Lemmy Comments API

POST

API health

Health data cannot be read right now, so this API's recent state is unknown. That does not mean it is down.

Fetch comments from posts in a Lemmy community, with score, votes, depth, parent comment ID, deletion flag and the post each belongs to. max_comments caps comments per post, from 1 to 200 with a default of 50, not the request total.

Price $1.39 per 1,000 requests ($0.001389 per call). Failed calls and empty results are not charged. Synchronous. For slow jobs add "mode": "async" to the body, take the job_id and poll.

AI prompt

Paste this into your AI assistant. It already holds this endpoint's parameters, response fields and an example request, so the assistant can ask what you need and then write the scraper.

Please help me write a data collection script with the EveryInfra Lemmy Comments endpoint (lemmy/comments).

Endpoint contract:
- Request: POST https://api.everyinfra.com/api/v1/social with the header Authorization: Bearer <API key>. Read the key from the EVERYINFRA_API_KEY environment variable and never hard-code it.
- In the request body, set platform to lemmy and action to comments, and put the parameters inside params.
- Required parameters:
  - community: Specifies the community name or the cross-instance identifier in name@instance format. In the community action, it lists community posts.
- Optional parameters:
  - instance: Selects the Lemmy instance domain, such as lemmy.world, which is also the default. A full instance URL is accepted but reduced to its hostname. This chooses the query entry point, not a community name.
  - max_comments: Sets the maximum number of comments to fetch per post in the comments action, defaulting to 50 with an allowed range of 1 to 200.
  - sort: Sorts posts as hot, active, new, top, most_comments, or new_comments. Search and community default to hot, feed defaults to active, and comments defaults to most_comments. (allowed: active / hot / most_comments / new / new_comments / top)
  - top_range: Sets the score window only when sort is top: hour, sixhour, twelvehour, day, week (default), month, threemonths, sixmonths, ninemonths, year, or all. It is not a comment publication-date filter. (allowed: all / day / hour / month / ninemonths / sixhour / sixmonths / threemonths)
  - limit: The most rows to return in this call, an integer from 1 to 200. The default applies when you leave it out, and a call can return fewer rows. Larger values return 422 before any charge. (default: 10)
- Returns a list of records. Main fields of each record: id, text, author_username, author_url, score, upvote_count, downvote_count, depth, parent_comment_id, is_deleted, post_url, post_title; 14 fields in total, full list at https://api.everyinfra.com/api/v1/social/catalog?platform=lemmy.
- Example request body:
{
  "platform": "lemmy",
  "action": "comments",
  "params": {
    "community": "technology@lemmy.world"
  }
}
- Price: $1.39 per 1,000 requests; failed and empty results are not charged.
- For dozens or hundreds of targets, add "mode": "async" to the body: you get a job_id at once and poll GET https://api.everyinfra.com/api/v1/jobs/{job_id} for the result.
- On 422, fix the request using the suggested parameter names and allowed values in the error; on 429 or 503, wait for Retry-After and try again.

Before writing code, ask me which targets I need, how many, which fields, and what output format I want; then confirm the plan and the rough cost with me.

Request parameters

NameInTypeRequiredDefaultDescription
AuthorizationheaderstringYes-Bearer followed by your API key. Create it in the console; never put it in a URL or a code repository.
platformbodystringYeslemmyPlatform identifier, fixed value.
actionbodystringYescommentsCapability identifier, fixed value.
communitybody.paramsNot declaredYes-Specifies the community name or the cross-instance identifier in name@instance format. In the community action, it lists community posts; in the comments action, it fetches posts from the community and expands their comments rather than querying a single post URL directly.
instancebody.paramsNot declaredNo-Selects the Lemmy instance domain, such as lemmy.world, which is also the default. A full instance URL is accepted but reduced to its hostname. This chooses the query entry point, not a community name.
max_commentsbody.paramsNot declaredNo-Sets the maximum number of comments to fetch per post in the comments action, defaulting to 50 with an allowed range of 1 to 200. It limits comments per post rather than total posts or total comments for the request and automatically clamps values outside the allowed range.
sortbody.paramsenumNo-Sorts posts as hot, active, new, top, most_comments, or new_comments. Search and community default to hot, feed defaults to active, and comments defaults to most_comments.Allowed valuesactivehotmost_commentsnewnew_commentstop
top_rangebody.paramsenumNo-Sets the score window only when sort is top: hour, sixhour, twelvehour, day, week (default), month, threemonths, sixmonths, ninemonths, year, or all. It is not a comment publication-date filter.Allowed valuesalldayhourmonthninemonthssixhoursixmonthsthreemonthstwelvehourweekyear
limitbody.paramsinteger (1–200)No10The most rows to return in this call, an integer from 1 to 200. The default applies when you leave it out, and a call can return fewer rows. Larger values return 422 before any charge.

