# Reddit Comment Thread Scraper with Score & Keyword Filters (`vexaloom-labs/reddit-comment-thread-scraper-with-score`) Actor

Scrape Reddit comment threads, nested replies included, with author, score, depth, and moderation flags, filtered by date, score, author, or keyword. Optional parent post record. No API key or login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/vexaloom-labs/reddit-comment-thread-scraper-with-score.md
- **Developed by:** [vexaloom-labs](https://apify.com/vexaloom-labs) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.49 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
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?

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

## Reddit Comment Thread Scraper with Score & Keyword Filters

Export Reddit comment threads — top-level comments and nested replies, including branches hidden behind "load more replies" and "continue this thread" — as flat, structured rows. Paste post links (or comment links), choose a sort, and get author, text, score, timestamps, reply depth, parent relationships, and moderation/deletion flags. No Reddit account, API key, or login required.

### What this actor does

- **Full thread reconstruction** — follows Reddit's own nested reply loaders and continue-thread pages until `maxComments` is reached or Reddit stops serving comments to logged-out readers
- **6 comment sorts** — Best, Top, New, Controversial, Old, and Q\&A, matching Reddit's UI
- **Comment permalink focus** — paste a comment permalink with `focusOnTargetComment` enabled to get that comment plus its ancestor chain, including deeply nested targets
- **Rich client-side filtering** — date window, reply-depth range, score range, author allow/deny, keyword include/exclude, length bounds, award count, OP-only, deleted/removed, collapsed
- **Optional parent post record** — title, author, score, ratio, timestamp, subreddit, and text/link metadata when `includePost` is on
- **Flexible URL input** — post URLs, comment permalinks, share links, `redd.it` short links, bare post IDs
- **Omit-empty output** — a field appears only when Reddit actually exposes a value for it

### Output per comment

- `dataType` — `"comment"`
- `comment_id`, `comment_name` — bare id and Reddit fullname (`t1_...`)
- `post_id`, `post_url`, `post_title`, `link_id` — parent thread context
- `permalink` — direct comment link
- `author` — username (`[deleted]` when the account is gone)
- `avatarUrl` — author avatar image, when available
- `body` — comment text as readable plain text (block breaks preserved)
- `body_html` — comment HTML from Reddit's renderer
- `score` — net score (upvotes minus downvotes) at crawl time
- `created_utc`, `created_at` — posted time (epoch and ISO-8601 UTC)
- `edited`, `edited_at` — whether and when the comment was edited
- `depth` — nesting level, `0` = top-level reply to the post
- `position` — the comment's position among its siblings
- `parentPositions` — the position path from the thread root. The prefix can be incomplete for branches reached through a "continue this thread" page; use `parent_id` for exact parentage
- `parent_id`, `parent_kind` — direct parent fullname (`t3_...` for top-level or `t1_...` for a reply) and kind
- `is_op` — author is the post's original poster
- `collapsed` — Reddit collapses the comment by default
- `isCommentDeleted`, `isAuthorDeleted` — comment content / author account was deleted
- `contentType` — `text`, `image`, or `giphy`
- `isHighlighted`, `hasPaidAward` — Reddit highlight/paid-award markers when present
- `total_awards_received` — total award count (0 when none)
- `subreddit`, `subreddit_prefixed`, `subreddit_id` — community context
- `crawled_at` — when this record was fetched (ISO-8601)
- `source` — `"html"`

A rare deleted-comment placeholder that Reddit no longer gives an id for has no `comment_id`; its `isCommentDeleted`/`isAuthorDeleted` flags and position path still identify it. Its `parent_id` falls back to the post, so use the position path for its place in the tree.

Fields Reddit does not expose to logged-out readers are omitted: comment `author_id`, author flair fields, `ups`/`downs`, `score_hidden`, `controversiality`, `distinguished`, comment-level `stickied`/`locked`/`archived`, `collapsed_reason*`, legacy `gilded`, the award breakdown, and `removed_by_category`. See **Limitations** below.

### Output per post

Emitted once per post as the first record when `includePost` is on. Comment filters do not apply to it.

