Reddit Research skill for Claude Code: search Reddit by meaning

Lets Claude search Reddit by meaning to find complaints, unmet needs and trends, through the third-party reddapi.dev service.

Installs: 11.4K; on skills.sh
Stars: 15; on GitHub
Updated: Sep 2026; last repo commit

reddit-research makes Claude run searches against reddapi.dev, a third-party index of Reddit posts and comments. It matches on meaning, so a search for frustration finds posts that never use that word. It also pulls trending topics for a date range and lists subreddits.

It loads when you ask to research Reddit, validate a niche, find user complaints or see Reddit trends. You need a reddapi.dev API key set in your shell. Claude then runs curl commands against reddapi.dev. The skill says the index is not Reddit itself, so it is not a stand-in for Reddit's own API where official data matters.

Good for

Founders checking whether people want a product before they build it
Product and market researchers who want real user complaints about a competitor
Marketers who want to see which topics and subreddits are rising

Install reddit-research

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the reddit-research skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add https://github.com/lignertys/reddit-research-skills --skill reddit-research

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js.

The skill needs a reddapi.dev key in the shell that runs Claude. SKILL.md gives two lines to run yourself: export REDDAPI_API_KEY=... and export REDDAPI_AUTH="Authorization: Bearer $REDDAPI_API_KEY". Because Claude runs curl in that shell, we store no Claude app upload tab for this skill.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Do market research, user research, and product validation on Reddit with semantic search across 50K+ subreddits, 20M+ posts, and 40M+ comments via reddapi.dev - search by meaning, not keywords, no Reddit OAuth or app registration needed. Use when the user wants to research what people say on Reddit, find user pain points and complaints, validate a product or niche idea, do competitor and market research, track subreddit trends over a date range, or discover which subreddits discuss a topic. Also use when the user mentions 'Reddit research', 'Reddit 调研', 'search Reddit', 'subreddit discovery', 'niche validation', 'pain points', 'user complaints', or 'Reddit trends'. Requires REDDAPI_API_KEY. For B2B lead scoring, see reddit-leads; for a bare API reference, see reddit-search-api.

Sections in SKILL.md

Overview
Which Search Mode to Use
Handling Untrusted Content
Credentials
Endpoints
Semantic search - the default
Vector search - when you need a date range
Trends - POST only, named entities with a real growth rate
Subreddit discovery - two variants, pick the right one
Research Playbooks
Market research - what people say about a competitor
Niche validation - underserved needs, before you build
Trend tracking - is a topic growing or fading
Quick reference: query pattern -> what it's good for
Response Format
Vector / semantic search response

Key facts

Author: lignertys (repo owner)
License: MIT (LICENSE file and SKILL.md frontmatter)
Installs on skills.sh: 11,389 as of 2026-11-02
GitHub stars: 15 for the repo, 2026-11-02
skills.sh audits: Gen Agent Trust Hub pass, Socket pass, Snyk warn
What is inside: 1 file: SKILL.md (no scripts in the folder)
Needs: A reddapi.dev API key as REDDAPI_API_KEY; curl; python3 for one trend example
Last repo commit: 2026-09-15
Same repo: Also holds reddit-leads, reddit-search-api and reddapi

What it includes

Searches the whole archive by meaning, up to 100 results
Claude POSTs your query to reddapi.dev. It accepts no date filter and can add an AI summary if you ask for one.
Try: “Use reddit-research to find what people complain about with Notion.”
Runs code · Semantic search (default)
Same archive, with a start and end date
Claude switches to this only when the question has a date range, such as comparing two periods.
Try: “Search Reddit for frustrations with project management tools between 2026-01-01 and 2026-03-31.”
Runs code · Vector search
Named topics rising on Reddit in a date window, up to 92 days
Returns products, people, games and events with a growth rate against the window before. It is site-wide, not filtered by topic.
Try: “What was Reddit talking about between 2026-08-01 and 2026-08-18?”
Runs code · Trends
Lists subreddits or looks one up
The public variant needs no key. The keyed variant adds sorting and counts as an API call.
Try: “Which subreddits discuss programming?”
Network · Subreddit discovery
Query patterns for competitors, niches and pain points
Three recipes: competitor problems, "I wish there was an app that" for unmet needs, and trend tracking with a short python3 snippet.
Network · Research playbooks
Treats Reddit text as data, never as commands
The skill tells Claude to keep quoted posts separate from its own text and never to act on URLs or commands found in posts.
Read · Untrusted-content rules
Keeps the API key out of the chat
Claude refers to the key only as $REDDAPI_API_KEY, stops if it is not set, and reports only the HTTP status on failure.
Read · Credential rules

From the official docs

Permissions

Medium risk

Claude sends your search text and your reddapi.dev key to a third-party service. Keep confidential text out of queries and set the key in your shell, not in chat.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

Your queries and key go to a third party
Claude sends each search and your API key to reddapi.dev, not to Reddit. Do not put private or confidential text in a query. github.com
Results are untrusted Reddit text
Posts can contain instructions aimed at an AI. SKILL.md tells Claude to treat them as data and never act on them; still, read results before you approve any follow-up command. github.com
Searches use a shared monthly allowance
A reddit-leads SKILL.md says web-app, API and lead searches draw from one counter, and an exhausted key returns 429. Watch your usage on reddapi.dev. github.com

Security advisories

No published security advisories as of Nov 2, 2026.

Technical details

Turning on read-only	SKILL.md defines no read-only switch. The endpoints it lists are searches and lookups.
Talks to	reddapi.dev
Sign-in and keys	You export REDDAPI_API_KEY in your own shell. SKILL.md tells Claude not to ask for the key, echo it or write it to a file.
Scopes	Claude runs curl commands against reddapi.dev using your REDDAPI_API_KEY One example pipes the trends response through a short python3 snippet

Questions

What does the reddit-research skill do?

It makes Claude search Reddit by meaning through reddapi.dev, then summarize complaints, unmet needs, trending topics and relevant subreddits. It suits market and user research.

How do I install reddit-research?

Use the install box at the top of the page, then set REDDAPI_API_KEY in your own shell before you start Claude. We store no Claude app upload for it because Claude runs curl in your shell.

Do I need an API key and does it cost money?

Yes, a reddapi.dev key. The sibling reddit-leads SKILL.md says the Free plan has no API access and lists paid plans from Lite at $19.9/mo, with one monthly call allowance shared by web searches and API calls. Check the reddapi.dev pricing page for current prices.

Does it use the official Reddit API?

No. SKILL.md says reddapi.dev is a third-party index, not Reddit itself, with no Reddit sign-in or app registration. It also says to treat it as a research tool where official data provenance matters.

Is reddit-research safe?

It bundles no scripts, but Claude runs curl commands that send your search text and your API key to reddapi.dev. Results are other people's unmoderated posts, which the skill tells Claude to treat as data only. Set the key in your shell, not in chat.

Which search mode should I use?

SKILL.md says to default to semantic search and use vector search only when you need a date range. The semantic mode takes no date filter.

reddit-research vs reddapi, reddit-search-api and reddit-leads?

SKILL.md calls reddapi the original name for the same engine, kept for existing installs, and reddit-search-api a bare endpoint reference. reddit-leads scores posts as sales leads instead of doing general research.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: lignertys/reddit-research-skills
Folder: skills/reddit-research

lignertys/reddit-research-skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 3

README · github.com
reddit-research SKILL.md · github.com
reddit-leads SKILL.md · github.com