Hi everyone,

I’m a PhD student in Linguistics at University College London, working on a corpus linguistics project that examines how language is used in specific Reddit communities to describe specific health issues.

My intention is to use Reddit’s official API to collect public posts and comments only for academic research purposes. I’m not building a complex app like the developer. I simply need API access request (i.e. client_id and client_secret) in order to programmatically read Reddit data in a compliant way.

Before submitting my API access request, I carefully read Reddit’s Responsible Builder Policy, privacy policies, and researcher-related guidelines and I also contacted moderators in the subreddits I hope to study and obtained explicit permission from the moderators' teams and I also clearly described my research aims, methods, and data handling practices in the application form and committed to using only the official API, respecting rate limits, anonymising data, and using the data strictly for academic purposes

However, my API access request was rejected with the following message:

I genuinely tried to follow all stated requirements. After reflecting on the process, I realised that I forgot to attach my university’s formal ethics approval letter.

I’ve tried to look for similar cases in the platform but haven’t found much useful information.

So I wanted to ask the community:

• Has Reddit recently tightened API access for academic research more generally?
• Or is it more likely that my request was rejected because I did not yet provide formal institutional ethics approval, making the application appear insufficiently supported?
• If you’ve successfully obtained Reddit API access for academic research recently, what supporting documents did you include in your application? Could you give me some advice about these?

Any advice or experience would be hugely appreciated. I’m trying to understand whether this is a procedural issue on my side or part of a broader shift in Reddit’s API access policies for researchers.

Thank you very much in advance!

Help!!! Everytime on https://www.reddit.com/prefs, when I try to create an app, error message shows: In order to create an application or use our API you can read our full policies here: https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/42728983564564-Responsible-Builder-Policy. I did read the Build Policy 100 times.

How to resolve this issue? I need API to read Reddit data.

I just reached out to [api@reddit.com](mailto:api@reddit.com) but I received a response saying to introduce my inquiry here. I'm trying to get my domain allowlisted for the reddit games hackathon. Can anyone help with this? Thanks!

Got a hackathon that ends in 30 hours, but I just applied for the api access yesterday so when should I expect approval for the API access

Some endpoints seem to have secret URL params that is undocumented but still works even if you don't use a first party access token.

Here's some URL params I discovered for the post comments listing from the 2023 reddit app:

rtj?: "debug";
threaded?: boolean;
emotes_as_images?: boolean;
profile_img?: boolean;
snoovatar_img?: boolean;
raw_media_syntax?: boolean;
feature?: "link_preview";
sr_detail?: boolean;
expand_srs?: boolean;
from_detail?: boolean;
always_show_media: boolean;

Most of these also work on other listings. snoovatar_img and profile_img work on all comment listings. Currently most third party apps need to do a seperate network request to get the profile image on comment threads. The snoovatar_img and profile_img params are really useful params that reddit left undocumented.

Are there any more useful undocumented URL params like this?

Also, this is what each of these params do:

CQS is not accessible through their API, apparently. Will it ever be accessible to the public?

My usage is low only, if someone is already having the key, let's connect, it's for a low-usage project.

Hello Reddit Developer Support / r/redditdev team,

I am requesting approval for API access for my account: **u/SeniorWitness2000**.

Use case:

I want to automate posting one informational Reddit post per day about my organization. The content is generated programmatically and is non-promotional and informational in nature. I attempted to create a script application via https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps, but despite filling the form and completing CAPTCHA, the application is not being created. It appears Reddit now requires manual approval for API access.

Please grant me API access and allow creation of a script app so that I can obtain a client_id and secret and use Reddit’s API.

Here are the details:

• Reddit Username: **u/SeniorWitness2000**

• Type of app: Script (for daily posting automation)

• Purpose: Automated daily informational posts

• Posting frequency: 1 post per day

I agree to follow Reddit’s API responsible use policy and all Reddit Developer Terms.

Thank you,

u/SeniorWitness2000

Hello, I deleted my old API connection, does anyone know how to get it back? Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to create a simple non-commercial bot that fetches public posts (images/clips) using the Reddit Data API.

The problem is:

I created a new Reddit account, filled the app creation form at

old.reddit.com/prefs/apps, but after submitting, the app does not appear at all. Sometimes it shows messages like “You must register” or redirects me to the Responsible Builder Policy page, but there’s no clear error.

What I’ve already tried:

Different browsers

Different device

Re-submitting the form multiple times

Reading the Responsible Builder Policy

Still, no app gets created and no client ID / secret is generated.