- `dataType` — `"post"`
- `post_id`, `post_name`, `title`, `author`, `author_id`
- `subreddit`, `subreddit_prefixed`, `subreddit_id`
- `url`, `permalink` — canonical reddit.com link
- `content_url` — external destination for link posts
- `domain`, `post_type`, `is_self`
- `content`, `content_html` — self-post body
- `score`, `upvote_ratio`, `num_comments`
- `created_utc`, `created_at`
- `language`
- `is_nsfw`, `is_stickied`, `is_locked`
- `total_awards_received`
- `crawled_at`, `source`

Post fields that require Reddit's legacy API data (flair, media/gallery URLs, poll data, crosspost counts, removal category, ups/downs, edited timestamp) are not available to logged-out readers and are omitted.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `postUrls` | array | – (required) | Post URLs, comment URLs, share links, `redd.it` short links, or bare post IDs |
| `maxComments` | integer | `100` | Maximum comments to keep per post, after filters (1–100,000) |
| `commentSort` | select | `confidence` | `confidence` (Best), `top`, `new`, `controversial`, `old`, `qa` |
| `includePost` | boolean | `false` | Emit the parent post as the first record of each thread |
| `postedAfter` | date | – | Keep comments created on/after this date (UTC) |
| `postedBefore` | date | – | Keep comments created on/before this date (UTC; a bare date means end of day) |
| `minDepth` | integer | – | Keep comments at or deeper than this nesting level (0–100) |
| `maxDepth` | integer | – | Keep comments at or above this nesting level (0–100) |
| `minCommentScore` | integer | – | Keep comments with score ≥ this value |
| `maxCommentScore` | integer | – | Keep comments with score ≤ this value |
| `onlyOP` | boolean | `false` | Keep only the original poster's comments |
| `excludeDeletedRemoved` | boolean | `false` | Drop comments Reddit marks deleted or author-deleted |
| `excludeCollapsed` | boolean | `false` | Drop comments Reddit collapses by default |
| `authors` | array | – | Keep only these usernames (case-insensitive) |
| `excludeAuthors` | array | – | Drop these usernames (case-insensitive), e.g. bots |
| `keywords` | array | – | Keep comments containing at least one keyword/phrase |
| `excludeKeywords` | array | – | Drop comments containing any keyword/phrase |
| `minAwards` | integer | – | Keep comments with at least this many total awards |
| `minCommentLength` | integer | – | Minimum body length in characters (0–10,000) |
| `maxCommentLength` | integer | – | Maximum body length in characters (0–10,000) |
| `focusOnTargetComment` | boolean | `false` | For a comment permalink, return the target plus its ancestor chain. Works for deeply nested targets; the target must still be publicly visible |
| `commentContext` | integer | `3` | Ancestor levels above the target comment when Reddit returns the focus view (0–8) |

**Accepted `postUrls` forms:**

- Full post URL: `https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1abc123/some_title/`
- Short URL: `https://www.reddit.com/comments/1abc123` (also with `?sort=top`)
- Comment URL: `https://www.reddit.com/r/x/comments/1abc123/title/comment/xyz987/`
- Share link: `https://www.reddit.com/r/x/s/<token>`
- Short link: `https://redd.it/1abc123`
- Bare post ID: `1abc123` or `t3_1abc123`
- `old.reddit.com` URLs also work

Malformed items (empty strings, garbage URLs, non-strings) are skipped without failing the run.

**Removed inputs:** `distinguishedFilter`, `controversialOnly`, and `excludeStickied` were removed because Reddit no longer exposes those markers to logged-out readers. Old saved tasks that still send them keep running; the actor logs one warning and ignores them.

#### Example: scrape a whole thread sorted by Top

```json
{
  "postUrls": ["https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1abc123/some_title/"],
  "maxComments": 500,
  "commentSort": "top",
  "includePost": true
}
```

#### Example: recent, high-signal comments only

```json
{
  "postUrls": ["https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/1abc123/some_title/"],
  "maxComments": 1000,
  "postedAfter": "2026-06-01",
  "minCommentScore": 5,
  "excludeDeletedRemoved": true
}
```

#### Example: NLP dataset — clean comment bodies

```json
{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1abc123/some_title/",
    "https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1def456/other_title/"
  ],
  "maxComments": 5000,
  "excludeDeletedRemoved": true,
  "excludeAuthors": ["AutoModerator"],
  "minCommentLength": 20,
  "excludeKeywords": ["I am a bot"]
}
```

#### Example: jump straight to one comment

```json
{
  "postUrls": ["https://www.reddit.com/r/x/comments/1abc123/title/comment/xyz987/"],
  "focusOnTargetComment": true,
  "commentContext": 5
}
```

### Use cases

- **Sentiment & NLP datasets** — build large, structured corpora from real discussions
- **Market & product research** — read what customers say in the replies, not just the top comment
- **Community & moderation analysis** — study conversation depth, controversy, and OP engagement
- **Launch monitoring** — track reaction to announcements across subreddits on a schedule
- **Academic & social research** — export discussion trees for network and discourse analysis
- **Support mining** — surface recurring complaints buried deep in a thread

### FAQ

**Do I need a Reddit account, API key, or login?**
No. The actor reads Reddit's public pages anonymously and stores no credentials.

