Reddit Content API - Setup and Usage Guide

Reddit Content API - Setup and Usage Guide

This project provides MCP (Model Context Protocol) tools for interacting with Reddit through Claude and Cursor.

Features

• Reading trending posts from subreddits
• Analyzing Reddit discussions with comments
• Creating posts on Reddit
• Adding comments to posts or replies to existing comments
• Voting on posts and comments

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• A Reddit account
• A registered Reddit application (to obtain client_id and client_secret)
• Virtual environment (venv or similar)
• Claude Desktop and/or Cursor (optional but recommended)

Installation from Scratch

Follow these steps carefully to avoid import and configuration issues:

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/mcp-reddit.git
cd mcp-reddit

# 2. Create and activate virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# 3. Install dependencies (WITHOUT installing the package in editable mode)
pip install -r requirements.txt

# 4. Configure environment variables (see below)
# Create and edit the .env file

⚠️ IMPORTANT: DO NOT install the package in editable mode (pip install -e .)as it can cause module import problems.

Environment Configuration

1. Create a .env file in the project root with the following variables:

REDDIT_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
REDDIT_REFRESH_TOKEN=your_refresh_token

2. To obtain a refresh token, run:

python -m mcp_reddit.auth_helper

Follow the instructions to authorize the application. The token will be automatically saved to the .env file.

Project Structure

mcp-reddit/
│
├── src/
│   └── mcp_reddit/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── main.py           # Entry point for the MCP server
│       ├── reddit_fetcher.py # Implementation of Reddit tools
│       └── auth_helper.py    # Helper for generating authentication tokens
│
├── .env                      # Environment variables (create manually)
├── requirements.txt
├── setup.py
└── README.md

Running the Server Directly

To run manually (useful for development and testing):

cd /path/to/mcp-reddit
.venv/bin/python src/mcp_reddit/main.py

You should see logs indicating:

• Server initialization
• Reddit authentication verification
• Registration of 10 tools (5 original + 5 with prefix)
• "Running MCP server..."

Claude Desktop Configuration

1. Locate the configuration file:

   • On macOS: /Users/your-username/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the configuration for reddit-content-api:

"reddit-content-api": {
  "command": "/full/path/to/mcp-reddit/.venv/bin/python",
  "args": [
    "-m",
    "mcp_reddit.main",
    "--stdio"
  ],
  "cwd": "/full/path/to/mcp-reddit",
  "env": {
    "PYTHONPATH": "/full/path/to/mcp-reddit/src:/full/path/to/mcp-reddit",
    "DEBUG": "true"
  }
}

⚠️ EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: PYTHONPATH must include both the src directory and the project root, in that order, separated by : (on Unix/macOS) or ; (on Windows)

Cursor Configuration

1. Locate the configuration file:

   • On macOS: /Users/your-username/.cursor/mcp.json
   • On Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json

2. Add the same configuration as in Claude, adjusting paths as necessary.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue: Only 2 tools appear instead of the expected 10

Symptoms: When running the server, only 2 tools appear instead of the expected 10.

Possible causes and solutions:

1. Import problem: Python is importing an installed version from site-packages instead of the local code in src/.

   Solution:

   • Make sure NOT to install the package in editable mode (pip install -e .)
   • Explicitly add src to the beginning of PYTHONPATH in the configurations
   • If you've already installed it, use pip uninstall reddit-content-api to remove it

2. Python cache: Old .pyc files can cause problems.

   Solution:

   • Remove all __pycache__ directories from the project

3. Version conflicts: Different versions of the same library.

   Solution:

   • Reinstall dependencies with pip install -r requirements.txt

Issue: "Cannot create post: Reddit authentication is not configured properly"

Cause: The refresh token is invalid or has expired.

Solution: Regenerate the token by running python -m mcp_reddit.auth_helper and make sure it's saved in .env.

Issue: Tools don't appear in Claude/Cursor

Cause: Incorrect configuration in the configuration files.

Solution:

• Check paths and especially PYTHONPATH in the configuration files
• Completely restart Claude/Cursor after modifying the configuration

Using the Tools in Claude/Cursor

Once configured, you can use the following tools:

1. mcp_reddit_content_api_fetch_reddit_hot_threads - Get trending posts
2. mcp_reddit_content_api_fetch_reddit_post_content - Analyze a post and its comments
3. mcp_reddit_content_api_create_reddit_post - Create a new post
4. mcp_reddit_content_api_add_reddit_comment - Add a comment
5. mcp_reddit_content_api_vote_on_reddit_content - Vote on content

Examples

Getting trending posts:

Subreddit: python
Number of posts: 5

Creating a post:

Subreddit: test
Title: Test from MCP
Content type: text
Content: This is a test from the Reddit Content API using MCP.

Contributions

If you find issues or have improvements, please create an issue or submit a pull request.

License

MIT

Support This Project

If you find this project useful in your work or research, please consider:

• ⭐ Starring the repository to show your support
• 🔄 Following the repository for updates on new features and improvements
• 🐛 Opening issues for bugs or feature requests
• 🛠️ Contributing with pull requests if you have improvements to share

Your support helps make this project better for everyone!