> **For coding agents and LLMs:** This is one Social Fetch marketing page (markdown export). For API orientation start with [`/llms.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms.txt); for auth and crawl rules use [`/agents.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/agents.txt); for every operation use [`/llms-endpoints.txt`](https://www.socialfetch.dev/llms-endpoints.txt).

## This page

- **On-site (HTML):** <https://www.socialfetch.dev/platforms/lemmy/instance>
- **Markdown (.mdx) URL:** <https://www.socialfetch.dev/platforms/lemmy/instance.mdx>

---

# Lemmy Instance API

An instance's own settings, counts and NodeInfo, so you know what the other routes can return before you call them.

`GET /v1/lemmy/instance?instance=lemmy.world` returns `data.site` with the instance's `name`, `description`, `sidebar`, `icon`, `banner`, software name and `version`, `registration` mode, `federationEnabled`, `downvotesEnabled`, `nsfwEnabled`, `isPrivate`, `hidesModeratorNames`, `defaultSort`, `defaultListing`, `limits`, `stats` (users, posts, comments, communities and active-user counts), `admins` and `languages`.

`data.nodeinfo` is the host's NodeInfo document when it answers, with `software.name`, `software.version`, `usage` totals and `openRegistrations`; it is null when the host does not publish a readable document, and `site` is still returned. Custom emoji, blocked URL patterns and taglines are left out by default because they can be megabytes; ask for them with `include=emoji`, `include=blockedUrls` or `include=taglines`.

## Request

- **Endpoint:** `GET /v1/lemmy/instance`
- **Credits:** 1 credit
Failed requests are free
- **Input:** by host
- **Full reference:** [docs](https://www.socialfetch.dev/docs/api/v1/lemmy/instance/get)
- **Platform page:** [/platforms/lemmy](https://www.socialfetch.dev/platforms/lemmy)

## FAQ

### Why is nodeinfo sometimes null?

Not every instance publishes a NodeInfo document at a readable path. The site object is already the answer, so a missing NodeInfo leaves site intact and sets nodeinfo to null.

### How do I get custom emoji or blocked URLs?

Pass include=emoji or include=blockedUrls, comma-separated if you want both. They are off by default because a custom-emoji-heavy site object can be more than a megabyte.

### What does isPrivate mean?

Some instances mark themselves private. The site object is still returned here, but list and lookup routes against the same instance answer lookupStatus: private instead of rows.

### How many credits does an instance lookup cost?

Pricing is documented on the operation in the API registry (shown on this page). Confirm on every response with meta.creditsCharged: that field is the billing source of truth.