> **For coding agents and LLMs:** This is one page from the Social Fetch docs (markdown export). For curated orientation and workflow guidance, start with [`/llms.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.txt); for agent onboarding and crawl rules, use [`/agents.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/agents.txt); for the full endpoint list with links to pages like this one, use [`/llms-endpoints.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-endpoints.txt); for one platform's parameters and curls, use [`/llms-{platform}.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-tiktok.txt); use [`/llms.json`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.json) when you need structured JSON for tool registration.

## This page

- **On-site (HTML):** <https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/substack/search/get>
- **Markdown (.mdx) URL:** <https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/substack/search/get.mdx>

## API base URL and authentication

- **API origin (from OpenAPI `servers`):** `https://api.socialfetch.dev`
- **Authentication:** send `x-api-key: sfk_...` on `/v1/**` and `/v2/**` routes unless the operation is explicitly anonymous (check OpenAPI `security`, the [API reference hub](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api.mdx), [`/llms.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.txt), or [`/llms.json`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.json) for each route).
- **OpenAPI JSON:** <https://www.socialfetch.dev/openapi.json>

## Recommended docs entrypoints (this site)

- [Documentation overview](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs.mdx) — top-level orientation (markdown).
- [Quickstart](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/quickstart.mdx) — authenticate with `x-api-key`, validate auth with `whoami`, and understand the JSON envelope.
- [SDK](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/sdk.mdx) — official TypeScript SDK guide, including `SocialFetchClient`, `Result`, and `unwrap()`.
- [Capability matrix](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/capability-matrix.mdx) — every operation with identifiers, pagination, outcomes, media download, credits, and its SDK method. Generated from OpenAPI, so use it for route selection instead of scanning individual pages.
- [Recipes](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/recipes.mdx) — copyable workflows (brand monitoring, transcripts, Ad Library, creator scoring, Reddit research) with credit callouts and SDK examples.
- [Integrations](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations.mdx) — MCP for AI clients, n8n verified node, Apify Store Actors, Make custom app, SDK, and REST API connection paths.
- [MCP product page](https://www.socialfetch.dev/mcp) — hosted MCP overview, OAuth, Skills install.
- [MCP integration](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations/mcp.mdx) — hosted `/mcp` server, OAuth, Cursor/VS Code/Claude install snippets, 910 endpoint tools, plus docs_search/docs_read for implementation help.
- [n8n integration](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations/n8n.mdx) — install `n8n-nodes-socialfetch`, credentials, and workflow examples.
- [Apify integration](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations/apify.mdx) — Store Actors under @social-fetch, PPE billing, dataset export, and quick start.
- [Make integration](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/integrations/make.mdx) — custom app modules for Make scenarios, API key credentials, and module catalog.
- [`/llms-endpoints.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-endpoints.txt) — every documented operation with a direct link to that route's agent-readable markdown page (prefer this over parsing OpenAPI).
- [`/llms-{platform}.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-tiktok.txt) — per-platform endpoint files generated from OpenAPI (parameters, credits, curls).
- [`/agents.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/agents.txt) — agent crawl/onboarding file with capabilities, auth rules, and allowlist.
- [`/llms.json`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.json) — structured machine-readable operation inventory with parameter names, pagination, outcomes, credits, and SDK mapping.
- [API reference hub](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api.mdx) — human-friendly index of operations with links into generated pages.
- [Errors](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/errors.mdx) — shared error envelope and HTTP status guidance.
- [Credits](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/credits.mdx) — metering, `402`, and planning batch jobs.
- Outcome semantics such as `found`, `not_found`, and `private` are documented in [Errors](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/errors.mdx) and on operation pages when present in the OpenAPI contract.

## Markdown docs convention

- Every docs page has a markdown twin: append **`.mdx`** to the docs pathname (for example `/docs/quickstart` → `/docs/quickstart.mdx`).
- Agents that send `Accept: text/markdown` on `/docs/**` HTML URLs may receive markdown directly (same URL, `Vary: Accept`).
- Published blog posts use the same convention: `/blog/{slug}` → `/blog/{slug}.mdx`, or `Accept: text/markdown` on the HTML URL (`Vary: Accept`).

---
# Search Substack posts, notes and people (https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/substack/search/get)

## Summary

Search Substack posts, notes and profiles, cursor paged.

