Reddit Research

reddit-research-mcp is a fork/remake of the pi-reddit-research Pi extension by SaintNerona — github.com/SaintNerona/pi-reddit-research. It was converted from a Pi extension into a standalone MCP Server, with the core logic minimally changed.

MCP server for compact Reddit research packs.

Features

Registers these tools:

• reddit_url_extract — parse Reddit URLs, permalinks, post IDs, and comment IDs.
• reddit_resolve_subreddits — find and rank subreddit candidates for a topic.
• reddit_pack — build a compact evidence pack from posts and top comments.
• reddit_search — search Reddit posts without fetching full comment threads.
• reddit_thread — fetch one thread and top comments.
• reddit_subreddits — raw subreddit search.
• reddit_trends — inspect hot/top/new posts in one or more subreddits.

Install

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-research": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "git+https://github.com/jhartum/reddit-research-mcp.git"
      ],
      "env": {
        "REDDIT_SESSION": "${REDDIT_SESSION}",
        "REDDIT_TOKEN_V2": "${REDDIT_TOKEN_V2}"
      }
    }
  }
}

For local development:

git clone https://github.com/jhartum/reddit-research-mcp.git
cd reddit-research-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Then point your MCP client at node /path/to/reddit-research-mcp/dist/index.js.

Usage

Ask questions like:

• "What does Reddit think about Claude Code vs OpenCode?"
• "Find Reddit fixes for this error: ..."
• "What settings do ComfyUI users recommend for ...?"

Configuration

1. JSON config (recommended)

Since mid-2026, Reddit requires authentication for .json access. Create ~/.pi/agent/reddit-research.json:

{
  "cookie": "reddit_session=abc123; token_v2=def456"
}

Or reference a separate cookie file:

{
  "cookieFile": "/home/user/.config/pi-reddit-research/cookie.txt"
}

Advantages:

• No env vars to manage
• The server re-reads the config before requests, so you can update the cookie without restarting
• cookieFile keeps the secret outside the JSON config and shell startup files

Security: your Reddit cookie is a secret. Do not commit it to git or public dotfiles.

2. Environment variables (alternative)

Variable	Default	Description
REDDIT_CACHE_DIR	~/.cache/reddit-research-mcp	Cache directory.
REDDIT_SQLITE_PATH	$REDDIT_CACHE_DIR/reddit.sqlite	SQLite cache path.
REDDIT_USER_AGENT	reddit-research-mcp/1.0 (https://github.com/jhartum/reddit-research-mcp)	User-Agent for Reddit JSON requests.
REDDIT_DELAY_MS	1200	Minimum delay between Reddit requests.
REDDIT_CACHE_TTL_MS	3600000	Search/request cache TTL.
REDDIT_THREAD_TTL_MS	21600000	Thread cache TTL.
REDDIT_SUBREDDIT_TTL_MS	604800000	Subreddit cache TTL.
REDDIT_TOPIC_TTL_MS	2592000000	Topic-to-subreddit cache TTL.
REDDIT_MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS	14000	Max compact output size.
REDDIT_COOKIE	—	Reddit session cookie value. Overrides config file.
REDDIT_COOKIE_FILE	—	Path to a file with the Cookie header value. Overrides config file.
REDDIT_CONFIG_PATH	~/.pi/agent/reddit-research.json	Path to JSON config file.

Cookie source priority (highest to lowest):

1. REDDIT_COOKIE env var
2. REDDIT_COOKIE_FILE env var → reads file
3. cookie field in JSON config
4. cookieFile field in JSON config → reads file

Notes

This server uses Reddit's .json endpoints with local SQLite caching. Since mid-2026, Reddit requires authentication for .json access. Set your cookie in ~/.pi/agent/reddit-research.json, via cookieFile, or via env vars to restore functionality.

Treat Reddit posts and comments as anecdotal evidence, not verified facts.

How to get your Reddit cookie

1. Open a private/incognito browser window (to avoid unrelated cookies).

2. Go to https://www.reddit.com/login and sign in.

3. F12 → Application → Cookies → reddit.com.

4. Method A (full Cookie header): Click any cookie → Ctrl+A → Ctrl+C, then pick "Copy as string" (Chrome) or paste into an editor and join with ; .

5. Method B (only reddit_session): Copy the value of the reddit_session cookie and use:

   # Via config file:
   echo '{"cookie": "reddit_session=YOUR_VALUE"}' > ~/.pi/agent/reddit-research.json
   
   # Or keep the secret in a separate file:
   mkdir -p ~/.config/reddit-research-mcp
   printf '%s\n' 'reddit_session=YOUR_VALUE' > ~/.config/reddit-research-mcp/cookie.txt
   printf '{"cookieFile":"%s/.config/reddit-research-mcp/cookie.txt"}\n' "$HOME" > ~/.pi/agent/reddit-research.json
   
   # Or via env:
   export REDDIT_COOKIE="reddit_session=YOUR_VALUE"
   

Important: Avoid cookies with JSON values (like g_state={"i_l":1,...}) — they break the JSON config file. If you copy the full Cookie header, remove entries like g_state, eu_cookie, and seeker_session. Only reddit_session and token_v2 are needed for authentication.

The cookie expires after a few days. When that happens, just update it in the config or cookie file — the server will pick up the change automatically.

License

MIT