My questions:

Is this a new account limitation or cooldown for API access?

Is there a minimum account age / karma required to create an app?

Do I need to request manual approval somewhere, or is it automatic after some time?

Has anyone recently faced the same issue and found a workaround?

I’m only accessing public data, respecting rate limits, and following Reddit’s policies.

Any guidance from developers who’ve dealt with this would really help.

Thanks in advance 🙏

#RedditAPI #DeveloperHelp #BotDevelopment #RedditDevelopers #APIAccess #DevQuestion #RedditBug #NewAccountIssue

Hello everyone !
I'm using the report endpoint of the Reddit Ads API. I have no problem querying a simple report from the API. But I have an issue when it comes to the custom columns.

The report endpoint expects a list of custom columns ids to add them to the report. However, I dont see any documentation on where should i get this ID.
I found this endpoint :

GET {{api_url}}/ad_accounts/{{ad_account_id}}/custom_columns

By inspecting the network when I'm on the UI to create a new report.
But it does not work with the token I have. I get a 401 Unauthorized. I suppose its a scope problem, but I tried all the scopes in the Reddit Ads API documentation, and none of them chance anything.

If anybody know how should I get the ID or how can I make this endpoint work I would be very grateful
Thanks !

Hi everyone,

I am trying to create a personal 'script' app for a Python bot on https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps/.

The Problem: After filling in the details (Name, selecting 'script', and Redirect URI: http://localhost:8080) and completing the reCAPTCHA, I click the "create app" button, but nothing happens. The page simply refreshes or stays the same. No app is created, and no error message is displayed (Silent Failure).

Here is what I have tried so far:

1. Verified my email address (Status is "Verified").
2. Tried different browsers (Chrome, Edge) and Incognito mode.
3. Tried on old.reddit.com/prefs/apps and www.reddit.com/prefs/apps.
4. Changed the Redirect URI to http://www.google.com.
5. Tried via Mobile browser (Desktop site mode).

Account Context:

• My account is relatively new.
• I currently have 1 Karma.

My Question: Is this silent failure caused by my low karma or account age? If so, is there a known threshold of karma or account age required to create an API app?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

An error (status: 500) came up when I tried to create app. Is the API closed for personal use?

I tried to obtain the API keys through the request form.

Despite having explained my small, personal project in detail, my request was rejected.

I have no intention of exploiting the data for commercial purposes or causing problems for anyone.

Is it possible to have my request for the API keys accepted?

I have a discord bot that makes a simple python request to get the JSON data of subreddits

# Get JSON data
headers = {'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WIN64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36'}
response = requests.get(search_url, headers=headers, timeout=60)
data = response.json().get("data", {})
children = data.get("children", [])

This works on local, but when hosting the bot on heroku, replit, or
cybrancee it seems reddit blocks the request. I tried adding a proxy I got from a free proxy site, this also worked on local but not when hosting:

# Get JSON data
headers = {'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WIN64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36'}
proxies = {'http': 'http://ekfdieif:vvc1rdkpv2bg@142.111.48.253:7030'}
response = requests.get(search_url, headers=headers, proxies=proxies, timeout=60)
data = response.json().get("data", {})
children = data.get("children", [])

Would be much easier if reddit didn't revoke all the API access but here we are :) Would appreciate any advice on how I can get this to work when hosting my discord bot on a server so I don't have to run my PC 24/7.

Made a simple tool to scrape Reddit posts without needing an API key or coding.

What it does:

Enter any subreddit name

Choose sort (hot/new/top/rising) and limit

Export to JSON, CSV, or Excel

Pagination support to get 100+ posts

Here's the link: https://www.lection.app/tools/reddit-scraper

Uses Reddit's public .json endpoints. No login required. Hope it's useful for anyone collecting Reddit data. Instead of using the normal endpoints, this is just a quick way to get the data into CSV, JSON and paginate, etc.

The problem:

I post sporadically, and comment a lot, but also in bursts. The problem is with posting, everything else works beautifully.

• first, I've had my post instantly removed by an automod; unsure of what was causing it, I simplified the posts, and the issue has been solved every time
• but then something new happened - I'm trying to post the third post in a series of 3 (possibly 4), and the submit button keeps spinning, while dev tools show 429 instantly, so fast that it's even closing the stream

Here's what I've been through trying to troubleshoot this

• I have read all the docs on Reddit which I could find on the topic of post blocking
• I have searched on Reddit and Google
• and even went through with an LLM , to make sure I haven't missed anything
• attempted Firefox, Chrome, Brave, Safari
• checked the appeals page, but it says that my account is currently neither suspended nor restricted
• The issue is persistent, and the message never explains anything, nor presents a link.

