reddit-insights

Reddit Insights MCP

Semantic search across millions of Reddit posts. Unlike keyword search, this understands intent and meaning.

Setup

1. Get API Key (free tier available)

1. Sign up at https://reddit-insights.com
2. Go to Settings → API
3. Copy your API key

2. Install MCP Server

For Claude Desktop - add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-insights": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "reddit-insights-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "REDDIT_INSIGHTS_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Clawdbot - add to config/mcporter.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-insights": {
      "command": "npx reddit-insights-mcp",
      "env": {
        "REDDIT_INSIGHTS_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Verify installation:

mcporter list reddit-insights

Available Tools

Tool	Purpose	Key Params
reddit_search	Semantic search across posts	query (natural language), limit (1-100)
reddit_list_subreddits	Browse available subreddits	page, limit, search
reddit_get_subreddit	Get subreddit details + recent posts	subreddit (without r/)
reddit_get_trends	Get trending topics	filter (latest/today/week/month), category

Performance Notes

• Response time: 12-25 seconds (varies by query complexity)
  • Simple queries: ~12-15s
  • Complex semantic queries: ~17-20s
  • Heavy load periods: up to 25s
• Best results: Specific products, emotional language, comparison questions
• Weaker results: Abstract concepts, non-English queries, generic business terms
• Sweet spot: Questions a real person would ask on Reddit

Best Use Cases (Tested)

Use Case	Effectiveness	Why
Product comparisons (A vs B)	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Reddit loves debates
Tool/app recommendations	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	High-intent discussions
Side hustle/money topics	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Engaged communities
Pain point discovery	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Emotional posts rank well
Health questions	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Active health subreddits
Technical how-to	⭐⭐⭐	Better to search specific subreddits
Abstract market research	⭐⭐	Too vague for semantic search
Non-English queries	⭐	Reddit is English-dominant

Query Strategies (Tested with Real Data)

✅ Excellent Queries (relevance 0.70+)

Product Comparisons (best results!):

"Notion vs Obsidian for note taking which one should I use"
→ Relevance: 0.72-0.81 | Found: Detailed comparison discussions, user experiences

"why I switched from Salesforce to HubSpot honest experience"  
→ Relevance: 0.70-0.73 | Found: Migration stories, feature comparisons

Side Hustle/Money Topics:

"side hustle ideas that actually make money not scams"
→ Relevance: 0.70-0.77 | Found: Real experiences, specific suggestions

Niche App Research:

"daily horoscope apps which one is accurate and why"
→ Relevance: 0.67-0.72 | Found: App recommendations, feature requests

✅ Good Queries (relevance 0.60-0.69)

Pain Point Discovery:

"I hate my current CRM it is so frustrating"
→ Relevance: 0.60-0.64 | Found: Specific CRM complaints, feature wishlists

"cant sleep at night tried everything what actually works"
→ Relevance: 0.60-0.63 | Found: Sleep remedies discussions, medical advice seeking

Tool Evaluation:

"AI tools that actually save time not just hype"
→ Relevance: 0.64-0.65 | Found: Real productivity gains, tool recommendations

❌ Weak Queries (avoid these patterns)

Too Abstract:

"business opportunity growth potential"
→ Relevance: 0.52-0.58 | Returns unrelated generic posts

Non-English:

"学习编程最好的方法" (Chinese)
→ Relevance: 0.45-0.51 | Reddit is English-dominant, poor cross-lingual results

Query Formula Cheat Sheet

Goal	Pattern	Relevance
Compare products	"[Product A] vs [Product B] which should I use"	0.70-0.81
Find switchers	"why I switched from [A] to [B]"	0.70-0.73
Money/hustle topics	"[topic] that actually [works/makes money] not [scam/hype]"	0.70-0.77
App recommendations	"[category] apps which one is [accurate/best] and why"	0.67-0.72
Pain points	"I hate my current [tool] it is so [frustrating/slow]"	0.60-0.64
Solutions seeking	"[problem] tried everything what actually works"	0.60-0.63

Response Fields

Each result includes:

• title, content - Post text
• subreddit - Source community
• upvotes, comments - Engagement metrics
• relevance (0-1) - Semantic match score (0.5+ is good, 0.6+ is strong)
• sentiment - Discussion/Q&A/Story Sharing/Original Content/News
• url - Direct Reddit link

Example response:

{
  "id": "1oecf5e",
  "title": "Trying to solve the productivity stack problem",
  "content": "The perfect productivity app doesn't exist. No single app can do everything well, so we use a stack of apps. But this creates another problem: multi app fragmentation...",
  "subreddit": "productivityapps",
  "upvotes": 1,
  "comments": 0,
  "relevance": 0.631,
  "sentiment": "Discussion",
  "url": "https://reddit.com/r/productivityapps/comments/1oecf5e"
}

Tips

1. Natural language works best - Ask questions like a human would
2. Include context - "for small business" or "as a developer" improves results
3. Combine emotion words - "frustrated", "love", "hate", "wish" find stronger opinions
4. Filter by engagement - High upvotes/comments = validated pain points
5. Check multiple subreddits - Same topic discussed differently in r/startups vs r/smallbusiness

Example Workflows

Find SaaS opportunity:

1. reddit_search: "frustrated with project management tools for remote teams"
2. Filter results with high engagement
3. Identify recurring complaints → product opportunity

Validate idea:

1. reddit_search: "[your product category] recommendations"
2. See what alternatives people mention
3. Note gaps in existing solutions

Content research:

1. reddit_get_subreddit: Get posts from target community
2. reddit_search: Find specific questions/discussions
3. Create content answering real user questions