Claude skill to search Reddit using Arctic Shift archive API

claude-reddit-search.md

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---
name: reddit-research
description: Use when fetching Reddit content — threads, comments, post bodies, reactions, sentiment — without browser or OAuth. Covers the Arctic Shift API (only working unauthenticated meth
od as of mid-2026), correct fetch tools, and the workflow for Reddit research tasks.
---

Reddit Research

Fetch Reddit posts and comments programmatically using the Arctic Shift API. All other unauthenticated approaches (reddit.com JSON, old.reddit.com, libreddit, redlib, teddit, photon.reddit.com) return 403 or omit comment bodies.

Arctic Shift API

Base URL: https://arctic-shift.photon-reddit.com

arctic-shift.photon.wtf does not exist — that wrong hostname is the #1 failure cause.

Endpoint	Purpose	Example
/api/posts/ids?ids=ID1,ID2	Fetch posts by Reddit ID (no t3_ prefix)	?ids=1ur69uv,1ury1bx
/api/comments/tree?link_id=t3_ID&limit=N	Full comment tree for a post	?link_id=t3_1ur69uv&limit=100
/api/posts/search?subreddit=X&title=Y&limit=N	Search posts in a subreddit	?subreddit=Python&limit=25
/api/comments/search?subreddit=X&body=Y	Search comments by text	?subreddit=Python&body=asyncio

All GET, no auth. Returns full JSON with selftext (post body) and body (comment text).

Fetch Method

Use curl -s (via the Bash tool) to retrieve Arctic Shift responses — it has no size cap, returns raw JSON, and works reliably without quota concerns.

curl -s "https://arctic-shift.photon-reddit.com/api/posts/ids?ids=ID"
curl -s "https://arctic-shift.photon-reddit.com/api/comments/tree?link_id=t3_ID&limit=100"

Fallback order if curl is unavailable: mcp__exa__web_fetch_exa, then give up on mcp__searxng__fetch (it hard-caps at 50,000 chars and truncates mid-JSON on large comment trees).

Caveats

• Removed posts show "selftext": "[removed]" but their comment trees are intact.
• Comment/post search requires subreddit, author, or link_id scope — no global full-text search.
• Data lags live Reddit by minutes to hours (scheduled pulls).
• Status: https://status.arctic-shift.photon-reddit.com

Workflow

1. Find threads — mcp__searxng__search with site:reddit.com r/SubName "keyword" to get thread titles and post IDs.
2. Fetch content — Arctic Shift via curl -s (Bash tool):
   • Posts: curl -s "https://arctic-shift.photon-reddit.com/api/posts/ids?ids=ID"
   • Comments: curl -s "https://arctic-shift.photon-reddit.com/api/comments/tree?link_id=t3_ID&limit=100"
3. Broaden — For discovery without IDs, search news outlets (they quote Reddit threads verbatim) via Exa or SearXNG.

What Does NOT Work

Approach	Result
www.reddit.com/.json	403
old.reddit.com	Sidebar only, no comment bodies
redlib.catsarch.com	403
libreddit.kavin.rocks	403
teddit.net	Connection refused
photon.reddit.com	Connection error

Partial: SearXNG Snippets

mcp__searxng__search returns short snippets (1-3 sentences) of comment text in search results — useful for identifying active threads and gauging sentiment direction, but not for full content.