**Why are some fields missing compared with older versions?**
Reddit stopped serving its anonymous JSON endpoints in 2026 and does not render author IDs, vote splits, flair, moderator badges, or award details to logged-out readers. The actor emits every field the public pages still expose and omits the rest instead of inventing values.

**Does it really capture the whole thread?**
Up to `maxComments`, yes. The actor follows Reddit's nested reply loaders and continue-thread pages until the thread is exhausted or your limit is reached. Reddit's displayed comment count includes deleted and removed comments, so a complete export can be smaller than that number.

**What is the difference between `parent_id` and `link_id`?**
`link_id` always points to the parent post (`t3_...`). `parent_id` points to the comment's direct parent — the post for a top-level comment or another comment for a reply. `parent_kind` tells you which, and `parentPositions` gives the position path (with the continue-page caveat above).

**How do I scrape just one comment instead of the whole thread?**
Paste its permalink into `postUrls` and enable `focusOnTargetComment`. You get that comment plus up to `commentContext` levels of parent comments. The target must still be publicly visible; deleted/removed targets return no records.

**Why does a deleted comment still appear?**
Deleted comments are part of the thread structure. They carry `isCommentDeleted` / `isAuthorDeleted` and usually no body; enable `excludeDeletedRemoved` to drop them.

**What happens for a private subreddit, banned post, or deleted post?**
The actor returns 0 records for that URL and continues with the other URLs. A status message explains when nothing could be read.

**Do I need to configure a proxy?**
No. The actor selects the network route it needs automatically.

**Is this affiliated with Reddit?**
No. This is an independent third-party actor that reads public web pages; it is not endorsed by or affiliated with Reddit, Inc.

### Cost

Measured all-in run cost is roughly **$0.72–1.58 per 1,000 comments**, depending on thread depth, how many continue-thread branches are loaded, and how many deleted comments Reddit still counts. Small or heavily filtered runs have a higher fixed cost per 1,000. Store pricing is set separately.

### Limitations

- Reddit's own displayed comment count includes deleted, removed, and filtered comments that are not served to logged-out readers. The actor reports what is actually served.
- Comment author IDs, vote up/down splits, flair, moderator/admin badges, controversy flags, award names/icons, and removal categories are not exposed anonymously. They are omitted rather than guessed. (The post record still carries the post author's ID when Reddit renders it.)
- Some comments arrive from Reddit's lazy-loading fragments with `body_html` but without a plain-text `body` (and occasionally without either) even though they are not deleted. Use `body_html` as a fallback; the omission rate measured in cloud runs was ~15–18%.
- `parentPositions` can lose the continue-target's position for branches loaded through "continue this thread" pages, so paths for those descendants may not match the tree exactly. `parent_id` remains correct.
- Deleted-comment placeholders that Reddit renders without an id may carry the post as `parent_id` even when nested; their position path is the only tree hint for those rows.
- Very large threads take longer because every hidden branch is loaded through Reddit's own pagination; there is no branch pruning, so cost scales with the served tree as well as `maxComments`.
- The parent post record is intentionally thin: media, gallery, poll, crosspost, and flair details are not available on the public post page.

# Actor input Schema

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

Post URLs, comment URLs, share links or bare post IDs. Accepted forms: full post URL (https://www.reddit.com/r/x/comments/1abc/title/), short URL (https://www.reddit.com/comments/1abc or with ?sort=top), comment URL (.../comments/1abc/title/comment/xyz/), mobile share link (https://www.reddit.com/r/x/s/token), bare post id (1abc123) or t3_1abc123.

## `maxComments` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of comments to scrape from each post (including nested replies).

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

How to sort the comment threads.

## `includePost` (type: `boolean`):

When enabled, the parent post metadata is emitted as the first record of each thread.

## `postedAfter` (type: `string`):

Only keep comments created on or after this date (UTC).

## `postedBefore` (type: `string`):

Only keep comments created on or before this date (interpreted as the end of that day, UTC).

## `minDepth` (type: `integer`):

Only keep comments nested at or deeper than this depth (0 = keep everything, 1 = drop top-level comments and keep only replies, 2 = keep only replies-to-replies and deeper, etc.). Leave empty for no limit.

## `maxDepth` (type: `integer`):

Only keep comments nested at or above this depth (0 = top-level comments only, 1 = top-level + first-level replies, etc.). Leave empty for no limit.

## `minCommentScore` (type: `integer`):

Only keep comments with a score (upvotes minus downvotes) at or above this value. Leave empty for no limit.

