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SNScrape

Web & HTTPWebPython
Official docs ↗GitHub ↗

What it is

SNScrape is a Python library for scraping social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and more. It allows fetching posts, comments, tweets, user profiles, and other social data without using official APIs.

SNScrape can scrape posts, tweets, users, and hashtags from multiple social platforms. It supports filtering by date, keyword, or user, and outputs data in JSON, CSV, or other formats.

Installation

pip install snscrape

Getting started

The smallest useful thing you can do with it, and what each part means.

Scraping tweets from a user
import snscrape.modules.twitter as sntwitter

for i, tweet in enumerate(sntwitter.TwitterUserScraper('twitter').get_items()):
    if i > 5:
        break
    print(tweet.date, tweet.content)
Scrapes the latest 5 tweets from a specified Twitter user and prints their date and content.
Scraping tweets by hashtag
import snscrape.modules.twitter as sntwitter

for i, tweet in enumerate(sntwitter.TwitterHashtagScraper('#Python').get_items()):
    if i > 5:
        break
    print(tweet.date, tweet.content)
Fetches the latest 5 tweets containing the hashtag #Python.

Advanced usage

Where the library earns its place over a simpler alternative.

Saving tweets to CSV
import snscrape.modules.twitter as sntwitter
import pandas as pd

tweets = []
for i, tweet in enumerate(sntwitter.TwitterSearchScraper('Python since:2025-01-01 until:2025-01-31').get_items()):
    if i > 50:
        break
    tweets.append([tweet.date, tweet.user.username, tweet.content])
df = pd.DataFrame(tweets, columns=['Date','User','Content'])
df.to_csv('tweets.csv', index=False)
Scrapes up to 50 tweets containing 'Python' in January 2025 and saves them to a CSV file.
Scraping Reddit posts
import snscrape.modules.reddit as snreddit

for post in snreddit.RedditSearchScraper('Python').get_items():
    print(post.title, post.url)
Scrapes Reddit posts containing the keyword 'Python' and prints the post titles and URLs.
Filtering by date range
import snscrape.modules.twitter as sntwitter

for tweet in sntwitter.TwitterSearchScraper('Python since:2025-08-01 until:2025-08-21').get_items():
    print(tweet.date, tweet.content)
Scrapes tweets containing 'Python' posted between 1st and 21st August 2025.

Errors and fixes

The failures you are most likely to hit, and what actually resolves them.

HTTPError / ConnectionError
Check network connectivity or retry after a short delay.
ValueError: invalid query
Ensure the search query syntax matches the scraper's supported format.

Best practices

  • Limit the number of items to scrape to avoid excessive requests.
  • Use pandas DataFrame or CSV to store and analyze scraped data efficiently.
  • Be mindful of platform usage terms to avoid scraping sensitive or restricted data.
  • Combine with Python date filters to scrape relevant time periods.
  • Use try/except to handle exceptions and network issues.

Background

Why it exists, and what it was reacting to.

SNScrape was created to provide a simple and reliable way to extract social media content without relying on official APIs, which often have rate limits or require authentication. It has become popular among data analysts, researchers, and developers for social media mining and analysis.

Related libraries

Others in Web & HTTP for Python.

← All Python librariesPython guide