**Tags:** `Substack`

## HTTP

- **Method:** GET
- **Path:** `/v1/substack/search`
- **Base URL:** `https://api.socialfetch.dev`

## Capability summary

- **SDK mapping:** `client.substack.searchTop({ query: "climate" })`
- **Accepted identifiers:** `query` (query)
- **Pagination:** cursor via `cursor`, next cursor: `data.page.nextCursor`, has more: `data.page.hasMore`
- **Business outcome field:** `data.lookupStatus` with values `found`, `not_found`

## Credits

- **Base:** 1 credit per successful lookup.
- **Maximum on success (200):** 1 credit.
- **Failed requests (`lookup_failed`, `503`):** not charged.
- **Authoritative field:** `meta.creditsCharged`.

## Authentication

- **`x-api-key`**: API key (`sfk_...`)

## Parameters

### `query` (query)

- **Required:** yes
- **Constraints:** type `string`; minLength: 1; maxLength: 200
- **Description:** Text to search posts, notes and profiles for.

### `cursor` (query)

- **Required:** no
- **Constraints:** type `string`; maxLength: 4096
- **Description:** Opaque cursor from the previous page's `nextCursor`.

## Pagination

This endpoint uses **cursor-based pagination** via the `cursor` query parameter.

- Read **hasMore** from `data.page.hasMore`.
- When that value is `true`, read **nextCursor** from `data.page.nextCursor` and pass it as the `cursor` query parameter on the **next** request (URL-encode when building a query string).
- Omit `cursor` on the **first** request.
- Stop when **hasMore** is `false` or **nextCursor** is null (end of list).

## Responses (status codes)

- **200**: Substack top search.
- **400**: Invalid request
- **401**: Missing or invalid API key
- **402**: Insufficient credits
- **500**: Unexpected or billing error
- **502**: Lookup could not be completed.
- **503**: Service temporarily unavailable; safe to retry with backoff.

## Response body (200)

Substack top search.

### Field outline

- **data** (required) — type `object`. Endpoint-specific response payload.
  - **lookupStatus** (required) — type `string`; enum: found, not_found. Whether the search ran.
  - **query** (required) — type `string`. The query that was searched.
  - **items** (required) — type `array`. The matching feed items.
    - _items:_
      - **type** (required) — type `string`; nullable. `post`, `comment`/note, or `profileSearchResults`.
      - **id** (required) — type `string`; nullable. Substack's entity key, e.g. `p-123` or `c-456`.
      - **post** (required) — type `object`; nullable. The post, when the item is a post.
      - **note** (required) — type `object`; nullable. The note, when the item is a note.
      - **publication** (required) — type `object`; nullable. The publication behind the item.
      - **profiles** (required) — type `array`; nullable. Matching profiles, when the item is a profile block.
        - _items:_
      - **createdAt** (required) — type `string`; nullable. ISO 8601 timestamp, or null when Substack does not publish one.
      - **parentComments** (required) — type `array`; nullable. Parent notes, when the item is a reply.
        - _items:_
  - **page** (required) — type `object`. Pagination state for the current page.
    - **hasMore** (required) — type `boolean`. Whether another page is available.
    - **nextCursor** (required) — type `string`; nullable. Cursor to pass in the next request when more pages exist; null on the last page.
- **meta** (required) — type `object`. Metadata describing the request and billing outcome.
  - **requestId** (required) — type `string`; minLength: 1. Unique request identifier for tracing this API call.
  - **creditsCharged** (required) — type `integer`; minimum: 0. Credits charged for this request.
  - **version** (required) — type `string`; enum: v1. Public API version that served the response.

