
    "selfhosted"
  ],
  "postSort": "Active",
  "listingType": "All",
  "commentSort": "New",
  "searchType": "Communities",
  "maxResultsPerTerm": 200
}
```

# 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 = {
    "instance": "lemmy.world",
    "communities": [
        "technology"
    ],
    "searchTerms": [
        "selfhosted"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("navy_currant/lemmy-fediverse-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 = {
    "instance": "lemmy.world",
    "communities": ["technology"],
    "searchTerms": ["selfhosted"],
}

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

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "instance": "lemmy.world",
  "communities": [
    "technology"
  ],
  "searchTerms": [
    "selfhosted"
  ]
}' |
apify call navy_currant/lemmy-fediverse-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=navy_currant/lemmy-fediverse-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Lemmy Scraper - Posts, Comments, Communities & Search",
        "description": "Scrape Lemmy (any instance) via the official public REST API v3: a site-wide feed by sort/type, posts from named communities, recent comments, and full-text search over communities/posts/users/comments. Federated Reddit-alternative data, no credentials, no proxy required.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "0y6CeX2fMRz9TqDOO"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/navy_currant~lemmy-fediverse-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-navy_currant-lemmy-fediverse-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/navy_currant~lemmy-fediverse-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-navy_currant-lemmy-fediverse-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/navy_currant~lemmy-fediverse-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-navy_currant-lemmy-fediverse-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "mode": {
                        "title": "Mode",
                        "enum": [
                            "feed",
                            "community",
                            "comments",
                            "search"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "What to scrape. feed = site-wide posts by sort/type; community = posts from named communities; comments = recent comments (site-wide or per community); search = find communities/posts/users/comments by keyword.",
                        "default": "feed"
                    },
                    "instance": {
                        "title": "Lemmy instance",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Instance host to query (Lemmy is federated — no global API). Default lemmy.world (largest). Any Lemmy instance exposes the same /api/v3 REST API.",
                        "default": "lemmy.world"
                    },
                    "communities": {
                        "title": "Communities (community mode)",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Community names to pull posts for, e.g. 'technology' (local) or 'technology@lemmy.world' (federated). Each runs as a separate query.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "searchTerms": {
                        "title": "Search terms (search mode)",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Keywords to search. Each term runs as a separate query.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "postSort": {
                        "title": "Post sort (feed / community mode)",
                        "enum": [
                            "Active",
                            "Hot",
                            "New",
                            "Old",
                            "TopDay",
                            "TopWeek",
                            "TopMonth",
                            "TopYear",
                            "TopAll",
                            "MostComments",
                            "NewComments"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "How to order posts.",
                        "default": "Active"
                    },
                    "listingType": {
                        "title": "Listing type (feed / comments mode)",
                        "enum": [
                            "All",
                            "Local"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "All = the whole federated feed the instance sees; Local = only communities hosted on this instance.",
                        "default": "All"
                    },
                    "commentSort": {
                        "title": "Comment sort (comments mode)",
                        "enum": [
                            "Hot",
                            "Top",
                            "New",
                            "Old",
                            "Controversial"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "How to order comments.",
                        "default": "New"
                    },
                    "searchType": {
                        "title": "Search type (search mode)",
                        "enum": [
                            "All",
                            "Communities",
                            "Posts",
                            "Users",
                            "Comments",
                            "Url"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "What to search for.",
                        "default": "Communities"
                    },
                    "maxResultsPerTerm": {
                        "title": "Max results per term",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 20000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum results per community / search term (feed mode is a single query). Higher values increase cost and run time.",
                        "default": 200
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```