Quickstart

SocialToAI is an API and MCP server that lets AI tools read publicly visible social media content (posts, comments, profiles and trends) from 18 platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, X (Twitter), Reddit, YouTube, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Douyin, Weibo. It is billed in prepaid credits, and failed calls are free.

Get a key, make one call, connect your AI. Everything on this page runs on the 100 free credits you get when you sign up.

1Get a key

Sign in with Google, or with your email: we send a one-time code. There is no password to set. A new account starts with 100 credits and needs no card.

In the console, open API keys and create a key. It starts with stai_live_ and is shown once, so copy it right away. Then keep it in an environment variable:

export SOCIALTOAI_API_KEY="<YOUR_API_KEY>"

2Make your first call

Every action is one POST to https://api.socialtoai.com/v1/<action> with a JSON body. This one is /v1/search: find posts by keyword: text, author, likes, comment count and publish time, on Reddit.

curl https://api.socialtoai.com/v1/search \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOCIALTOAI_API_KEY" \  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{    "platform": "reddit",    "query": "saturn rings"  }'

import osimport uuidimport requestsresponse = requests.post(    "https://api.socialtoai.com/v1/search",    headers={        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['SOCIALTOAI_API_KEY']}",        # A new key for each request; the same one again retries it without paying twice.        "Idempotency-Key": str(uuid.uuid4()),    },    json={        "platform": "reddit",        "query": "saturn rings",    },)print(response.json())

You get this back:

{  "request_id": "req_00000000-0000-4000-8000-000000000001",  "schema_version": "v1",  "fetched_at": "2026-10-12T18:43:12.000Z",  "action": "search",  "platform": "reddit",  "status": "ok",  "items": [    {      "platform": "reddit",      "id": "…",      "ref": "…",      "approx": [],      "type": "content",      "url": "https://example.com/…",      "format": "image",      "title": "…",      "text": null,      "published_at": "2024-11-22T01:25:15.633Z",      "author": {        "id": "…",        "username": "…",        "name": null,        "verified": null,        "followers": null      },      "metrics": {        "likes": null,        "comments": 213,        "shares": null,        "collects": null,        "views": null,        "reposts": null      },      "images": ["https://example.com/…"],      "hashtags": null,      "is_pinned": false    }  ],  "unavailable": ["author.name", "author.verified", "author.followers", "metrics.shares", "metrics.collects", "metrics.views", "metrics.reposts", "hashtags"],  "page": {    "has_more": true,    "cursor": "cur_…",    "cursor_expires_at": "2026-10-12T19:13:12.000Z"  },  "warnings": [],  "applied_params": {    "query": "saturn rings"  },  "cost_credits": 2,  "billing": {    "cost_credits": 2,    "balance_credits": 98,    "today_spend_credits": 2,    "daily_limit_credits": null,    "daily_remaining_credits": null,    "display": "This call: 2 credits (≈ $0.0067). Balance: 98 credits (≈ $0.33)."  },  "replayed": false}

3Connect your AI over MCP

If you work in an AI client, you do not have to write requests at all. Add an MCP server in your AI with this address: https://mcp.socialtoai.com/mcp. If a sign-in page opens, sign in with your email and press Allow. If your tool asks for a key instead, put the key you just made in a header: Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_KEY>.

In a terminal, run the command. In Claude Code, then in Claude Code type /mcp, pick socialtoai and sign in:

claude mcp add --transport http socialtoai https://mcp.socialtoai.com/mcp

codex mcp add socialtoai --url https://mcp.socialtoai.com/mcp

Then ask in plain words. Your AI picks the call and tells you what it cost. Step-by-step for your client.

4Understand the response shape

Every platform and every action answers in the same shape. Learn these parts once and you can read all 18 platforms plus 2 ad libraries. What a platform does not provide comes back as null.

Response format lists every field of the envelope and of each kind of item.

5Errors and what is not charged

Failed calls are free. A call that ran is charged, even if it found nothing; a few interfaces also charge for looking up something that does not exist, and the answer then carries charged: true. A request we refuse before it runs gets an HTTP error status. Trouble on the platform's side still comes back as HTTP 200, with status and error in the body and cost_credits of 0. Every error carries request_id and fix, which says how to correct the call.

Errors has every code with its cases.

Next steps

Last updated: 2026-11-01