How to Use the Reddit Search Extractor

Before you start

• Reddit search behavior:
  • The Phantom extracts posts exactly as they appear in Reddit search results.
  • Results depend on the search query, filters, and sorting you apply on Reddit (or generated from keywords).
  • Reddit exposes a score based on votes, rather than exact upvote and downvote counts. The Phantom returns this score to reflect overall engagement.
• Post limits:
  • You can extract up to 25 posts.
  • Safe usage:
    • If you run the Phantom repeatedly, spread extractions across the day.
    • When testing new searches, start with small volumes before scaling.

Step 1: Choose which Reddit searches to extract

You can provide your Reddit searches as follows:

1. Use a single Reddit search URL:
   • Build your search on Reddit first using keywords, subreddits, or sorting options.
   • Copy and paste the single Reddit search URL.
2. Use keywords:
   • Enter one or more keywords directly in the setup.
   • The Phantom generates Reddit searches based on those keywords and extracts matching posts.
3. Use a spreadsheet with multiple searches:
   • Provide a Google Sheet with Reddit search URLs (make sure it’s shared with “Anyone with the link”).

   • Upload a CSV file with Reddit search URLs (make sure it’s publicly accessible, and note that CSV upload is only available on paid plans).

     → If you’re using a spreadsheet, the Phantom defaults to the first column (A). To use a different column, enter the column’s header name in the field “Name of column containing search URLs."

Step 2: Connect your Reddit account

To let the Phantom act on your behalf:

1. Install the PhantomBuster browser extension and connect your Reddit session in one click.
2. If you’re not using Chrome or Firefox, you can retrieve your session cookie manually (see our cookie guide).

Step 3: Configure how many posts to extract

Control how much data the Phantom processes during each run.

1. Number of posts to scrape per search:
   • You can extract up to 25 posts.
2. Remove duplicate posts between searches (optional)
   • When enabled, posts that already exist from previous searches will be filtered out.

Result file settings (dropdown in setup)

• Name your results file (optional)

  • You can customize the file name.

    If you rename the file between launches, the Phantom will create a new results file and start processing inputs from scratch.

Step 4: Select launch frequency

Choose how often the Phantom should run:

1. Launch manually: Start the Phantom yourself whenever you need.
2. Launch once at a specific time: schedule a one-time run at a set date and time.
3. Launch repeatedly: schedule regular runs (e.g. once per day, several times during working hours).
4. Launch after another Phantom: chain automations together so this Phantom starts right after another finishes.
5. Advanced scheduling: customize the exact minutes, hours, days, or months when the Phantom should run.

→ For a complete walkthrough of scheduling options, see our guide to scheduling Phantoms automatically.

Step 5 (Optional): Advanced settings

Advanced settings are available if you want to fine-tune how your Phantom runs, but by default they’re already optimized for most use cases.

We recommend leaving them as they are unless a guide specifically instructs you to change something.

→ For a detailed overview of all advanced options (like execution limits, retries, email notifications, proxies, webhooks, and file management), see our Advanced settings guide.

Launch and results

When you’re ready:

1. Click Launch to start your Phantom.
   
2. Once it finishes, open the Results tab in the Phantom console to see the data collected.
3. Download your results as a CSV or JSON file, or reuse it as input for other Phantoms.
   → This Phantom is typically the starting point of a Reddit research workflow.
   

→ To learn how to export your data to Google Sheets, integrate with other tools, or reuse it in more automations, check our Access and Export your Phantom Results guide.

Export and input limits on the Free plan
If you’re on the Free plan or Free trial, some features are limited:
- CSV exports include only the first 10 rows of results.
- CSV download links (for dynamic viewing in Google Sheets or integrations) are not available.
- JSON exports are not available.
- CSV upload as an input method is not supported.
To unlock all features, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

What you give (Input) and What you get (Output)

This section gives you a detailed breakdown of everything you need to provide to run this Phantom, and everything you’ll receive once it completes.

What you give (Input)

What you get (Output)

Tips and troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

• Running very broad searches without filters, which can produce noisy results.
• Expecting engagement metrics to remain static between runs.

If you run into issues

• Check how to troubleshoot your phantom using Logs.
• Browse the Fix Issues & Troubleshoot Errors section for solutions to common problems.
• Review our Automation Rate Limits by Platform guide.
• Check our Best Practices for Social Media Automation guide.

Suggested automations

After discovering relevant Reddit posts, you can:

• Reddit Post Scraper → Enrich selected posts with deeper post-level data such as media, rewards, and refreshed engagement metrics.
• Reddit Post Comments Export → Export full comment threads to analyze discussions and sentiment.
• Reddit Profile Scraper → Validate post authors and filter out low-credibility accounts.
• Advanced AI Enricher → Group themes, detect repeated phrases, and tag sentiment across your dataset.