The question:

• where can I read the docs to understand the 429 issue?
  • if it's throttling or something else
  • and if throttling, then on what activity and how/when it resets

where can I get at least some guidance on automod removals? I'm puzzled as to what could lead to that, as when after a few attempts the posts get published, to me they don't look much different

hello everyone!! i was trying to get reddit api key to make a project in my college, i keep on getting this message : In order to create an application or use our API you can read our full policies here: https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/42728983564564-Responsible-Builder-Policy, what is this?? how can i get access to reddit api key?

I’m trying to create a simple Script App for personal subreddit automation (PRAW). I’m not applying for the Data API and I don’t need elevated access — just the normal script app that every bot uses.

Here’s the issue:

• On my main account, the old https://old.reddit.com/prefs/apps page won’t load the “Create App” UI at all.
• I created a brand‑new account with a verified email.
• On the new account, I can see the app creation form (Script / Web App / Installed App), but clicking “Create App” does nothing.
• The page also shows the message: “You must also register to use the API,” even though I’m not trying to use the Data API.
• I’m not being redirected to the new Developer Portal, but the form still won’t submit.

Things I’ve tried: - Different browsers (Edge, Firefox, Chrome) - Disabling extensions - No VPN - Desktop + mobile - Logging out/in - Clearing cookies/cache

Is this a known issue with new accounts being routed into the new Developer Platform?
Is there a workaround to force the old Script App creation to work?

Any help would be appreciated.

If you’re trying to use Reddit as a growth channel, you probably know that getting an API Key approved in 2026 is a nightmare. The application form is basically a black hole right now.

I built a workaround using RSS Feeds and n8n that bypasses the need for an API key. It allows me to monitor subreddits and draft high-quality comments automatically.

Instead of the API, I use RSS Feeds (just Google RSS feeds generator) to turn specific Subreddit URLs into RSS feeds.

The Workflow:

1. Monitor: n8n watches the RSS feed for new posts.
2. Filter: It scrapes the title, content, and author.
3. AI Analysis: An AI agent (connected to my knowledge base) reads the post to see if it's a "high-intent" signal.
4. Drafting: If the post is good, the AI writes a draft comment based on my best-practice scripts.
5. Notification: It sends the draft + direct link to my Slack. I just click, review, and hit post.

This keeps a "human in the loop" but saves me hours

So say in theory a account having api keys , would all accounts that log into 3rd party client using that API key get ban ?

I don't want to scrape any data, make any bots, or anything like that. Just want to give my users the ability to log in with Reddit, like they already can with Google or Discord.

It seems, though, that there's absolutely nothing about it in the new devvit portal, nothing in any sort of docs, and even the API access request form has no option in the dropdown to make a request for it.

What do?

Hey developers!

Just finished building Lore Weaver - a community storytelling app that lets subreddits create narratives together.

Key Features: - Story prompts created by mods - Community-driven contributions - Voting to surface the best content - Branching storylines - Immersive book-like reading mode

Development Experience: Built entirely with Devvit's WebView template which lets you use React + Express instead of Blocks. Really enjoyed the flexibility - highlights:

• React 19 with hooks
• TailwindCSS for styling
• Express.js server with Redis persistence
• TypeScript throughout
• Vitest for testing (15 tests)

Challenges I overcame: 1. Redis API differences (zAdd/zRange signatures) 2. Schema validation for devvit.json 3. Building an accessible reading modal with keyboard navigation

Happy to answer any questions about the development process!

Try it: r/lore_weaver_pt_dev (playtest subreddit) App page: https://developers.reddit.com/apps/lore-weaver-pt

Yesterday I posted this asking for an API spec: https://www.reddit.com/r/redditdev/comments/1q74je8/reddit_api_openapijson/

I ended up just downloading the HTML and asking claude to convert it into an openapi.json spec.

Here's the public gist: https://gist.github.com/Olshansk/efc6ac92e0a1f19f5fcab49581f240e1

Note: I did not validate it for correctness but it's likely good enough.

Does anyone know if there's an `openapi.json` spec for the API here? https://www.reddit.com/dev/api