get_submission_by_id
Retrieve detailed information about a specific Reddit post using its ID or URL, including optional comments and metadata for analysis.
Instructions
Get a Reddit submission by its ID.
Args:
submission_id: The ID of the Reddit submission to retrieve (can be full URL or just ID)
include_comments: If True, load and return the full comment forest for the post
comment_replace_more_limit: Limit for replacing "MoreComments" objects (0 for none, None for all)
Returns:
Dictionary containing structured submission information with the following structure:
{
'id': str, # Submission ID (e.g., 'abc123')
'title': str, # Submission title
'author': str, # Author's username or '[deleted]' if deleted
'subreddit': str, # Subreddit name
'score': int, # Post score (upvotes - downvotes)
'upvote_ratio': float, # Ratio of upvotes to total votes
'num_comments': int, # Number of comments
'created_utc': float, # Post creation timestamp (UTC)
'url': str, # Full URL to the post
'permalink': str, # Relative URL to the post
'is_self': bool, # Whether it's a self (text) post
'selftext': str, # Content of self post (if any)
'selftext_html': Optional[str], # HTML formatted content
'link_url': str, # URL for link posts (if any)
'domain': str, # Domain of the linked content
'over_18': bool, # Whether marked as NSFW
'spoiler': bool, # Whether marked as spoiler
'stickied': bool, # Whether stickied in the subreddit
'locked': bool, # Whether comments are locked
'archived': bool, # Whether the post is archived
'distinguished': Optional[str], # Distinguishing type (e.g., 'moderator')
'flair': Optional[Dict], # Post flair information if any
'media': Optional[Dict], # Media information if any
'preview': Optional[Dict], # Preview information if available
'awards': List[Dict], # List of awards received
'comments': Optional[List[Dict]], # present if include_comments is True
'metadata': {
'fetched_at': float, # Timestamp when data was fetched
'subreddit_id': str, # Subreddit full ID
'author_id': str, # Author's full ID if available
'is_original_content': bool, # Whether marked as OC
'is_meta': bool, # Whether marked as meta
'is_crosspostable': bool, # Whether can be crossposted
'is_reddit_media_domain': bool, # Whether media is hosted on Reddit
'is_robot_indexable': bool, # Whether search engines should index
'is_created_from_ads_ui': bool, # Whether created via ads UI
'is_video': bool, # Whether the post is a video
'pinned': bool, # Whether the post is pinned in the subreddit
'gilded': int, # Number of times gilded
'total_awards_received': int, # Total number of awards received
'view_count': Optional[int], # View count if available
'visited': bool, # Whether the current user has visited
}
}
Raises:
ValueError: If submission_id is invalid or submission not found
RuntimeError: For other errors during the operationInput Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| submission_id | Yes | ||
| include_comments | No | ||
| comment_replace_more_limit | No |
Implementation Reference
- server.py:1765-1971 (handler)Handler function for the 'get_submission_by_id' tool. Retrieves a Reddit submission (post) by its ID, extracts and formats detailed information including metadata, optional comments tree, awards, and flair. Uses PRAW client to fetch the submission object and helper functions like _extract_reddit_id and _serialize_comment_tree.