### Example JSON (found)

```json
{
  "data": {
    "lookupStatus": "found",
    "query": "climate",
    "items": [
      {
        "type": "post",
        "id": "p-214060998",
        "post": {
          "id": 214060998,
          "publicationId": 3708466,
          "slug": "were-in-deep-shit-but-not-because",
          "title": "We’re In Deep Shit, But Not Because of El Niño",
          "subtitle": "The real danger is steadily escalating planetary heat. The only way forward is to end billionaires.",
          "description": "The real danger is steadily escalating planetary heat. The only way forward is to end billionaires.",
          "kind": "newsletter",
          "audience": "everyone",
          "isPaywalled": false,
          "url": "https://climatehuman.substack.com/p/were-in-deep-shit-but-not-because",
          "publishedAt": "2026-09-03T20:19:23.412Z",
          "updatedAt": null,
          "language": "en",
          "bodyHtml": null,
          "bodyIsPreview": false,
          "previewText": "Damage to the Earth caused by billionaires, as seen from space.",
          "wordCount": 1090,
          "commentCount": 9,
          "replyCount": 8,
          "reactionCount": 1303,
          "reactions": {
            "❤": 1303
          },
          "restackCount": 524,
          "commentPermission": "only_paid",
          "coverImageUrl": "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fS0J!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2ef3da7-9e68-4f80-9f21-c35a7205e113_900x686.png",
          "coverImageIsSquare": false,
          "coverImageIsExplicit": false,
          "isGeoblocked": false,
          "blockedCountries": [],
          "liveStreamId": null,
          "isPublished": true,
          "isPinned": false,
          "seoTitle": null,
          "seoDescription": null,
          "socialTitle": "We’re In Deep Shit, But Not Because of El Niño",
          "previousSlug": null,
          "nextSlug": null,
          "section": null,
          "tags": [],
          "authors": [
            {
              "id": 8904119,
              "name": "Peter Kalmus",
              "handle": "climatehuman",
              "slug": null,
              "bio": "Climate scientist formerly at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Arrested for climate civil disobedience. Speaking on behalf of life on Earth",
              "photoUrl": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e61ee2b1-f701-4f2c-ada7-26974cc37a2b_413x413.png",
              "badge": null,
              "badges": null,
              "bestsellerTier": 100,
              "primaryPublication": null
            }
          ],
          "podcast": {
            "episodeNumber": null,
            "seasonNumber": null,
            "episodeType": null
          },
          "audio": {
            "url": null,
            "durationSeconds": null,
            "fileSizeBytes": null,
            "mediaType": null,
            "episodeImageUrl": null,
            "items": [
              {
                "postId": 214060998,
                "voiceId": "en-US-AlloyTurboMultilingualNeural",
                "audioUrl": "https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/214060998/tts/de063e16-3a7c-40bb-869e-2dba72fdf1cc/en-US-AlloyTurboMultilingualNeural.mp3",
                "type": "tts",
                "status": "completed"
              }
            ]
          },
          "video": null
        },
        "note": null,
        "publication": {
          "id": 3708466,
          "name": "Climate Human",
          "subdomain": "climatehuman",
          "customDomain": null,
          "apexDomain": null,
          "url": "https://climatehuman.substack.com",
          "host": "climatehuman.substack.com",
          "description": "Humanizing the fight to save Earth's habitability from actual evil billionaires",
          "language": "en",
          "kind": "newsletter",
          "createdAt": "2025-01-08T02:05:33.912Z",
          "firstPostAt": "2025-01-18T01:30:27.307Z",
          "hasPosts": true,
          "isExplicit": false,
          "isInviteOnly": false,
          "isFlagged": false,
          "noIndex": false,
          "isOnSubstack": false,
          "commentsEnabled": true,
          "notesEnabled": true,
          "defaultCommentSort": "best_first",
          "annualDisabled": false,
          "monthlyDisabled": false,
          "paymentsState": "enabled",
          "freeTrialEnabled": true,
          "pausedUntil": null,
          "emailBannerUrl": null,
          "copyright": "Peter Kalmus",
          "logoUrl": "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZLIu!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9659c25e-d9a4-4a3f-9d51-a997b8286cd5_509x509.png",
          "wideLogoUrl": null,
          "coverImageUrl": null,
          "foundingPlanName": "Founding Member",
          "hasRecommendations": true,
          "benefits": {
            "free": [
              "Public posts"
            ],
            "paid": [
              "Full archive"
            ],
            "founding": [
              "Quarterly zoom calls with Peter"
            ]
          },
          "author": {
            "id": 8904119,
            "name": "Peter Kalmus",
            "handle": "climatehuman",
            "slug": "climatehuman",
            "bio": "Climate scientist formerly at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Arrested for climate civil disobedience. Speaking on behalf of life on Earth",
            "photoUrl": "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YWco!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe61ee2b1-f701-4f2c-ada7-26974cc37a2b_413x413.png",
            "badge": {
              "type": "bestseller",
              "tier": 100,
              "handle": null,
              "service": null,
              "url": null
            },
            "badges": null,
            "bestsellerTier": 100,
            "primaryPublication": null
          },
          "audience": {
            "paidLabel": "Hundreds of paid subscribers",
            "paidOrderOfMagnitude": 100,
            "totalLabel": "Thousands of subscribers",
            "totalOrderOfMagnitude": 1000,
            "freeLabel": "Over 5,000 subscribers",
            "freeShort": "5K+",
            "chatMembersLabel": null
          },
          "contributors": [
            {
              "id": 8904119,
              "name": "Peter Kalmus",
              "handle": "climatehuman",
              "role": "admin",
              "owner": true,
              "photoUrl": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e61ee2b1-f701-4f2c-ada7-26974cc37a2b_413x413.png",
              "bio": "Climate scientist formerly at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Arrested for climate civil disobedience. Speaking on behalf of life on Earth",
              "badge": {
                "type": "bestseller",
                "tier": 100,
                "handle": null,
                "service": null,
                "url": null
              },
              "bestsellerTier": 100
            }
          ],
          "sections": [],
          "links": [],
          "plans": [
            {
              "id": "monthly6usd",
              "nickname": "$6 a month",
              "amount": 600,
              "currency": "usd",
              "interval": "month",
              "intervalCount": 1,
              "active": true,
              "founding": false
            }
          ],
          "podcast": {
            "exists": true,
            "hasFreeEpisodes": true,
            "hasPaidEpisodes": false,
            "artUrl": null,
            "byline": null,
            "description": null,
            "feedUrl": null,
            "title": null,
            "paidEpisodeArtUrl": null
          }
        },
        "profiles": null,
        "createdAt": "2026-09-03T20:19:23.412Z",
        "parentComments": []
      }
    ],
    "page": {
      "hasMore": true,
      "nextCursor": "eyJ2IjoxLCJ1IjoiZXlKelpYTnphVzl1WDJsa0lqb2lNekEyTm1VNFlqRXRNRFF4T1MwMFl6YzVMV0U0WlRndE5tTXhNbVpqTURrNVl6Y3dJaXdpWW1WbWIzSmxYM1JwYldWemRHRnRjQ0k2SWpJd01qWXRNVEV0TURWVU1qQTZOVGc2TVRNdU5UUXhXaUlzSW1GbWRHVnlYM1JwYldWemRHRnRjQ0k2SWpJd01qWXRNVEV0TURWVU1qQTZOVGc2TVRNdU5UUXhXaUlzSW5CaFoyVmZiblZ0WW1WeUlqb3hMQ0pzWVhOMFgySjFZMnR…"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_980aefc2-dfc9-445d-ab13-ac885db7ef97",
    "creditsCharged": 1,
    "version": "v1"
  }
}
```

