# Lemmy Scraper: Posts, Comments & Communities (`pennydata/lemmy-scraper-posts-comments-communities`) Actor

Lemmy posts and comments scraper: get posts, comments and communities from any Lemmy instance public API (default lemmy.world), search Lemmy communities and posts. No login. $0.25 per 1,000 results.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pennydata/lemmy-scraper-posts-comments-communities.md
- **Developed by:** [Penny Data](https://apify.com/pennydata) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.25 / 1,000 result (post, comment or community)s

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Lemmy Scraper: Posts, Comments & Communities

Scrape Lemmy without a login: post feeds, search results, comments and community lists as flat JSON rows. It reads the public Lemmy API (`/api/v3`) of any instance, default `lemmy.world`. Pricing is $0.25 per 1,000 results, with no start fee. **Errors and empty results are not charged.**

Built with AI assistance (Claude). Not affiliated with or endorsed by Lemmy or any instance.

### Modes

| Mode | Rows (`recordType`) | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| `posts` | `post`: title, link, body, community, author, score, upvotes, downvotes, comment count, published | Monitor a community or the instance feed |
| `search` | `post`: same fields, matching `query` | Brand and keyword monitoring |
| `comments` | `comment`: text, author, score, reply count, tree path, parent post | Sentiment and discussion datasets |
| `communities` | `community`: name, title, description, subscribers, posts, comments | Find communities to track |

### Input examples

Run with the default input (25 newest posts on lemmy.world), or:

```json
{ "instance": "lemmy.world", "mode": "posts", "community": "technology", "sort": "TopWeek", "maxItems": 100 }
```

```json
{ "instance": "lemmy.ml", "mode": "search", "query": "linux", "maxItems": 50 }
```

```json
{ "mode": "comments", "postUrls": ["https://lemmy.world/post/1"], "maxItems": 200 }
```

```json
{ "instance": "beehaw.org", "mode": "communities", "maxItems": 100 }
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: $0.00025 per result row (one post, comment or community). No start fee. `maxItems` caps your spend.

### Good citizenship

Requests go to the instance you name, at most 1 per second per instance, with an identifying User-Agent, and back off on HTTP 429. Only public data the instance already serves without login is returned. Posts and comments contain public usernames; use the data in line with the instance's rules and applicable privacy law.

### Output

Each row has `recordType`, `instance`, `id`, `link` and the fields for its type (see the dataset schema). Error rows (`recordType: error`) are free.

### Related actors

- [RSS/Atom Feed Reader (bulk)](https://apify.com/pennydata/rss-atom-feed-reader-bulk): another feed-based source for community and news posts.
- [Archive.org Items Search](https://apify.com/pennydata/archive-org-items-search): searches Internet Archive items.
- [Website Contact Extractor](https://apify.com/pennydata/website-contact-extractor): finds public contact details on sites linked from posts.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Call this actor from an AI agent (Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client) through the Apify MCP server. Add this URL as an MCP server in your client: https://mcp.apify.com?tools=pennydata/lemmy-scraper-posts-comments-communities
It exposes this actor as a tool the agent can run with the same input as above. An Apify API token is required. This actor was built with AI assistance.

# Actor input Schema

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

Hostname of the Lemmy instance to read, e.g. lemmy.world, lemmy.ml, sh.itjust.works, beehaw.org. A full URL also works.

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

posts = post feed (optionally one community), search = search posts for a query, comments = comments of the posts in postUrls, communities = list communities.

## `community` (type: `string`):

Community name such as technology or technology@lemmy.world. Empty = the instance's all-posts feed.

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

Text to search for. Required in search mode.

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Sort order for posts, search and communities.

## `postUrls` (type: `array`):

Lemmy post URLs such as https://lemmy.world/post/1234567. Comments are read from the instance in each URL.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum result rows (cost guard: each row is charged). Applies per post URL in comments mode.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "instance": "lemmy.world",
  "mode": "posts",
  "sort": "New",
  "postUrls": [
    "https://lemmy.world/post/1"
  ],
  "maxItems": 25
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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",
    "mode": "posts",
    "sort": "New",
    "postUrls": [
        "https://lemmy.world/post/1"
    ],
    "maxItems": 25
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pennydata/lemmy-scraper-posts-comments-communities").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",
    "mode": "posts",
    "sort": "New",
    "postUrls": ["https://lemmy.world/post/1"],
    "maxItems": 25,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("pennydata/lemmy-scraper-posts-comments-communities").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 '{
  "instance": "lemmy.world",
  "mode": "posts",
  "sort": "New",
  "postUrls": [
    "https://lemmy.world/post/1"
  ],
  "maxItems": 25
}' |
apify call pennydata/lemmy-scraper-posts-comments-communities --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/Ux1dRpVJrhdqosN2U/builds/YftQdbmtm7GzKJpTB/openapi.json