## `maxCommentScore` (type: `integer`):

Only keep comments with a score (upvotes minus downvotes) at or below this value. Leave empty for no limit.

## `onlyOP` (type: `boolean`):

When enabled, only comments written by the post's original author are kept.

## `excludeDeletedRemoved` (type: `boolean`):

When enabled, comments that Reddit marks as deleted or author-deleted are dropped (no real content left to scrape).

## `excludeCollapsed` (type: `boolean`):

When enabled, comments Reddit collapses by default (low score or crowd control) are dropped.

## `authors` (type: `array`):

Only keep comments written by these Reddit usernames (case-insensitive). Leave empty to keep comments from all authors.

## `excludeAuthors` (type: `array`):

Drop comments written by these Reddit usernames (case-insensitive), e.g. bots like AutoModerator. Leave empty to keep comments from all authors. Applied after `authors` (an author listed in both is excluded).

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Only keep comments whose body contains at least one of these keywords or phrases (case-insensitive substring match). Leave empty to keep all comments.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Drop comments whose body contains any of these keywords or phrases (case-insensitive substring match), e.g. spam/boilerplate phrases. Applied after `keywords` (a keyword listed in both still excludes the comment). Leave empty to keep all comments.

## `minAwards` (type: `integer`):

Only keep comments with at least this many total awards. Leave empty for no limit.

## `minCommentLength` (type: `integer`):

Only keep comments whose body text is at least this many characters long. Useful for filtering out one-word/emoji-only noise when building NLP datasets. Leave empty for no limit.

## `maxCommentLength` (type: `integer`):

Only keep comments whose body text is at most this many characters long (Reddit's hard cap is 10,000 characters). Leave empty for no limit.

## `focusOnTargetComment` (type: `boolean`):

When a `postUrls` item is a specific comment permalink, return that comment plus its ancestor chain (see `commentContext`). Works for deeply nested targets; the target must still be publicly visible. Has no effect on plain post URLs.

## `commentContext` (type: `integer`):

How many levels of parent comments above the target comment to include when `focusOnTargetComment` is enabled (matches Reddit's own comment-permalink page). Ignored otherwise.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1vqukkf/nothing_like_a_monday_morning_github_outage/",
    "https://www.reddit.com/comments/1tlh5aj"
  ],
  "maxComments": 100,
  "commentSort": "confidence",
  "includePost": false,
  "postedAfter": "2025-01-01",
  "postedBefore": "2025-12-31",
  "minDepth": 1,
  "maxDepth": 2,
  "minCommentScore": 1,
  "maxCommentScore": 1000,
  "onlyOP": false,
  "excludeDeletedRemoved": false,
  "excludeCollapsed": false,
  "authors": [
    "spez"
  ],
  "excludeAuthors": [
    "AutoModerator"
  ],
  "keywords": [
    "thanks",
    "great point"
  ],
  "excludeKeywords": [
    "I am a bot",
    "check out my"
  ],
  "minAwards": 1,
  "minCommentLength": 20,
  "maxCommentLength": 2000,
  "focusOnTargetComment": false,
  "commentContext": 3
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `commentAndPostRecords` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing one record per comment, plus the parent post record when 'Include post' is on. Records are distinguished by the `dataType` field (`comment` or `post`).

# 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 = {
    "postUrls": [
        "https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1vqukkf/"
    ],
    "maxComments": 30,
    "commentSort": "confidence",
    "includePost": false,
    "onlyOP": false,
    "excludeDeletedRemoved": false,
    "excludeCollapsed": false,
    "focusOnTargetComment": false,
    "commentContext": 3
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vexaloom-labs/reddit-comment-thread-scraper-with-score").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 = {
    "postUrls": ["https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1vqukkf/"],
    "maxComments": 30,
    "commentSort": "confidence",
    "includePost": False,
    "onlyOP": False,
    "excludeDeletedRemoved": False,
    "excludeCollapsed": False,
    "focusOnTargetComment": False,
    "commentContext": 3,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vexaloom-labs/reddit-comment-thread-scraper-with-score").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 '{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1vqukkf/"
  ],
  "maxComments": 30,
  "commentSort": "confidence",
  "includePost": false,
  "onlyOP": false,
  "excludeDeletedRemoved": false,
  "excludeCollapsed": false,
  "focusOnTargetComment": false,
  "commentContext": 3
}' |
apify call vexaloom-labs/reddit-comment-thread-scraper-with-score --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,vexaloom-labs/reddit-comment-thread-scraper-with-score"
        }
    }
}
```

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/hzfhxZwMsIQ2crhb4/builds/aXR6xVwyCStLrYveu/openapi.json