BrianRWagner/reddit-insights

Reddit Insights MCP

Semantic search across millions of Reddit posts. Unlike keyword search, this understands intent and meaning.

Mode

Detect from context or ask: "Quick pulse, full research, or strategic intelligence report?"

| Mode | What you get | Best for | |------|-------------|----------| | quick | 1 query, top 5 insights, no synthesis | Fast pain point check, content spark | | standard | 3–5 queries, full synthesis with themes and patterns | Product validation, content research | | deep | Multi-angle research + sentiment analysis + content angles + competitive intelligence | Business decisions, campaign strategy |

Default: standard — use quick for a fast read. Use deep if they're validating a product idea or building a content strategy.

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Why This vs ChatGPT?

Problem with ChatGPT: It has no real-time Reddit access. It can't search current discussions, can't filter by engagement, and can't show you what people are saying RIGHT NOW about your topic.

This skill provides:

1. Live semantic search - Searches millions of Reddit posts with AI-powered intent matching (not just keywords)
2. Engagement filtering - Sort by upvotes/comments to find validated pain points
3. Sentiment analysis - Automatically tags posts as Discussion/Q&A/Story/News
4. Relevance scoring - Shows 0-1 match score so you know which results matter
5. Subreddit intelligence - Browse communities, see trending topics, get recent posts
6. Direct links - Every result includes Reddit URL for full context

You can replicate this by manually browsing Reddit, searching multiple subreddits, reading hundreds of posts, taking notes, and synthesizing patterns. Takes 1-2 hours per research query. This skill does it in 15-20 seconds.

Setup

1. Get API Key (free tier available)

1. Sign up at https://reddit-insights.com
2. Go to Settings → API
3. Copy your API key

2. Install MCP Server

For Claude Desktop - add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-insights": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "reddit-insights-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "REDDIT_INSIGHTS_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Clawdbot - add to config/mcporter.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-insights": {
      "command": "npx reddit-insights-mcp",
      "env": {
        "REDDIT_INSIGHTS_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Verify installation:

mcporter list reddit-insights

Available Tools

| Tool | Purpose | Key Params | |------|---------|------------| | reddit_search | Semantic search across posts | query (natural language), limit (1-100) | | reddit_list_subreddits | Browse available subreddits | page, limit, search | | reddit_get_subreddit | Get subreddit details + recent posts | subreddit (without r/) | | reddit_get_trends | Get trending topics | filter (latest/today/week/month), category |

Performance Notes

• Response time: 12-25 seconds (varies by query complexity)
  • Simple queries: ~12-15s
  • Complex semantic queries: ~17-20s
  • Heavy load periods: up to 25s
• Best results: Specific products, emotional language, comparison questions
• Weaker results: Abstract concepts, non-English queries, generic business terms
• Sweet spot: Questions a real person would ask on Reddit

Best Use Cases (Tested)

| Use Case | Effectiveness | Why | |----------|--------------|-----| | Product comparisons (A vs B) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Reddit loves debates | | Tool/app recommendations | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | High-intent discussions | | Side hustle/money topics | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Engaged communities | | Pain point discovery | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Emotional posts rank well | | Health questions | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Active health subreddits | | Technical how-to | ⭐⭐⭐ | Better to search specific subreddits | | Abstract market research | ⭐⭐ | Too vague for semantic search | | Non-English queries | ⭐ | Reddit is English-dominant |

Query Strategies (Tested with Real Data)

✅ Excellent Queries (relevance 0.70+)

Product Comparisons (best results!):

"Notion vs Obsidian for note taking which one should I use"
→ Relevance: 0.72-0.81 | Found: Detailed comparison discussions, user experiences

"why I switched from Salesforce to HubSpot honest experience"  
→ Relevance: 0.70-0.73 | Found: Migration stories, feature comparisons

Side Hustle/Money Topics:

"side hustle ideas that actually make money not scams"
→ Relevance: 0.70-0.77 | Found: Real experiences, specific suggestions

Niche App Research:

"daily horoscope apps which one is accurate and why"
→ Relevance: 0.67-0.72 | Found: App recommendations, feature requests

✅ Good Queries (relevance 0.60-0.69)

Pain Point Discovery:

"I hate my current CRM it is so frustrating"
→ Relevance: 0.60-0.64 | Found: Specific CRM complaints, feature wishlists

"cant sleep at night tried everything what actually works"
→ Relevance: 0.60-0.63 | Found: Sleep remedies discussions, medical advice seeking

Tool Evaluation:

"AI tools that actually save time not just hype"
→ Relevance: 0.64-0.65 | Found: Real productivity gains, tool recommendations

❌ Weak Queries (avoid these patterns)

Too Abstract:

"business opportunity growth potential"
→ Relevance: 0.52-0.58 | Returns unrelated generic posts

Non-English:

"学习编程最好的方法" (Chinese)
→ Relevance: 0.45-0.51 | Reddit is English-dominant, poor cross-lingual results

Query Formula Cheat Sheet

| Goal | Pattern | Relevance | |------|---------|-----------| | Compare products | "[Product A] vs [Product B] which should I use" | 0.70-0.81 | | Find switchers | "why I switched from [A] to [B]" | 0.70-0.73 | | Money/hustle topics | "[topic] that actually [works/makes money] not [scam/hype]" | 0.70-0.77 | | App recommendations | "[category] apps which one is [accurate/best] and why" | 0.67-0.72 | | Pain points | "I hate my current [tool] it is so [frustrating/slow]" | 0.60-0.64 | | Solutions seeking | "[problem] tried everything what actually works" | 0.60-0.63 |

