/v1/search"platform": "xiaohongshu"Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Search API
Find notes by keyword.
Search Xiaohongshu notes by keyword and get back text, author, likes, comment count and publish time, as JSON over HTTP or from your AI client over MCP. A call to the Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Search API costs 12 credits ($0.024 to $0.04 depending on the pack), failed calls are free, and the response has the same format as every other call. Last tested 2026-11-05.
Last updated:
limit: 100 and one call pages for you: at most 5 pages, 60 credits. It stops once it has them or the list ends; pages it does not use are not charged, and neither are pages that fail. Reading 1,000 items comes to about 600 credits, about $2.00.Daily watch: tell your AI “watch this daily” and this call runs by itself every day, sending only what is new: at most 372 credits a month, about $1.24. How to set it up
What you get from the Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Search API.
From a recorded answer.
A recorded call returned 15 items; here is the first, field by field. Names and text are removed from the sample; the numbers are as recorded.
112 real calls in the last 7 days, 100% succeeded, median 2.2 s, usually 20 items (data to 2026-11-05).
Lighter for your AI: the same recorded data (15 items) is about 50,707 tokens as the platform's raw JSON and about 10,126 as this interface returns it, 80% fewer (measured 2026-11-06). How it was measured
| Field | In the recorded answer |
|---|---|
| url | removed from the sample |
| format | image |
| title | removed from the sample |
| text | removed from the sample |
| published_at | 2026-05-17T05:25:25.000Z |
| author.id | removed from the sample |
| author.username | removed from the sample |
| author.name | removed from the sample |
| author.verified | false |
| author.followers | null: Xiaohongshu cannot give it |
| metrics.likes | 48 |
| metrics.comments | 21 |
| metrics.shares | 5 |
| metrics.collects | 10 |
| metrics.views | null: Xiaohongshu cannot give it |
| metrics.reposts | null: Xiaohongshu cannot give it |
| images | 1 entry |
| hashtags | null: Xiaohongshu cannot give it |
| is_pinned | null: Xiaohongshu cannot give it |
12 credits a call (≈ $0.024–$0.04): about 250 calls for $10.
Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Search API: request and response
curl https://api.socialtoai.com/v1/search \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOCIALTOAI_API_KEY" \ -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "platform": "xiaohongshu", "query": "咖啡" }'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": "xiaohongshu", "query": "咖啡", },)print(response.json())# Connected over MCP? Ask in plain words.Search Xiaohongshu for notes about "咖啡".# Your AI calls the search tool with:{ "platform": "xiaohongshu", "query": "咖啡"}valuesort{ "platform": "xiaohongshu", "status": "ok", "items": [ { "platform": "xiaohongshu", "id": "…", "ref": "…", "approx": [], "type": "content", "url": "https://example.com/…", "format": "image", "title": "…", "text": "…", "published_at": "2026-05-17T05:25:25.000Z", "author": { "id": "…", "username": "…", "name": "…", "verified": false, "followers": null }, "metrics": { "likes": 48, "comments": 21, "shares": 5, "collects": 10, "views": null, "reposts": null }, "images": ["https://example.com/…"], "hashtags": null, "is_pinned": null } ], "unavailable": ["author.followers", "metrics.views", "metrics.reposts", "hashtags", "is_pinned"], "page": { "has_more": true, "cursor": "cur_…", "cursor_expires_at": "2026-10-12T19:13:26.000Z" }, "cost_credits": 12}nullNames and text were removed from the sample; the numbers are as recorded.
Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Search API parameters.
5 parameters, 2 required.
Send them as a JSON body with POST. Your key goes in the Authorization header, never in the URL.
| Name | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| platform | string | Required | — | Always "xiaohongshu" on this page. |
| query | string | Required | — | Search terms |
| sort | string | Optional | "relevance" | Sort order: relevance, newest, most liked"relevance""latest""popular" |
| type | string | Optional | — | "user": accounts instead of posts (12 credits); "image": image results (12 credits)."user""image" |
| cursor | string | Optional | — | Pass page.cursor from the last response to get the next page. |
Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Search API response fields.
