Reddit Search AI — Scraper + MCP Server for AI Agents

Search Reddit, read subreddit feeds, pull comments and user history — as clean JSON, or as a live MCP server your AI agent can call directly.

No Reddit API key. No login. No OAuth. No proxy to configure. Pick a mode, hit run, get fresh structured data. Or connect Claude / Cursor / ChatGPT to the built-in MCP server and let the model search Reddit itself.

Why this Actor when other Reddit scrapers keep breaking? Reddit has aggressively locked down public access — most scrapers now fail with 403 errors. This Actor uses its own always-fresh data pipeline, so you get reliable, up-to-the-minute Reddit data with zero setup — no API keys, no proxies, no blocks to fight.

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🎯 What you get

• 🔍 Keyword search — find posts by topic (scope to a subreddit for the freshest results)
• 📰 Subreddit feeds — the latest posts from any community, newest first
• 💬 Posts + comments — extract discussions for sentiment & market research
• 👤 User profiles — a user's posts, comments, or full overview
• 🤖 MCP server — Reddit tools any AI agent can call over Streamable HTTP
• 📦 Structured JSON — ready to drop into an LLM, a spreadsheet, or a pipeline

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🚀 Quick start (60 seconds)

1. Open the Actor and click Try for free.
2. Choose a mode (default: 🔍 Keyword Search).
3. Enter a subreddit (e.g. technology) or a keyword.
4. Click Start. Your results appear in the Output tab as JSON.

That's it — no proxy or API-key setup. Export to JSON/CSV/Excel, or grab results from the API.

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📖 Modes & examples

1. Subreddit feed — latest posts from a community

{
  "mode": "subreddit_feed",
  "subreddit": "technology",
  "limit": 50
}

2. Keyword search — find posts by topic

Scope the search to a subreddit for the freshest, most relevant results:

{
  "mode": "keyword_search",
  "keyword": "AI agents",
  "subreddit": "artificial",
  "limit": 25
}

3. User profile — a user's posts or comments

{
  "mode": "user_profile",
  "usernames": ["spez"],
  "userContentType": "submitted",
  "limit": 20
}

Sample output

{
  "title": "Show r/Python: I built a lightweight desktop app with Tkinter",
  "subreddit": "Python",
  "url": "https://reddit.com/r/Python/comments/abc123/",
  "text": "I got frustrated with bloated tools, so I built…",
  "score": 61,
  "num_comments": 48,
  "author": "some_dev",
  "created_utc": 1777000000.0
}

Add "include_comments": true to attach comments to every post.

Every field comes back as clean JSON, ready for an LLM or a pipeline:

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🤖 Use it as an MCP server (Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT…)

This Actor runs a native Model Context Protocol server in Standby mode, so an AI agent can search Reddit on its own — no glue code. Tools:

Tool	What it does
search_reddit	Search Reddit for posts by keyword (scope with a subreddit)
get_subreddit_posts	Latest posts from a subreddit
get_post_with_comments	A post + its comment thread
get_user_posts	Posts submitted by a user
get_user_comments	Comments written by a user

Connect from Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code

The MCP endpoint is the Actor's Standby URL + /mcp:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-search-ai": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://opportunity-biz--reddit-scraper.apify.actor/mcp?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

Get YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN from Apify Console → Settings → Integrations. Then ask your agent things like "What are people on Reddit saying about the new M5 MacBook?" and it will call the tools automatically.

Tip for AI agents: open https://opportunity-biz--reddit-scraper.apify.actor/?token=… to get a JSON description of the server and its tools.

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🔌 API usage

cURL — start a run

curl -s -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/opportunity-biz~reddit-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode":"subreddit_feed","subreddit":"technology","limit":25}'

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("opportunity-biz/reddit-scraper").call(run_input={
    "mode": "subreddit_feed",
    "subreddit": "MachineLearning",
    "limit": 30,
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["score"], item["title"])

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⚙️ Input parameters

Field	Type	Default	Description
mode	enum	keyword_search	keyword_search, subreddit_feed, user_profile, mcp_server
keyword	string	""	Keyword for keyword search
keywords	array	[]	Multiple keywords in one run
subreddit	string	""	Subreddit for feed mode (and to scope keyword search)
usernames	array	[]	Usernames for profile mode
userContentType	enum	submitted	submitted, comments, overview
limit	integer	20	Max results to return
include_comments	boolean	false	Attach comments to each post
max_comments_per_post	integer	10	Comments per post (max 100)

Posts are returned newest first. No proxy or API-key configuration is required — the Actor handles data access for you.

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💡 Use cases

• Market & product research — what people actually say about a brand, tool, or trend
• Lead gen / social listening — find threads asking for solutions you provide
• AI agents & RAG — feed fresh Reddit discussion into an LLM via the MCP server
• Sentiment & trend tracking — monitor a subreddit or keyword over time
• Content & SEO research — discover real questions and pain points

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📝 Notes & limits

• Public subreddits only.
• text and comment bodies are truncated to 500 chars — use the post url for the full content.
• Posts are ordered newest-first.
• Please use sensible limit values and avoid hammering the Actor with high concurrency.

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❓ FAQ

How do I scrape Reddit without the API? Pick a mode (keyword search, subreddit feed, or user profile), enter your query, and run. You get structured JSON back — no Reddit API key, OAuth, developer app, or proxy setup required.

Do I need a Reddit account, API key, or proxy? No. No account, no login, no OAuth, no API key, and no proxy to configure. Just an Apify token to call the Actor.

Why do other Reddit scrapers return 403 / no results and this one works? Reddit blocks most anonymous access now. This Actor uses its own always-fresh data pipeline instead, so it keeps returning real, current Reddit data with no setup on your side.

Is there a Reddit MCP server for Claude / Cursor / ChatGPT? Yes — this Actor is a Reddit MCP server. Add its Standby /mcp URL to your MCP client and your AI agent gets Reddit search, feeds, comments, and user tools. See "Use it as an MCP server" above.

Can I get comments and analyze sentiment? Yes. Set include_comments: true to attach comments to each post, or use the get_post_with_comments MCP tool — ideal for sentiment analysis and market research.

Can I monitor a keyword or subreddit over time? Yes. Create a Task with your settings and Schedule it to run on an interval, appending fresh posts/comments to your dataset.

📦 Changelog

Version	Changes
0.2	New always-fresh data pipeline — reliable, up-to-the-minute results with no proxy or API key; no more 403 failures. MCP Standby server with 5 Reddit tools.
0.1	Fixed startup crash; real MCP Standby server + readiness probe
0.0.21	MCP server, Streamable HTTP
0.0.20	User profiles, pagination
0.0.19	Subreddit feed, comment scraping, batch search
0.0	Initial release — keyword search