How to give your AI agent Reddit data

Before you start

1. Create a free account on Apify. You do not need a credit card.
2. If your client does not support OAuth, copy your API token from Apify Console → Settings → API & Integrations. Treat the token like a password.

The URL contains ?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper. It loads only the Reddit Scraper, plus the helper tools that read run results. A short tool list keeps the agent focused and saves context.

Claude Desktop

Sign-in: OAuth (sign in to Apify) or API token

1. Open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. Name it Apify and paste this URL as the remote MCP server URL. Click Connect and sign in to Apify.

   https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper

2. To use an API token instead, add the server to claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config) and restart Claude Desktop.

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "apify": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": [
           "-y",
           "@apify/actors-mcp-server",
           "--tools",
           "harshmaur/reddit-scraper"
         ],
         "env": {
           "APIFY_TOKEN": "YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
         }
       }
     }
   }

Claude Code

Sign-in: OAuth or API token

1. Add the server over HTTP. Then run /mcp in Claude Code, pick apify and sign in to Apify.

   claude mcp add apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper" -t http

2. With an API token instead of OAuth:

   claude mcp add apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper" -t http \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"

Claude on the web (claude.ai)

Sign-in: OAuth

1. Open Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector. Name it Apify, paste the URL, click Add, then Connect and sign in to Apify. Turn the connector on in the chat's tools menu.

   https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper

Connectors you add on claude.ai also show in Claude Desktop and the Claude mobile apps.

ChatGPT

Sign-in: OAuth

1. Turn on Developer mode. Then open Settings → Apps & Connectors → Create. Enter a name, a short description and this MCP server URL. Pick OAuth. You do not need a client ID or secret. Click Create and sign in to Apify.

   https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper

2. In a new chat, click + → More and pick the Apify connector. Approve each tool the first time it runs.

ChatGPT reads the tool list when you create the connector. To change the actor later, create a new connector.

Cursor

Sign-in: OAuth or API token

1. Add the server to .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or to ~/.cursor/mcp.json for all projects. Remove the headers block to sign in with OAuth.

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "apify": {
         "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper",
         "headers": {
           "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
         }
       }
     }
   }

OpenClaw

Sign-in: API token or OAuth

1. Add the server to your OpenClaw config. Set transport to streamable-http. Without it, OpenClaw uses SSE and the connection fails.

   {
     "mcp": {
       "servers": {
         "apify": {
           "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper",
           "transport": "streamable-http",
           "headers": {
             "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
           }
         }
       }
     }
   }

2. For OAuth, replace headers with "auth": "oauth" and sign in:

   openclaw mcp login apify

Install the Reddit skill (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and others)

A skill teaches the agent how to call the actor well: which input fields to use, how to keep the cost low and when to ask before a big run. Install it next to the MCP server, or alone if the agent can run the Apify CLI:

npx skills add apify/awesome-skills -s apify-reddit-scraper

The skill lives in apify/awesome-skills. It asks you to approve runs above about 2,500 results.

n8n

Sign-in: API token (Bearer)

1. In an AI Agent workflow, add an MCP Client Tool node to the agent's Tool input. Set Endpoint to the URL, Server Transport to HTTP Streamable and Authentication to Bearer Auth with your Apify token.

   https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper

2. For a fixed workflow without an agent (for example, a daily lead list), install the Apify community node @apify/n8n-nodes-apify. Use the operation Run an Actor and get dataset with this actor and input:

   harshmaur~reddit-scraper
   
   {
     "searchTerms": [
       "looking for a crm",
       "alternative to hubspot"
     ],
     "searchSort": "new",
     "postedAfter": "1 day",
     "maxPostsCount": 50
   }

Local MCP server (no Apify MCP)

If your client only supports local stdio servers, use reddit-scraper-mcp. It exposes three tools: search_reddit, scrape_reddit_urls and scrape_subreddit. It needs Node.js 20 or later.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-scraper": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "reddit-scraper-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "APIFY_TOKEN": "YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Example prompts

Lead generation

Use the Reddit scraper to search Reddit for "looking for a CRM", "CRM recommendation", "alternative to HubSpot" and "best CRM for small business". Sort by new, only posts from the last 7 days, up to 50 posts per search, no comments. Keep only posts where the author asks for a tool or mentions a budget. Return a table with the title, subreddit, author, date, link, one line on what they need, and a lead score (hot, warm or cold). Tell me the estimated cost before you run it.

Brand monitoring

Use the Reddit scraper to find every Reddit post and comment from the last 24 hours that mentions "Acme Analytics" or "acmeanalytics.com". Search comments as well as posts, sorted by new, up to 100 posts per term. Group the results into complaints, praise, questions and competitor comparisons. For each, give the link, subreddit, upvotes and a one-sentence summary. Flag anything negative with more than 20 upvotes as urgent.

Need better search terms? The free Reddit advanced search builder writes buying-intent, competitor and brand queries that you can paste into these prompts. The free subreddit finder shows where your buyers talk.

What the agent gets back

Each result is one JSON record. dataType is post, comment, community or user_profile. These are the fields agents use most:

{
  "dataType": "post",
  "title": "Looking for a simple CRM for a 3-person agency",
  "body": "We track leads in a spreadsheet and it is falling apart...",
  "authorName": "example_user",
  "communityName": "r/smallbusiness",
  "upVotes": 14,
  "commentsCount": 22,
  "postUrl": "https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/.../",
  "createdAt": "2026-10-16T09:12:00.000Z",
  "searchTerm": "looking for a crm"
}

On a paid Apify plan, the actor can also add AI fields: sentiment, intent (for example purchase_intent or seeking_recommendation) and lead flags such as wantsHelp and willingToPay.

Cost

The Reddit Scraper uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay $0.02 when a run starts, plus a fee for each post or comment it saves. Comments count as results, so leave comment scraping off when you only need posts.

The free plan's $5 monthly credit covers about 2,400 results. Tell the agent the maximum number of posts in your prompt, so one request cannot start a large run.

Other Reddit actors

Load any of these instead of, or next to, the Reddit Scraper. Add them to the URL with a comma: ?tools=harshmaur/reddit-scraper,harshmaur/reddit-comments-scraper.

• Reddit Search Scraper: keyword search only.
• Reddit Comments Scraper: full comment threads from post URLs.
• Subreddit Scraper: posts from whole subreddits.
• Reddit User Scraper: posts and comments by user.
• Reddit Scraper Pro: all of the above in one actor.

Troubleshooting

• 401 Unauthorized: the client did not send a token. Sign in with OAuth again, or check the Authorization: Bearer header.
• The agent does not see the tool: restart the client, then check that the connector is on for the chat.
• The run times out in the chat: ask for fewer posts. The agent can also read a finished run later with get-actor-run and get-dataset-items.
• Few results for a quoted phrase: Reddit search matches quoted phrases strictly. Remove the quotes or add variants.

Frequently asked questions