@mcp.tool() def get_submission_by_id(submission_id: str, include_comments: bool = False, comment_replace_more_limit: int = 0) -> Dict[str, Any]: """Get a Reddit submission by its ID. Args: submission_id: The ID of the Reddit submission to retrieve (can be full URL or just ID) include_comments: If True, load and return the full comment forest for the post comment_replace_more_limit: Limit for replacing "MoreComments" objects (0 for none, None for all) Returns: Dictionary containing structured submission information with the following structure: { 'id': str, # Submission ID (e.g., 'abc123') 'title': str, # Submission title 'author': str, # Author's username or '[deleted]' if deleted 'subreddit': str, # Subreddit name 'score': int, # Post score (upvotes - downvotes) 'upvote_ratio': float, # Ratio of upvotes to total votes 'num_comments': int, # Number of comments 'created_utc': float, # Post creation timestamp (UTC) 'url': str, # Full URL to the post 'permalink': str, # Relative URL to the post 'is_self': bool, # Whether it's a self (text) post 'selftext': str, # Content of self post (if any) 'selftext_html': Optional[str], # HTML formatted content 'link_url': str, # URL for link posts (if any) 'domain': str, # Domain of the linked content 'over_18': bool, # Whether marked as NSFW 'spoiler': bool, # Whether marked as spoiler 'stickied': bool, # Whether stickied in the subreddit 'locked': bool, # Whether comments are locked 'archived': bool, # Whether the post is archived 'distinguished': Optional[str], # Distinguishing type (e.g., 'moderator') 'flair': Optional[Dict], # Post flair information if any 'media': Optional[Dict], # Media information if any 'preview': Optional[Dict], # Preview information if available 'awards': List[Dict], # List of awards received 'comments': Optional[List[Dict]], # present if include_comments is True 'metadata': { 'fetched_at': float, # Timestamp when data was fetched 'subreddit_id': str, # Subreddit full ID 'author_id': str, # Author's full ID if available 'is_original_content': bool, # Whether marked as OC 'is_meta': bool, # Whether marked as meta 'is_crosspostable': bool, # Whether can be crossposted 'is_reddit_media_domain': bool, # Whether media is hosted on Reddit 'is_robot_indexable': bool, # Whether search engines should index 'is_created_from_ads_ui': bool, # Whether created via ads UI 'is_video': bool, # Whether the post is a video 'pinned': bool, # Whether the post is pinned in the subreddit 'gilded': int, # Number of times gilded 'total_awards_received': int, # Total number of awards received 'view_count': Optional[int], # View count if available 'visited': bool, # Whether the current user has visited } } Raises: ValueError: If submission_id is invalid or submission not found RuntimeError: For other errors during the operation """ manager = RedditClientManager() if not manager.client: raise RuntimeError("Reddit client not initialized") if not submission_id or not isinstance(submission_id, str): raise ValueError("Submission ID is required") try: # Clean up the submission_id if it's a full URL or permalink clean_submission_id = _extract_reddit_id(submission_id) logger.info(f"Getting submission with ID: {clean_submission_id} (include_comments={include_comments})") # Create submission from ID submission = manager.client.submission(id=clean_submission_id) # Force fetch submission data to verify it exists and get all attributes submission.title # This will raise if submission doesn't exist # Get basic submission data with error handling submission_data = { "id": submission.id, "title": submission.title, "author": str(submission.author) if hasattr(submission, "author") and submission.author else "[deleted]", "subreddit": submission.subreddit.display_name if hasattr(submission, "subreddit") else "unknown", "score": getattr(submission, "score", 0), "upvote_ratio": getattr(submission, "upvote_ratio", 0.0), "num_comments": getattr(submission, "num_comments", 0), "created_utc": submission.created_utc, "url": f"https://www.reddit.com{submission.permalink}" if hasattr(submission, "permalink") else f"t3_{clean_submission_id}", "permalink": getattr( submission, "permalink", f"/comments/{clean_submission_id}" ), "is_self": getattr(submission, "is_self", False), "selftext": getattr(submission, "selftext", ""), "selftext_html": getattr(submission, "selftext_html", None), "link_url": getattr(submission, "url", ""), "domain": getattr(submission, "domain", ""), "over_18": getattr(submission, "over_18", False), "spoiler": getattr(submission, "spoiler", False), "stickied": getattr(submission, "stickied", False), "locked": getattr(submission, "locked", False), "archived": getattr(submission, "archived", False), "distinguished": getattr(submission, "distinguished", None), "flair": None, "media": getattr(submission, "media", None), "preview": getattr(submission, "preview", None), "awards": [], } # Add