Social data API terms, answered plainly

Does X have an API, and what public-data paths exist instead?

• Does TikTok have an API?

  Official kits vs public-data APIs for profiles, videos, Shop, and transcripts.

• Does Instagram have an API?

  Meta Graph APIs for owned accounts vs public-data APIs for arbitrary handles.

• Does YouTube have an API?

  YouTube Data API vs public-data APIs for channels, videos, comments, and transcripts.

• Does LinkedIn have an API?

  Partner/member APIs vs public-data APIs for profiles, companies, and posts.

• Does Twitter (X) have an API?

  Official X API tiers vs public-data APIs for profiles, posts, and search.

• Does Facebook have an API?

  Meta Graph/Marketing APIs vs public-data APIs for pages, groups, and Ad Library.

• Does Reddit have an API?

  Official Reddit API vs public-data APIs for subreddits, posts, comments, and search.

• TikTok transcript API

  Public video URL in; WebVTT (or optional AI speech-to-text) out.

• YouTube transcript API

  Public watch URL in; plainText plus timed caption segments out.

What Social Fetch is selling when people search the category terms.

• Social media API

  Official kits, public-data REST, and scraper runtimes: what the phrase usually means.

• Social media scraper API

  Hosted public social fetch over HTTP, versus DIY scrapers and official kits.

• Unified schema

  One { data, meta } envelope across platforms. Ops fields stay stable.

• Bulk social data

  High-volume public lookups on the same REST API. Credits and requestId.

• Public social data

  What is visible without owning the account, and what stays out of scope.

Credits, metering, and what a lookup costs.

• API credits

  Usage unit for metered lookups. Charge on completed attempts; 402 when empty.

Numbers people put on scorecards — engagement rate and friends.

• Engagement rate

  Interactions ÷ followers × 100. Formulas, tools, and dated benchmarks.

MCP, Ask, and wiring social lookups into LLM tools.

• MCP for social data

  Model Context Protocol tools over Social Fetch. OAuth, same REST catalog.

• Ask (natural-language API)

  Plain-English routing to typed Social Fetch operations. Routing is free.

• Social data for AI agents

  MCP, Ask, Skills, and REST: how agents should call Social Fetch.

lookupStatus, requestId, rate limits, and auth shapes.

• lookupStatus

  Documented found / not_found / private outcomes inside 200 responses.

• requestId

  Per-call correlation ID on meta. Required for support and logs.

• Rate limits

  How social APIs throttle, and Social Fetch throughput on paid vs free routes.

• API key vs OAuth

  Server keys for REST; OAuth for MCP and official platform member access.