Response Fields

Each result includes:

• title, content - Post text
• subreddit - Source community
• upvotes, comments - Engagement metrics
• relevance (0-1) - Semantic match score (0.5+ is good, 0.6+ is strong)
• sentiment - Discussion/Q&A/Story Sharing/Original Content/News
• url - Direct Reddit link

Example response:

{
  "id": "1oecf5e",
  "title": "Trying to solve the productivity stack problem",
  "content": "The perfect productivity app doesn't exist. No single app can do everything well, so we use a stack of apps. But this creates another problem: multi app fragmentation...",
  "subreddit": "productivityapps",
  "upvotes": 1,
  "comments": 0,
  "relevance": 0.631,
  "sentiment": "Discussion",
  "url": "https://reddit.com/r/productivityapps/comments/1oecf5e"
}

Real Case Study

User: SaaS founder validating a new project management tool idea

Challenge: Needed to understand real frustrations with existing PM tools (Asana, Monday, ClickUp) to find positioning angle.

Research Query:

reddit_search("I hate my project management tool it's so frustrating for remote teams", limit=50)

What They Found (in 18 seconds):

• 42 posts with 0.60+ relevance
• Top pain points (mentioned 15+ times):
  • "Too complicated for simple projects"
  • "Mobile app is terrible"
  • "Hard to see the big picture"
  • "Notifications are overwhelming"
  • "Pricing jumps too fast with team size"

Most upvoted insight (+347 upvotes, r/startups):

"We switched from Monday to a Notion template because Monday felt like learning a new language just to assign a task. Sometimes simple beats powerful."

Positioning Decision: Built messaging around: "Project management that feels like a shared doc, not enterprise software."

Product Changes Made:

• Simplified onboarding (3 clicks to first task vs 15-step wizard)
• Mobile-first design (every feature tested on phone first)
• Flat pricing ($8/user, no tiers)
• Big-picture dashboard view (Gantt hidden by default)

Results (6 months post-launch):

• 2,400 paying users
• 78% came from "Reddit research-informed" messaging
• 4.7/5 rating on G2 with reviews saying "finally, PM without the bloat"
• Founder quote: "That one Reddit search saved us from building features nobody wanted."

Tips

1. Natural language works best - Ask questions like a human would
2. Include context - "for small business" or "as a developer" improves results
3. Combine emotion words - "frustrated", "love", "hate", "wish" find stronger opinions
4. Filter by engagement - High upvotes/comments = validated pain points
5. Check multiple subreddits - Same topic discussed differently in r/startups vs r/smallbusiness
6. Use comparison queries - "X vs Y" consistently returns high-relevance results
7. Search for stories - "why I switched" and "honest experience" reveal real user journeys

Example Workflows

Find SaaS opportunity:

1. reddit_search: "frustrated with project management tools for remote teams"
2. Filter results with high engagement (20+ upvotes or 10+ comments)
3. Identify recurring complaints → product opportunity
4. Export top 10 posts to analyze language patterns for messaging

Validate idea:

1. reddit_search: "[your product category] recommendations"
2. See what alternatives people mention
3. Note gaps in existing solutions
4. Check reddit_get_subreddit for relevant communities to monitor

Content research:

1. reddit_get_subreddit: Get posts from target community
2. reddit_search: Find specific questions/discussions with high engagement
3. Create content answering real user questions (with examples from Reddit)
4. Post back to Reddit (with value, not spam)

Competitive intelligence:

1. reddit_search: "[competitor name] experience"
2. reddit_search: "switched from [competitor] to [other]"
3. Extract feature complaints and praise
4. Build comparison matrix based on real feedback

Pro Tips

For Product Research:

• Search for "I wish [category] had..." to find feature requests
• Filter by comments (not just upvotes) to find discussion-heavy threads
• Look for posts from 30-90 days ago (recent but with accumulated discussion)

For Content Ideas:

• Search your topic + "explained" or "guide"
• Check what questions have 0-2 replies (content gaps!)
• Save high-upvote posts and create better answers

For Market Validation:

• Run the same search monthly to track sentiment trends
• Compare subreddit sizes (r/notion has 180K vs r/obsidianmd 90K)
• Watch for "migration posts" ("leaving X for Y") as early signals

Quality Indicators

A good Reddit Insights search has:

• [ ] Relevance scores mostly 0.60+ (strong semantic match)
• [ ] Results from 3+ different subreddits (diverse perspectives)
• [ ] Mix of high engagement (100+ upvotes) and niche discussions
• [ ] Clear patterns across multiple posts (not one-off opinions)
• [ ] Recent posts (<90 days) mixed with classic threads

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Being too generic - "marketing tips" returns weak results; "B2B cold email that actually works" is better ❌ Ignoring engagement metrics - A post with 2 upvotes is one person's opinion; 200+ upvotes is validated ❌ Taking single posts as truth - Look for patterns across 5-10 posts minimum ❌ Forgetting to check sentiment - A "Discussion" post is different from a "Q&A" (check the field!) ❌ Not visiting actual threads - The semantic summary is great, but top comments often have gold

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Built on semantic AI search (not keyword matching). Find what people REALLY think. Not what marketing says they think.