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Because Reddit wants you to enter an agreement with them for the API, so you need to submit a request to get an API key for those client_ids.


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Because this way each client should be registered in Reddit backend.

> Is client_id something you have to register with reddit?

Yes.


I'm not that great at APIs.

Is client_id something you have to register with reddit?

So you can't, for example have a client_id per user?

What if you as the app maker forced all your users who want to use your app to go register for their free personal client_id for their own personal API use, and then you have them give that client_id to the app along with their OAuth with they log in?

I am just trying to understand why a third party app can't just be a "software shell" that individual users can use to access reddit through their own personal free API limits as if they were just some individual accessing reddit through the API.


Why reddit is against users using their own api keys?

Have you tried creating an API key? In the AMA multiple developers stated that Reddit didn't react to multiple and repeated requests.

Obtaining Reddit API keys is an application process, it is not automated

The reddit API terms are written to imply not allowing users to bring their own key.

Given how antagonistic reddit has been to 3rd party apps during this one can assume they would make this explicit if anyone tried.


"unauthorized": reddit has an official API for third-party clients.

Wouldn't you leave the API key, in the server and proxy thru? That's what I was taught to do, and you give your own tokens to clients to track which client is making that request and block that client if needed. It seems very dangerous to pass on the reddit API key to the client.

anyone knows why reddit doesnt like them using the reddit api?

Is there a whitelist? For some reason they're blocking API access to reddit entirely which is annoying as I want to browse certain sites that rely on this API. Why would the reddit API be on these lists?

I suppose calls need to provide an API secret, and you need to register with Reddit (with a credit card) in order to get one.

> A request for third-party app developers

> Before shutting down your apps, please consider pushing a simple app update to enable specifying a custom client ID and Reddit API domain, as this would greatly simplify setup for allowing users to connect to real Reddit with a custom client ID or to connect to a custom Reddit server.

I wonder why I haven’t seen mention of this anywhere. It’s not clear how open reddit will be with distributing keys, but can’t hurt to try.


Ahhh! Unsurprisingly, It seems like there is already a revanced patch for the Reddit sync app that allows you to use your own API key. So I guess users will just start doing it anyways, but still I wasn't aware of that restriction

You need an API key to access the reddit API. There's no MITM, it's just that requests made through Apollo are tracked to Apollo. And Apollo will be charged for those requests.

Does the API work that way now? The part on your own server used to only be for authentication and clients would then interact with reddit's servers directly. (Haven't done anything recently but used to maintain a moderation bot).

If you click through that you actually have to go over here [0] eventually to ask for access, it's not automated AFAICT:

From your link:

> By creating an app, you agree to Reddit's Developer Terms and Data Api Terms. You must also register to use the API [1].

Which takes you to a page that says:

> When you are ready, you must register [0] in order to use the Reddit API. Select “I’m a Developer” and “I want to register to use the Reddit API.”

[0] https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_...

[1] https://www.reddit.com/wiki/api#wiki_read_the_full_api_terms...


So this thing is advertised as a "Reddit client without using their API", but then it uses the reddit API for everything. The JSON endpoints are part of the API. It's how all apps get the content of subreddits, comments, etc. It's odd that they're still open for unauthenticated access, but I expect that to change.

Reddit has an API, and it's Oauth-based so the user must give consent.

I don't think there's any part here which is "official" though?

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