What Xiaohongshu cannot give is marked.
| Field | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| items[].url | string | A link that opens the item. |
| items[].format | string | video, image, text or article. |
| items[].title | string | The title. |
| items[].text | string | The body text or caption. |
| items[].published_at | string | When it was published, ISO 8601 in UTC. |
| items[].author.id | string | The author's account ID. |
| items[].author.username | string | The author's handle. |
| items[].author.name | string | The author's display name. |
| items[].author.verified | boolean | Whether the author is verified. |
| items[].author.followers | integeralways null | The author's follower count. |
| items[].metrics.likes | integer | Likes. |
| items[].metrics.comments | integer | Comments. |
| items[].metrics.shares | integer | Shares. |
| items[].metrics.collects | integer | Saves. |
| items[].metrics.views | integeralways null | Views or plays. |
| items[].metrics.reposts | integeralways null | Reposts. |
| items[].images | string[] | Image addresses. |
| items[].hashtags | string[]always null | Hashtags, without the #. |
| items[].is_pinned | booleanalways null | Whether the author pinned it. |
nullFields Xiaohongshu cannot giveRead null as “Xiaohongshu did not give this”, not as zero. These are always null on this call:
author.followersThe author's follower count.metrics.viewsViews or plays.metrics.repostsReposts.hashtagsHashtags, without the #.is_pinnedWhether the author pinned it.
Send the parameter and the call returns something else:
type=useraccounts instead of posts12 creditstype=imageimage results12 creditsCompared with the Douyin Search API, this call does not give author followers or hashtags.
Every item also has platform, id, ref, approx and type; the response around the items is the same on every call. Response format
Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Search API: paging and billing.
5 calls per second per key, 20 after a purchase; going over is not charged. Rate limits
A failed call costs 0 credits and is never retried on its own. Error codes
“Last tested” above is the last day a real call of this interface succeeded. Each call reads from the platform, and fetched_at in the answer is when it was read. The same request sent again with the same key within 5 minutes is a replay (replayed: true): 0 credits, and the answer as first read.
These numbers come from real calls only, worked out once a day, without our own accounts: a customer's same request on one day counts once, by how it last ended; something that does not exist or a wrong parameter is not a failure; an interface with fewer than 20 calls shows none.
Once connected over MCP, these questions use the Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Search API.
Search Xiaohongshu for notes about "咖啡".
12 creditssearch {"platform":"xiaohongshu","query":"咖啡"}Find Xiaohongshu accounts about "Nike".
12 creditssearch {"platform":"xiaohongshu","query":"Nike","type":"user"}
Give this to your AI.
Copy it into Claude or ChatGPT.
How to connectUse the SocialToAI MCP server (https://mcp.socialtoai.com/mcp) for this: Search Xiaohongshu for notes about "咖啡".Call the search tool with {"platform":"xiaohongshu","query":"咖啡"}. Needed: query; optional: sort (relevance, latest, popular).For many items pass limit (limit=100 is at most 5 pages) and one call pages for you; each page costs 12 credits and unused pages are not charged.Before you start, work out how many credits it will take in all and ask me; call it only after I agree.What usually comes next, with the ref or username it returns: detail (Detail), comments (Comments).If SocialToAI is not connected yet, tell me how to connect it; never ask me to paste a key into the chat.Answer with a link to every item you used, and tell me how many credits it cost.Paste it into a chat once SocialToAI is connected over MCP. There is no key in it: Claude and ChatGPT sign in, other clients send a key in a header.
These ready-made tools call it when they run.
brand-buzzHow people feel about it on each platform, what comes up most, and the posts behind it
Work scenarios that use it.
brand-monitoringYour AI tells you what people say about a brand: the share of each attitude, what they praise and what they complain about, with the posts behind each point.
product-researchYour AI reads what people say about a product category in threads and posts, and comes back with the complaints and wishes that keep coming up, each with the post it came from.
content-ideasYour AI reads what was posted on a subject this week and tells you which angles took off, with the posts, their numbers and what they have in common.
The same call on other platforms.
All platforms and prices/v1/search{ "platform": "xiaohongshu", "query": "咖啡" }12 creditsper callRead next.
What its own API allows, who can use it and what it costs, with sources.
connect ChatGPT to Xiaohongshu notes and comments
connect Claude Code and Cursor to Xiaohongshu and Douyin with no QR code or cookie, and what a self-run server costs you
monitor Xiaohongshu, Douyin and Weibo from outside China with AI, in English, with original links
a Xiaohongshu account or keyword, daily, 12 credits a run; why notes link to the profile
a brand, daily, across platforms: attitudes and the posts behind them, from 16 credits a run
what Claude can and cannot read on Xiaohongshu (RedNote), with sources and a real request
what ChatGPT can and cannot read on Xiaohongshu (RedNote), with sources and a real request
Let your AI read Xiaohongshu.