Guides
How-to guides for social data APIs
Evergreen tutorials with runnable examples — when to build it yourself, when to call an API, and how to get real JSON back in minutes.
Where to start
The four most recently updated guides — or browse everything below and filter by platform.
Engagement Rate API: Calculate It Properly on Instagram and TikTok (2026)
Calculate engagement rate on Instagram and TikTok with the Social Fetch API, see why the formulas differ, and how sponsored posts move the real number.
Threads API: Read Public Threads Profiles and Posts (2026)
Read public Threads profiles and posts with a REST API and TypeScript SDK, covering profile search, credit billing, and the real limits before you ship.
Ad Library API: Search Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok Ads (2026)
Pull live competitor ads from four public ad libraries through one API: Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency, LinkedIn Ad Library, and TikTok. Filters, response fields, and the resolve-then-fetch pattern.
How to Get an Instagram Reel Transcript (2026)
Pull the spoken text out of any public Instagram Reel or video post as JSON. Response shape, carousel handling, credits, and what to do when a Reel has no speech.
All guides
Filter by platform, or browse everything. Each tutorial uses the same auth and response envelope as production API traffic.
- Engagement Rate API: Calculate It Properly on Instagram and TikTok (2026)General
Calculate engagement rate on Instagram and TikTok with the Social Fetch API, see why the formulas differ, and how sponsored posts move the real number.
Updated
- Threads API: Read Public Threads Profiles and Posts (2026)General
Read public Threads profiles and posts with a REST API and TypeScript SDK, covering profile search, credit billing, and the real limits before you ship.
Updated
- Ad Library API: Search Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok Ads (2026)GeneralPillar
Pull live competitor ads from four public ad libraries through one API: Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency, LinkedIn Ad Library, and TikTok. Filters, response fields, and the resolve-then-fetch pattern.
Updated
- How to Get an Instagram Reel Transcript (2026)Instagram
Pull the spoken text out of any public Instagram Reel or video post as JSON. Response shape, carousel handling, credits, and what to do when a Reel has no speech.
Updated
- Linktree API: Read Link-in-Bio Profiles as JSON (2026)General
Resolve a Linktree handle into every social account, link, and contact email the creator published. Response fields, the handle-mismatch problem, and how to track what a creator is promoting.
Updated
- Social Fetch with Cursor & Claude (MCP, 2026)General
Connect Cursor, VS Code, or Claude to Social Fetch via MCP — OAuth by default, API key if the client never prompts, llms.txt for agents, and the same credit billing as REST.
Updated
- How to get a Reddit API key (2026)Reddit
Get a Reddit API key in 2026: official client ID vs a public-data key, free vs commercial limits, and when to skip OAuth.
Updated
- How to scrape TikTok with an API (2026)TikTok
Pull TikTok profiles, videos, and search as JSON via Social Fetch — plus DIY browser scraping and TikTok official API limits.
Updated
- Connect ChatGPT to Social Fetch (Developer Mode)General
Add Social Fetch to ChatGPT via Developer Mode — MCP server URL, OAuth, then live social lookups in chat.
Updated
- Connect Claude to Social Fetch (no code)General
Add Social Fetch to Claude.ai, Desktop, Cowork, or mobile — then ask for live public social data in English.
Updated
- Connect Cursor to Social Fetch MCPGeneral
One-click MCP install for Cursor — OAuth, then ask your agent for live social data.
Updated
- Connect Gemini to Social FetchGeneral
Add Social Fetch via Gemini Spark custom apps when available on your Google account.
Updated
- Connect Grok to Social FetchGeneral
Add Social Fetch as a custom MCP connector on grok.com — then ask for live public social data.
Updated
- Connect Mistral Le Chat to Social FetchGeneral
Add Social Fetch as a custom MCP connector in Mistral Le Chat.
Updated
- Connect Perplexity to Social FetchGeneral
Add Social Fetch as a custom remote connector in Perplexity Pro, Max, or Enterprise — then ask for live public social data.
Updated
- Prompts for social research with your AIGeneral
Copy-paste prompts for leads, creators, transcripts, and research — powered by Social Fetch MCP.
