canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/lurkapi.com/lurkapi # LurkAPI The LurkAPI API returns public social media data as clean JSON with one GET request per call, covering profiles, posts, comments, and search across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky, Telegram, Truth Social, and Snapchat. It also reads ad libraries from Meta, TikTok, Google, and LinkedIn, Google Maps places and reviews, Google News, eBay listings, TikTok Shop products, and Linktree pages, and returns video transcripts for YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. A set of web endpoints fetches, renders, or unblocks any public page, and calls are billed in credits with the balance reported on each response. ## For AI agents Pull public posts, profiles, comments, transcripts, and ad library entries from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, X, and more, plus Google Maps reviews and any public web page, through one x-api-key. ## Scope Does not post, like, follow, or message on any platform, and does not read private accounts. Use for reading public social media, ad library, maps, and web page data only. ## Capabilities - Get a YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram video transcript as timed segments and one block of text, with an optional language - Search Meta's Ad Library by keyword with country, status, media_type, and date filters via GET `/v1/facebook/adLibrary/search/ads` - Read public profiles, posts, and comments from TikTok, Instagram, X, Threads, Bluesky, Telegram, and Truth Social by handle or URL - Search Reddit with sort and timeframe, and read subreddit posts and post comments - Fetch Google Maps place details and reviews by place_id, cid, or url - Search LinkedIn jobs by query, location, and datePosted, and read company pages and posts - Scrape any public page with GET `/v1/web/scrape`, which tries the cheapest step first, with max_credits capping the cost ## Use cases ### Research agent through Jentic A research agent gathers public conversation about a brand across platforms without a scraper per site. It searches Jentic for 'search Reddit posts', receives GET `/v1/reddit/search` with its query, sort, and timeframe parameters, then runs the TikTok hashtag and YouTube search operations, and summarises what people are saying with links to sources. Example prompt: Call GET `/v1/reddit/search` with query 'acme headphones' and timeframe week, GET `/v1/tiktok/search/hashtag` with hashtag 'acmeheadphones', and GET `/v1/youtube/search` with the brand name, then summarise the top themes ### Competitor ad monitoring See how a market advertises by reading public ad libraries. GET `/v1/facebook/adLibrary/search/ads` finds ads by keyword with their copy, media, landing page, and run dates, and the TikTok, Google, and LinkedIn ad library operations cover the same ground on those networks. Stopped ads are included unless status=active is passed. Example prompt: Call GET `/v1/facebook/adLibrary/search/ads` with query 'meal kit', country US, and status active, and list the advertisers with the most running ads ### Video to text Turn videos into text for summaries, search, or repurposing. GET `/v1/youtube/video/transcript` reads a video's captions, either the creator's or YouTube's auto-generated ones, flagged by isGenerated, and returns timed segments and one block of text; TikTok and Instagram transcript operations work the same way for their videos. Example prompt: Call GET `/v1/youtube/video/transcript` with the video url and language es, and return a five-bullet summary of the transcript ### Local reputation tracking Watch what customers say about physical locations. GET `/v1/google/maps/search` finds places, GET `/v1/google/maps/place` returns details, and GET `/v1/google/maps/reviews` returns reviews by place_id, cid, or url with sort and language options, so a business can track new reviews across its branches. Example prompt: Call GET `/v1/google/maps/reviews` with the place_id for each branch and sort newest, then flag reviews with low ratings from the past month ## Key endpoints | Method | Path | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | GET | `/v1/youtube/video/transcript` | YouTube video transcript | | GET | `/v1/facebook/adLibrary/search/ads` | Search Meta Ad Library ads | | GET | `/v1/reddit/search` | Search Reddit | | GET | `/v1/tiktok/search/hashtag` | TikTok hashtag videos | | GET | `/v1/instagram/profile` | Instagram profile | | GET | `/v1/google/maps/reviews` | Google Maps reviews | | GET | `/v1/web/scrape` | Scrape a public page | | GET | `/v1/account/credit-balance` | Credit balance | ## Key resources - **Social profiles and posts** — Public profiles, posts, comments, and stories across a dozen networks - **Transcripts** — Captions as timed segments and text for YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram