Reddit contains valuable data — posts, comments, subreddits, authors, and more. Scraping this data directly means dealing with anti-bot detection, CAPTCHAs, IP rotation, and constantly breaking selectors. The Scavio API handles all of that and returns clean, structured JSON from a single POST request.
This tutorial shows you how to scrape Reddit using Ruby and the Scavio API. By the end, you will have a working Ruby script that fetches real-time Reddit data and parses the results.
Prerequisites
- Ruby installed on your machine
- A Scavio API key (free tier includes 500 credits/month — no credit card required)
Step 1: Install Dependencies
Install net/http to make HTTP requests:
# net/http and json are in Ruby's standard libraryStep 2: Make Your First Reddit Search
Send a POST request to the Scavio Reddit API endpoint with your query. The API returns structured JSON with posts, comments, subreddits, and more.
require "net/http"
require "json"
api_key = "your_scavio_api_key"
uri = URI("https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/reddit/search")
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true
request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
request["x-api-key"] = api_key
request["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
request.body = { query: query, sort: "new" }.to_json
response = http.request(request)
data = JSON.parse(response.body)
puts JSON.pretty_generate(data)Step 3: Example Response
The API returns structured JSON. Here is an example response for a Reddit search:
{
"data": {
"searchQuery": "best python web frameworks 2026",
"totalResults": 14,
"nextCursor": "eyJjYW5kaWRhdGVzX3JldH...",
"posts": [
{
"position": 0,
"id": "t3_1smb9du",
"title": "FastAPI vs Django in 2026 — what the teams are actually using",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/1smb9du/fastapi_vs_django/",
"subreddit": "Python",
"author": "python_dev",
"timestamp": "2026-04-15T16:34:40.389000+0000",
"nsfw": false
}
]
},
"response_time": 5200,
"credits_used": 2,
"credits_remaining": 498
}Every field is structured and typed — no HTML parsing, no CSS selectors, no regex extraction. Your Ruby code can access any field directly.
Step 4: Full Working Example
Here is a complete, runnable Ruby script that searches Reddit and prints the results:
require "net/http"
require "json"
# Scrape Reddit search results using Scavio API.
# Returns structured JSON with posts, comments, subreddits, and more.
def search_reddit(query)
api_key = ENV["SCAVIO_API_KEY"]
uri = URI("https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/reddit/search")
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true
request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
request["x-api-key"] = api_key
request["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
request.body = { query: query, sort: "new" }.to_json
response = http.request(request)
raise "API error: #{response.code}" unless response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
JSON.parse(response.body)
end
results = search_reddit("best python web frameworks 2026")
puts JSON.pretty_generate(results)Why Use Scavio Instead of Scraping Reddit Directly?
- No proxy management. Direct scraping requires rotating proxies to avoid IP bans. Scavio handles all of this server-side.
- No CAPTCHA solving. Reddit aggressively blocks automated requests. Scavio returns clean data every time.
- Structured JSON output. No HTML parsing or CSS selector maintenance. Get typed, consistent data from every request.
- Multi-platform in one API. Search Google, Amazon, YouTube, and Walmart from the same API key with the same authentication pattern.
- Free tier included. 500 credits/month with no credit card required. Each search costs 1 credit.