reddit-api
reddit-api is a small node library that makes it easy to use the reddit api in both the server and client.
Making requests
reddit-api exports both "redditClientApi" and "redditServerApi", one usable in client side code and the other usable in server side code. Both are used in the same way so the following examples aplies to both.
Checking if a subreddit exists:
const subreddit = "webdev";
redditClientApi.checkIfSubredditExists(subreddit).then(response => {
console.log(response.data); // Logs out a boolean, in this case it will be true
});Requesting posts:
const options = {};
redditClientApi.getPosts(options).then(response => {
console.log(response.data); // Logs out an array of objects for each post
});Options
| Property | Type(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| subreddit | String, String[] | The subreddit or subreddits to get posts from |
| flair | String | The category for the posts, only usable for subreddits which has flairs |
| searchTerm | String | The search query |
| sort | String | The criteria to use for getting posts, can be: "relevance", "top", "new" or "comments" |
| time | String | The max age for posts, can be: "all", "year", "month", "week", "day" or "hour" |
| linkDomain | String | Get posts that links to a certain site |
| limit | Number | The max number of posts to return, max: 100 |
| after | String | Will return posts after a given post, format: kind_id. Does only work with a defined subreddit and should be used with sort: "new" |
| before | String | Will return posts before a given post, format: kind_id. Does only work with a defined subreddit and should be used with sort: "new" |
| nsfw | Boolean | If posts featuring adult content should be requested |
This information is also available through jsdoc.
Getting comments:
const postId = ""; // The id for a post can be found in the response when requesting posts
redditClientApi.getCommentsForPost(postId).then(response => {
console.log(response.data); // Logs out an array of objects with details about each comments and replies to them
// In this case it won't work as the id is empty
});Prerequsites
This library uses express to enable comunication between the client and the server, so some knowledege on express is recommended.
In order to use the client api class it also needs to be bundled, for that I would recommend webpack.
Getting started
First install reddit-api by running the following in the terminal:
npm install @randomlyfish/reddit-api
Then install webpack as a development dependency:
npm install webpack --save-dev
Create the following directory and file structure:
client
index.html
index.js
server
app.js
webpack.config.js
index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Document</title>
</head>
<body>
<script src="dist/bundle.js" type="module"></script>
</body>
</html>index.js
import {redditClientApi} from "@randomlyfish/reddit-api";
const options = {limit: 5};
redditClientApi.getPosts(options).then(response => {
console.log(response.data); // Logs out an array of objects with all the posts
});app.js
// Code for setting up express
const path = require("path");
const express = require("express");
const app = express();
const localPort = 3000;
const port = process.env.PORT || localPort;
const root = process.cwd();
app.listen(port);
app.use("/dist", express.static("dist"));
app.get("/", (req, res) => {
res.sendFile(path.join(root + "/client/index.html"));
});
if (port === localPort) {
// In the terminal, you can hold control and click on the link to open it in the browser
console.log("http://127.0.0.1:" + port + "/");
}
// Code for setting up reddit-api
const {redditServerApi} = require("@randomlyfish/reddit-api");
// Enables the use of the client api which is used in index.js
redditServerApi.addRoutes(app);webpack.config.js
const path = require("path");
module.exports = {
// This defines where webpack will start gathering dependencies,
// it's usually your main client script file, or html file
entry: "./client/index.js",
// This defines where the bundled code will end up in your project directory
// It's set up to be added into dist/bundle.js
output: {
path: path.resolve(__dirname),
filename: "bundle.js",
publicPath: "/dist"
},
// This allows you to view your client scripts in the browser as if they were not bundled
// While it's not required, it's highly recommended as it makes it much easier to debug your code during development
devtool: "source-map"
}Running
Run the following in terminal to bundle your code:
webpack --entry ./client/index.js --output-filename ./dist/bundle.js --mode=development
And this to start the server:
node server/app