flair information if available if hasattr(submission, "link_flair_text") and submission.link_flair_text: submission_data["flair"] = { "text": submission.link_flair_text, "css_class": getattr(submission, "link_flair_css_class", ""), "template_id": getattr(submission, "link_flair_template_id", None), "text_color": getattr(submission, "link_flair_text_color", None), "background_color": getattr( submission, "link_flair_background_color", None ), } # Add awards information if available if hasattr(submission, "all_awardings"): submission_data["awards"] = [ { "id": award.get("id"), "name": award.get("name"), "description": award.get("description"), "coin_price": award.get("coin_price", 0), "coin_reward": award.get("coin_reward", 0), "icon_url": award.get("icon_url"), "count": award.get("count", 1), } for award in submission.all_awardings ] # Add comments if requested if include_comments: try: # Resolve all MoreComments to get the complete tree submission.comments.replace_more(limit=comment_replace_more_limit) top_level_comments = [ c for c in submission.comments if isinstance(c, praw.models.Comment) ] submission_data["comments"] = [ _serialize_comment_tree(c) for c in top_level_comments ] except Exception as comments_error: logger.exception(f"Error loading comments for submission {submission.id}") submission_data["comments"] = [] # Add metadata submission_data["metadata"] = { "fetched_at": time.time(), "subreddit_id": getattr(submission.subreddit, "id", "") if hasattr(submission, "subreddit") else "", "author_id": f"t2_{submission.author.id}" if hasattr(submission, "author") and submission.author and hasattr(submission.author, "id") else None, "is_original_content": getattr(submission, "is_original_content", False), "is_meta": getattr(submission, "is_meta", False), "is_crosspostable": getattr(submission, "is_crosspostable", False), "is_reddit_media_domain": getattr( submission, "is_reddit_media_domain", False ), "is_robot_indexable": getattr(submission, "is_robot_indexable", True), "is_created_from_ads_ui": getattr( submission, "is_created_from_ads_ui", False ), "is_video": getattr(submission, "is_video", False), "pinned": getattr(submission, "pinned", False), "gilded": getattr(submission, "gilded", 0), "total_awards_received": getattr(submission, "total_awards_received", 0), "view_count": getattr(submission, "view_count", None), "visited": getattr(submission, "visited", False), } return submission_data except Exception as e: logger.error(f"Error in get_submission_by_id: {e}") if "404" in str(e) or "not found" in str(e).lower(): raise ValueError( f"Submission with ID {clean_submission_id} not found" ) from e if "403" in str(e) or "forbidden" in str(e).lower(): raise ValueError( f"Not authorized to access submission with ID {clean_submission_id}" ) from e if isinstance(e, (ValueError, RuntimeError)): raise raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to get submission by ID: {e}") from e - server.py:240-261 (helper)Helper function used by get_submission_by_id to extract the base submission ID from a URL or raw ID.
def _extract_reddit_id(reddit_id: str) -> str: """Extract the base ID from a Reddit URL or ID. Args: reddit_id: Either a Reddit ID or a URL containing the ID Returns: The extracted Reddit ID """ if not reddit_id: raise ValueError("Empty ID provided") # If it's a URL, extract the ID part if "/" in reddit_id: # Handle both standard URLs and permalinks parts = [p for p in reddit_id.split("/") if p] # The ID is typically the last non-empty part reddit_id = parts[-1] logger.debug(f"Extracted ID {reddit_id} from URL") return reddit_id - server.py:307-334 (helper)Helper function used when include_comments=True in get_submission_by_id to serialize the comment tree into JSON-compatible dicts.
def _serialize_comment_tree(comment: praw.models.Comment) -> Dict[str, Any]: """Serialize a PRAW comment into a JSON-serializable tree structure.""" try: replies = [] if getattr(comment, "replies", None): replies = [ _serialize_comment_tree(reply) for reply in comment.replies if isinstance(reply, praw.models.Comment) ] except Exception as e: logger.error(f"Error while serializing replies for comment {getattr(comment, 'id', 'unknown')}: {e}") replies = [] return { "id": comment.id, "author": str(comment.author) if comment.author else "[deleted]", "body": getattr(comment, "body", ""), "score": getattr(comment, "score", 0), "created_utc": getattr(comment, "created_utc", 0.0), "permalink": getattr(comment, "permalink", ""), "is_submitter": getattr(comment, "is_submitter", False), "distinguished": getattr(comment, "distinguished", None), "stickied": getattr(comment, "stickied", False), "locked": getattr(comment, "locked", False), "replies": replies, }