### Machine-readable error codes

When an error JSON body is returned, it may include one of these `error.code` values (derived from the OpenAPI schemas for this operation; additional codes may exist at runtime):

- `bad_request`

## Error handling & retries

Interpret HTTP status codes using the descriptions below. Do not assume a JSON body unless the OpenAPI schema defines one for that status.

- **400**: Invalid request **Retry:** Fix the request; retrying the same invalid payload will not help.
- **401**: Missing or invalid API key **Retry:** Fix the API key first; retrying without changes will not help.
- **402**: Insufficient credits **Retry:** Do not retry without resolving billing/credits (retrying the same request will not help).
- **500**: Unexpected or billing error
- **502**: Lookup could not be completed. **Retry:** May be transient; a few retries with backoff are reasonable.
- **503**: Service temporarily unavailable; safe to retry with backoff. **Retry:** Usually safe to retry with exponential backoff and jitter.

### Suggested client defaults

- Send the API key using the `x-api-key` header on every request.
- On `503` (and sometimes `502`), retry with backoff; cap retries and surface a clear error to the user.
- On `402`, surface an actionable billing message rather than blind retries.

## Examples

### TypeScript SDK

```typescript
import { SocialFetchClient } from "@socialfetch/sdk";

const client = new SocialFetchClient({
  apiKey: process.env.SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY!,
});

const result = await client.substack.searchTop({
  query: "climate",
});

if (!result.ok) {
  console.error(result.error);
} else {
  console.log(result.value.data);
}
```

### Node.js

```javascript
const response = await fetch(
  "https://api.socialfetch.dev/v1/substack/search?query=climate",
  {
    headers: {
      "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
    }
  }
);

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
```

### cURL

```bash
curl "https://api.socialfetch.dev/v1/substack/search?query=climate" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

### Python

```python
import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.socialfetch.dev/v1/substack/search?query=climate",
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
data = response.json()
print(data)
```

### Example: next page (pagination)

After a successful response, if pagination is not finished, request the next page using `cursor` (URL-encode when composing the query string):

```javascript
const previous = await response.json();
const nextCursor = previous?.data?.page?.nextCursor;
const hasMore = previous?.data?.page?.hasMore;
if (!hasMore || nextCursor == null) {
  // no more pages
} else {
  const nextUrl = new URL("https://api.socialfetch.dev/v1/substack/search");
  nextUrl.searchParams.set("cursor", nextCursor);
  // optionally preserve sort: nextUrl.searchParams.set("sortBy", "latest");
  const nextResponse = await fetch(nextUrl.toString(), {
    headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
  });
  const nextData = await nextResponse.json();
}
```