Updated
- SoundCloud API access is closed — what to do insteadSoundCloud
SoundCloud closed new developer app registrations years ago. What that means for soundcloud api access, public API alternatives, and scraping SoundCloud profile/track metadata.
Updated
- How to scrape Hacker News data with an APIHacker News
Search, stories, and users on Hacker News via Social Fetch's /v1/hackernews routes — with pagination and credit billing.
Updated
- How to Scrape Instagram Data with an API (2026)Instagram
Pull Instagram profiles, posts, and reels as JSON via Social Fetch — plus DIY GraphQL scraping and Graph API limits.
Updated
- How to Scrape LinkedIn Data with an APILinkedIn
Pull LinkedIn people and company pages as JSON via Social Fetch — plus DIY Voyager scraping and partner API limits.
Updated
- How to scrape Truth Social data with an APITruth Social
Pull Truth Social profiles and posts as JSON via Social Fetch's /v1/truthsocial routes — with pagination and credit billing.
Updated
- Build a social listening dashboard (2026)General
Watch lists, cron polling, dedupe, spike detection, and Slack alerts — snapshot brand mentions across TikTok, X, YouTube, and Reddit with one JSON schema.
Updated
- Social Media Monitoring Webhooks: Get Notified the Moment Someone Posts (2026)General
Get a signed webhook the moment a new tweet, subreddit post, TikTok video, or Instagram post appears — no cron job, no polling, no diffing snapshots yourself.
Updated
- Reddit Search API: how to search Reddit over HTTP (2026)Reddit
How to search Reddit programmatically — global keyword search, subreddit-scoped search, pagination, and how it compares to Reddit's own search.
Updated
- LinkedIn partner API vs public data (2026)LinkedIn
Why LinkedIn Marketing Developer Platform and partner APIs are hard to get, when you actually need them, and when a public-data enrichment API is enough.
Updated
- How to Get TikTok Audience Demographics with an API (2026)TikTok
Pull followers, US audience share, engagement rate, and median views for a public TikTok handle — three GETs into one research row.
Updated
- Cross-Platform Creator Profiles with One API (2026)General
Look up the same creator on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and X with one schema and one API key.
Updated
- How to Pull Facebook Group Posts with an API (2026)Facebook
List posts from a public Facebook group as paginated JSON — sorted feeds, cursors, comments, and cron-friendly workflows.
Updated
- YouTube & TikTok transcripts with one APIGeneral
Pull YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reel transcripts as JSON — caption tracks, optional TikTok AI fallback, and batch/RAG patterns.
Updated
- Social Comments for Sentiment Analysis with an API (2026)General
Pull paginated comments from TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, and more as normalized JSON — ready for keyword rules, classifiers, or LLM batch jobs.
Updated
- Social Fetch vs DIY Scraping — Real Tradeoffs (2026)GeneralPillar
When to run headless browsers vs call an API — maintenance, breakage, schema drift, and credit metering side by side.
Updated
- How to Get a TikTok Video Transcript with an API (2026)TikTok
Pull spoken text from any public TikTok as JSON — caption tracks, optional AI fallback for uncaptioned videos, and WebVTT timestamps.
Updated
- Reddit Product Research with an API (2026)Reddit
Search public Reddit for competitor mentions, switching intent, and feature requests — JSON for spreadsheets, dashboards, or summaries.
Updated
About these guides
These guides are for engineers who already know the job — a transcript, a comment thread, a keyword search — and need the shortest path from curl to something a pipeline can store. Each one names the Social Fetch routes we would call, shows the response fields that matter, and admits where DIY scraping still wins on cost or control.
Most pages include a build-vs-buy section with real maintenance math: proxy bills, DOM breakage, schema drift. Vendor shopping without implementation detail belongs on the compare hub. Workflow pages that map jobs to endpoints without a platform walkthrough live under use cases.
Every guide uses the same response envelope as production traffic: data, meta.creditsCharged, meta.requestId, and typed errors your code can branch on. Check lastUpdated on each row when endpoints change shape.
Production API on every guide
Auth, meta.requestId, meta.creditsCharged, and error codes match what your backend will see. New accounts get 100 free credits with no card.