Code samples

bash
curl -X POST 'https://api.everyinfra.com/api/v1/social' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EVERYINFRA_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
  "platform": "lemmy",
  "action": "comments",
  "params": {
    "community": "technology@lemmy.world"
  }
}'

[OpenAPI definition (JSON)]Samples read the key from the EVERYINFRA_API_KEY environment variable; copied code never contains your key.

Response example

Real response

Captured September 26, 2026 at 08:56 (UTC) by calling this API with the parameters in the code sample above. results and count are that call's real response with personal information (names, handles, avatars, profile links, contact details) removed; the list keeps the first 2. id, billing and quota differ on every call, so only their shape is shown.

json
{
  "id": "req_…",
  "platform": "lemmy",
  "action": "comments",
  "results": [
    {
      "id": 1362670,
      "text": "The best time to switch to Firefox was 5 years ago. The second best is today.",
      "author_username": "(已隐去)",
      "author_url": "https://feddit.de/(已隐去)",
      "score": 386,
      "upvote_count": 390,
      "downvote_count": 4,
      "depth": 1,
      "is_deleted": false,
      "post_url": "https://lemmy.world/post/1611939",
      "post_title": "If you value privacy, ditch Chrome and switch to Firefox now",
      "community": "technology",
      "posted_at": "2023-07-17T03:48:33.161642+00:00",
      "platform": "lemmy"
    },
    {
      "id": 1363333,
      "text": "Most people aren’t concerned about privacy outside of places like here and Reddit. ",
      "author_username": "(已隐去)",
      "author_url": "https://lemmy.world/(已隐去)",
      "score": 211,
      "upvote_count": 223,
      "downvote_count": 12,
      "depth": 1,
      "is_deleted": false,
      "post_url": "https://lemmy.world/post/1611939",
      "post_title": "If you value privacy, ditch Chrome and switch to Firefox now",
      "community": "technology",
      "posted_at": "2023-07-17T04:18:40.724748+00:00",
      "platform": "lemmy"
    }
  ],
  "count": 500,
  "billing": {
    "charged": …,
    "charged_usd": …,
    "balance_after_usd": …,
    …
  },
  "quota": { … }
}

Response fields

Business data is in results. The table lists the fields a record can contain; values the platform does not show are never made up.

FieldMeaning
idThe record's unique ID on the platform. Unique only within one platform; IDs can repeat across platforms.
textBody text with HTML removed, returned in full and never cut short (on a few platforms the list results themselves carry only an excerpt; the platform's field notes say so).
author_usernameAuthor's username (@handle), usually usable in URLs.
author_urlLink to the author's profile on the platform.
scoreKeeps the platform's own meaning
upvote_countKeeps the platform's own meaning
downvote_countKeeps the platform's own meaning
depthKeeps the platform's own meaning
parent_comment_idKeeps the platform's own meaning
is_deletedKeeps the platform's own meaning
post_urlKeeps the platform's own meaning
post_titleKeeps the platform's own meaning
communityKeeps the platform's own meaning
posted_atPublish time in ISO 8601, UTC (for example 2026-08-07T12:34:56+00:00). Non-standard strings from the platform are passed through as is, so parse defensively. null means the platform does not disclose it.
platformSource platform identifier, the same as platform in the request (for example xiaohongshu, tiktok).

Errors and billing

401
Missing or invalid key. Authentication runs before parameter checks, so unauthenticated requests never see the parameter schema.
422
Wrong parameter name or value. The error lists the parameters and allowed values this capability accepts and the closest match; it happens before any charge.
402
Insufficient balance. Top up first.
429
The account's per-minute request limit was reached (all of its API keys count together; a key's own lower limit applies first). Wait for Retry-After and try again; a rate package in the console raises the limit.
503
Could not complete right now. Any charge for the call goes back to your balance automatically, and the billing receipt in the response states the actual outcome, including when it is not yet known. Do not resend blindly.
200 empty
The request completed without data and is not charged (billing.reason = empty_result_refunded).

Official references

Used only to check objects and terms. They do not imply authorization or endorsement of EveryInfra by the platform.

  • Lemmy: Nested Comment Hierarchies and Limit Boundaries ↗

    Official documentation explains top-level comments, nested reply hierarchies, and score calculations (upvotes minus downvotes). EveryInfra per-post comment limits represent an independent contract, not official sorting options; hitting a limit does not guarantee complete inclusion of all parent and child nodes.

    Checked 2026-09-04