How to Automate Reddit Community Moderation using the API

1import requests
2import sqlite3
3import time
4import os
5import logging
6from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
7
8logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
9log = logging.getLogger('modbot')
10
11SUBREDDIT = os.environ.get('REDDIT_SUBREDDIT', 'mysubreddit')
12USER_AGENT = f"python:com.example.modbot:v1.0 (by /u/{os.environ['REDDIT_MOD_USERNAME']})"
13SPAM_WORDS = ['buy cheap', 'free crypto', 'click here now', 'earn fast']
14MIN_KARMA = 20
15tk = {'token': None, 'expires': datetime.now(timezone.utc)}
16processed = set()
17
18def headers():
19    if datetime.now(timezone.utc) >= tk['expires'] - timedelta(minutes=5):
20        r = requests.post(
21            'https://www.reddit.com/api/v1/access_token',
22            auth=requests.auth.HTTPBasicAuth(os.environ['REDDIT_CLIENT_ID'], os.environ['REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET']),
23            data={'grant_type': 'password', 'username': os.environ['REDDIT_MOD_USERNAME'], 'password': os.environ['REDDIT_MOD_PASSWORD']},
24            headers={'User-Agent': USER_AGENT}
25        )
26        r.raise_for_status()
27        d = r.json()
28        tk['token'] = d['access_token']
29        tk['expires'] = datetime.now(timezone.utc) + timedelta(seconds=d['expires_in'])
30    return {'Authorization': f"Bearer {tk['token']}", 'User-Agent': USER_AGENT}
31
32def init_db(path='modbot.db'):
33    db = sqlite3.connect(path)
34    db.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS actions (id TEXT, username TEXT, action TEXT, reason TEXT, ts TEXT)')
35    db.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS violations (username TEXT, reason TEXT, ts TEXT)')
36    db.commit()
37    return db
38
39def get_violations(db, username):
40    cutoff = (datetime.now(timezone.utc) - timedelta(days=7)).isoformat()
41    return db.execute('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM violations WHERE username=? AND ts>?', (username, cutoff)).fetchone()[0]
42
43def evaluate(data):
44    content = ' '.join(filter(None, [data.get('title',''), data.get('selftext',''), data.get('body','')])).lower()
45    for w in SPAM_WORDS:
46        if w in content:
47            return 'remove_spam', f'Keyword: {w}'
48    return 'skip', 'Manual review'
49
50def run_bot(db):
51    log.info(f'Mod bot started for r/{SUBREDDIT}')
52    while True:
53        try:
54            r = requests.get(f'https://oauth.reddit.com/r/{SUBREDDIT}/about/modqueue',
55                             headers=headers(), params={'limit': 100})
56            r.raise_for_status()
57            items = r.json()['data']['children']
58            for item in items:
59                d = item['data']
60                name = d['name']
61                if name in processed:
62                    continue
63                processed.add(name)
64                author = d.get('author', '[deleted]')
65                if author in ('[deleted]', 'AutoModerator'):
66                    continue
67                action, reason = evaluate(d)
68                if action == 'skip':
69                    continue
70                # Apply action
71                endpoint = 'approve' if action == 'approve' else 'remove'
72                payload = {'id': name}
73                if action == 'remove_spam':
74                    payload['spam'] = 'true'
75                requests.post(f'https://oauth.reddit.com/api/{endpoint}', headers=headers(), data=payload)
76                log.info(f'{action.upper()} {name} (u/{author}): {reason}')
77                # Log action
78                db.execute('INSERT INTO actions VALUES (?,?,?,?,?)', (name, author, action, reason, datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()))
79                # Track violations
80                if action.startswith('remove'):
81                    db.execute('INSERT INTO violations VALUES (?,?,?)', (author, reason, datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()))
82                    violations = get_violations(db, author)
83                    if violations >= 3:
84                        requests.post(f'https://oauth.reddit.com/r/{SUBREDDIT}/api/friend',
85                                      headers=headers(),
86                                      data={'name': author, 'type': 'banned', 'ban_reason': f'{violations} violations/7d',
87                                            'ban_message': f'Banned for repeated violations. Appeal via modmail.', 'duration': 30})
88                        log.info(f'BANNED u/{author} ({violations} violations)')
89                db.commit()
90                time.sleep(0.5)
91        except Exception as e:
92            log.error(f'Bot error: {e}')
93        time.sleep(30)
94
95if __name__ == '__main__':
96    run_bot(init_db())