Forum Feed API & Scraper
Forum Feed API returns live Forum Feed data as clean JSON for forum feed The primary endpoint, latest, returns site, host, platform, vertical, count, topics[]{title, url, excerpt, created_at, bumped_at, age_hours, replies, views, category, author,….
🤖 Using an AI assistant? Copy this link into ChatGPT / Claude / Cursor — it reads every endpoint and parameter instantly and tells you if this API fits your use case.
Developers reach for it when they need to retrieve posts, profiles, articles, metadata, ratings and knowledge records without maintaining one-off scraping code or separate API contracts. If you were about to build or fix a Forum Feed scraper, this API is the maintained alternative — it returns the same data as clean JSON, with the proxies, rotation and anti-bot handling already solved. This page covers the live example, request shape, response shape and available actions: latest, sites, topic, search. Every request uses the same ReefAPI envelope, one API key and one shared credit pool, so it fits alongside the rest of your data stack.
Discourse forums give you more fields than RSS forums
The 28 sites run on two very different platforms, and that decides which fields arrive and which actions work at all. Thirteen are Discourse; the rest publish only a feed. Values below are measured from n8n (Discourse) against namepros, biggerpockets and ebay (feed) on 2026-08-27.
| Field or action | Discourse sites | Feed-only sites |
|---|---|---|
| id | Numeric topic id, measured 309749 on n8n | null on every row |
| replies / views | Present, measured 9 replies and 31 views | null on every row |
| category | A numeric category id, measured 12, not a name | null |
| bumped_at | Present and distinct from created_at | null |
| author | Display handle, e.g. Anthony_P | Whatever the feed publishes, often [email protected] (handle) |
| excerpt | The opening post, measured up to 2,818 characters | The feed's own teaser, measured 64 to 1,244 characters |
| `search` action | Works, in the forum's relevance order | INVALID_PARAM naming the 13 Discourse sites |
| `topic` action | Works, returns posts[] with author, created_at and text | INVALID_PARAM, same list |
| `limit` | Pages until it reaches your number, measured 100 of 100 | Capped by feed length, measured 10 of 10 on ebay |
| Invalid `site` | INVALID_PARAM with the full allowed list in error.detail | Same |
age_hours is always measured from created_at, even when order_by is bumped. A bumped-order n8n query returned a topic created 2025-02-21 and bumped the same day we asked, carrying age_hours 13233.4. That is the field behaving correctly, not a stale row.
Real request and response JSON
Captured from the indexed primary action, search, on .
{
"method": "POST",
"url": "https://api.reefapi.com/forum/v1/search",
"headers": {
"x-api-key": "$REEF_KEY",
"content-type": "application/json"
},
"body": {
"site": "n8n",
"query": "webhook",
"limit": 10
}
}{
"ok": true,
"meta": {
"api": "forum",
"endpoint": "search",
"mode": "live",
"latency_ms": 1268.2,
"record_count": 10,
"bytes": 66175,
"cache_hit": false,
"order": "forum_relevance_not_date",
"charged_credits": 1,
"version": "1.0.0"
},
"data": {
"site": "n8n",
"query": "webhook",
"count": 10,
"topics": [
{
"id": 56681,
"title": "N8N Webhooks Made Easy: A Step-by-Step Tutorial",
"url": "https://community.n8n.io/t/n8n-webhooks-made-easy-a-step-by-step-tutorial/56681",
"created_at": "2024-10-04T07:44:12.558000+00:00",
"excerpt": ""
},
{
"id": 311640,
"title": "How I built a JSON → video → MP4 webhook workflow in n8n",
"url": "https://community.n8n.io/t/how-i-built-a-json-video-mp4-webhook-workflow-in-n8n/311640",
"created_at": "2026-09-07T08:05:52.253000+00:00",
"excerpt": ""
},
{
"id": 295135,
"title": "Fixing Telegram Webhooks in n8n (Docker + Caddy) — The Complete Guide With ALL Pain Points",
"url": "https://community.n8n.io/t/fixing-telegram-webhooks-in-n8n-docker-caddy-the-complete-guide-with-all-pain-points/295135",
"created_at": "2026-05-09T21:57:22.375000+00:00",
"excerpt": ""
}
]
}
}What the Forum Feed API does
| Action | Description | Concrete use case | Key params |
|---|---|---|---|
| latest | Newest topics from one forum, each with its creation time. Ask for the last 24 hours and you get exactly what people opened today. | Content platforms call latest to get newest topics from one forum, each with its creation time. | site, limit, since_hours, order_by |
| sites | Every forum this API can read, with its platform and market. | Research tools call sites to get every forum this API can read, with its platform and market.. | none |
| topic | The full text of one topic: the opening post and every reply. | Community analysts call topic to get the full text of one topic. | url |
| search | Search inside one forum. Results come back in the forum's own relevance order, not by date, so use latest when you need recency. | Media monitors call search to search inside one forum. | site, query, limit |
Call search from your stack
curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/forum/v1/search \
-H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"site":"n8n","query":"webhook","limit":10}'import requests
r = requests.post(
"https://api.reefapi.com/forum/v1/search",
headers={"x-api-key": REEF_KEY},
json={
"site": "n8n",
"query": "webhook",
"limit": 10
},
)
print(r.json()["data"])const res = await fetch("https://api.reefapi.com/forum/v1/search", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"x-api-key": process.env.REEF_KEY,
"content-type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"site": "n8n",
"query": "webhook",
"limit": 10
}),
});
const { ok, data, meta, error } = await res.json();Ask your MCP-connected assistant: call reefapi.forum.search with {"site":"n8n","query":"webhook","limit":10}.Who uses this API and why
- Content platforms use Forum Feed to get newest topics from one forum, each with its creation time.