videos - **Ad libraries** — Ads from Meta, TikTok, Google, and LinkedIn ad libraries - **Google data** — Maps places and reviews, News search, and autocomplete - **Commerce listings** — eBay listings and TikTok Shop products - **Web pages** — Fetch, render, unblock, and scrape public pages, plus the credit balance ## AI readiness This API is usable in Jentic One now. Its AI-readiness score against Jentic's framework shows where it stands today and where improvements would make it even easier for agents to use. - **Score:** 70 / 100 - **Maturity:** AI-Aware - **Dimensions:** - Foundational Compliance: 99 / 100 - Developer Experience & Jentic Compatibility: 67 / 100 - AI-Readiness & Agent Experience: 58 / 100 - Agent Usability: 87 / 100 - Security: 50 / 100 - AI Discoverability: 95 / 100 - **View full report:** https://jentic.com/apis/lurkapi.com/lurkapi/scorecard - **How the score is calculated:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/overview/ - **More about the dimensions:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/specification/#dimensional-model-overview ### Score it yourself Every API in the directory is allowlisted, so you can re-score it with no key required. - **Score your own API:** https://jentic.com/scorecard.md - **Scoring CLI agent skill:** https://github.com/jentic/jentic-api-scorecard/blob/main/skills/jentic-api-scorecard/SKILL.md ```sh npx @jentic/api-scorecard-cli score ``` ## Why Jentic - **Setup:** Wiring LurkAPI by hand means sending the x-api-key header, picking the right platform operation and version prefix out of many, paging with cursor values, and watching credits_remaining. Through Jentic you install once, import LurkAPI from the API Directory, store the key once, and your agent calls it. - **Permission scoping:** Each platform sits under its own path prefix, such as `/v1/reddit`/ or `/v1/web`/, so a rule can limit your agent to the platforms and operations a task needs. You choose the operations it may call, so credit-heavy ones like residential rendering or custom scraping are not included unless you add them. - **Credential handling:** Your LurkAPI key is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context. - **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'get a YouTube transcript' or 'search Meta ads', and Jentic returns the matching LurkAPI operation with its input schema, out of 89, so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs. ## Related APIs - **Apify API** — Runs scraping actors, including social media scrapers, and returns datasets - **Bright Data API** — Proxy networks and web data collection at scale - **Firecrawl API** — Crawls and converts web pages to markdown for LLMs - **Reddit API** — Reddit's own API for posting, voting, and account actions ## FAQ ### What authentication does LurkAPI use? Per its OpenAPI spec, LurkAPI uses an apiKey sent in the x-api-key header. Through Jentic, the key is stored encrypted by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time, so it never enters the agent's context. ### How is LurkAPI usage billed? Calls cost credits, and responses carry credits_remaining. GET `/v1/account/credit-balance` is free and shows your balance and daily top-up: once a day (UTC), if your balance is below 25 credits, your first call tops it up to 25. Web scraping through GET `/v1/web/scrape` costs 1-24 credits depending on the step needed, and max_credits caps a call. ### What are the rate limits for LurkAPI? The OpenAPI spec does not specify rate limits; usage is metered in credits. Check https://lurkapi.com/docs for current limits. ### How do I get a YouTube transcript with LurkAPI through Jentic? Install Jentic One, add LurkAPI from the Jentic directory, and store your x-api-key. Your agent searches for 'get a YouTube video transcript', receives GET `/v1/youtube/video/transcript` with its url and language parameters, and returns the timed segments or full text. To run it on your own infrastructure, install Jentic One from its GitHub repo. ### Which platforms does LurkAPI cover? The spec covers TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky, Telegram, Truth Social, and Snapchat, plus ad libraries from Meta, TikTok, Google, and LinkedIn, Google Maps and News, eBay, TikTok Shop, Linktree, and general web pages. ### Is there a LurkAPI MCP server? You don't need an MCP server to give your agent LurkAPI. Jentic connects it directly from the API Directory: import it, store your API key once, and your agent finds the platform operation it needs by intent instead of loading all of them into its context. ### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with LurkAPI? Yes. For a transcript summariser, allow only GET `/v1/youtube/video/transcript` and GET `/v1/account/credit-balance`, so the agent cannot spend credits on web scraping or other platforms. The agent's calls are logged for review.