- Research tools use Forum Feed to get every forum this API can read, with its platform and market..
- Community analysts use Forum Feed to get the full text of one topic.
- Media monitors use Forum Feed to search inside one forum.
Questions developers ask before integrating
Which forums are actually covered?
28, listed live by the `sites` action with a host, platform and vertical for each. Automation: n8n, make, uipath. No-code and internal tools: bubble, retool. E-commerce: shopify, shopifydev, ebay, etsy, ecommercefuel. AI and ML: openai, cursor, huggingface. Data apps: streamlit, powerbi. Domains: namepros, dnforum. Trading: elitetrader, trade2win, betangel. Real estate: biggerpockets, propertychat. Plus frappe (ERP), discoursemeta (forum ops), esri (GIS), plesk (hosting), localsearchforum (local SEO) and affiliatefix. The `sites` response also returns a verticals[] array, currently 19 values.
Why is created_at separate from bumped_at, and which should I filter on?
Because collapsing them is how a monitoring feed goes wrong. A topic opened years ago can get one reply today, and a source that reports the bump as the creation date makes it look like a new question. since_hours filters on creation time by default, so an old thread with a fresh comment is excluded unless you also set order_by to bumped. Use created to find new questions and bumped to find threads that have come back to life.
Do the post bodies come through in full?
In two stages. `latest` and `search` return an excerpt, which on Discourse is the opening post and ran from a few hundred to 2,818 characters in one sample. For the complete thread, call `topic` with the topic URL: it returns post_count plus a posts[] array where each entry has author, created_at and text as plain paragraphs. Replies come through, so a 260-reply thread arrives as 260 entries rather than a summary.
Why is `id` null on some sites?
Feed-based forums do not publish a topic id in their feed, so there is nothing to fill it with, and inventing one from the URL would break the moment a thread slug changed. On those sites the URL is your key: it is stable, unique and it is what `topic` would take if the platform supported it. replies, views, category and bumped_at are null for the same reason.
Why does search return old threads when I asked for a recent term?
Because `search` hands back the forum's own relevance ordering, not date order. A search of n8n for 'api rate limit' returned topics created 2026-05-03, 2026-05-04 and 2024-09-09 in that order, and the excerpt field came back as an empty string on all three, since the search index does not carry post bodies. Use `latest` with since_hours when you need recency, and `search` when you need coverage of a term across a forum's history.
Does limit actually get me that many topics?
On Discourse yes, on feed sites only up to what the feed publishes. Asking n8n for 100 returned 100 topics, all dated, because Discourse pages automatically. Asking a feed site for 100 returned 100 on one board and 10 on another, because the feed itself ends there. meta.record_count and meta.dated tell you what you actually got and how many carried a usable timestamp.
What is category, and can I filter by it?
It is the forum's own numeric category id, measured 12 on n8n, and it is null on every feed-based site. There is no category parameter: the actions filter by site, time window and, on Discourse, by search term. If you need one section of a forum, filter on the category id after the fact on Discourse sites, or on the URL path on feed sites.
What is measured_and_rejected in the sites response?
A map of forum hosts that were tested and left out, each with the reason: no feed published, a feed with no date field so an age filter cannot be applied, a feed whose newest item is months old, or a board whose content did not match the vertical. It is there so you do not spend a day proving the same negative. A rejected entry is a measurement, not a permanent verdict, and hosts move between the two lists as their feeds change.
What is the Forum Feed API?
Forum Feed API is a ReefAPI endpoint group for forum feed It returns live JSON through POST requests under /forum/v1.
Is the Forum Feed API free to try?
Yes. ReefAPI starts with 1,000 free credits, no card required. Forum Feed calls use the same shared credit balance as every other ReefAPI engine.
Do I need a Forum Feed login or account?
No login to Forum Feed is needed for the API response. You call ReefAPI with your x-api-key header, and the playground can run live examples before you create a production key.
How fresh is the Forum Feed data?
The page example is captured from a live latest call, and production requests fetch live data through ReefAPI rather than a static sample.
How many credits does the Forum Feed API use?
Forum Feed actions currently cost 1-2 credits per successful call. Failed or blocked calls are free. All APIs draw from one credit pool.
Can I call Forum Feed from an AI assistant or MCP client?
Yes. Connect ReefAPI once through MCP and your assistant can call forum actions with the same key, credit pool and JSON envelope used by normal REST requests.