lobsters.story_comments
stable Advanced
Comments of a Lobsters story.
GET /v1/lobsters/story_comments
What you get#
A list of Lobsters results in Onekey's unified shape, in data (an array). An empty array is a normal, successful answer and is charged like any other; a source that reports "nothing found" as an error returns a free 404 not_found instead.
What it costs#
- Advanced · 5 credits for a fresh fetch, charged only when it succeeds.
- Free when served from cache (0.2 credit for a cached response over 100 KB).
- Free if the request is invalid (never charged) or the source fails or reports not found (refunded).
Parameters#
| Name | Type | Required | Default | What it is | Constraints |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
id | string | yes | (required) | Story short id, e.g. q2rymh | max 6 chars; must match [a-z0-9]{6}; trimmed, lowercased |
Request#
curl "https://api.onekey.dev/v1/lobsters/story_comments?id=q2rymh" \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"Try it
Add your key to run this call right here. No key? Get one free. The key stays in this tab.
Recorded response#
A real Lobsters response, recorded and returned in Onekey's shape. Fields the platform does not provide are null.
{
"success": true,
"data": [
{
"content": {
"id": "q9t2be",
"text": "I really like this article. In particular:\r\n\r\n> There is no reason for a software development or research tool to use first-person language to describe itself. They should not do so. In fact they should not be allowed to do so.\r\n\r\nThis is fantastic, and in a healthier world this would be made law.",
"createdAt": "2026-09-28T17:47:40Z",
"url": "https://lobste.rs/s/q2rymh/what_would_serious_ai_product_look_like#c_q9t2be"
},
"author": {
"username": "kaig"
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 1
},
"ext": {
"depth": 0
}
},
{
"content": {
"id": "5joajg",
"text": "Excellent article, enough ideas to justify several, but I'm not complaining.\r\n\r\n> I have yet to hear from a single person who has said “yeah, we measured according to your methodology\r\n\r\nMe neither, and I continue to wonder why. I feel like even I, with my limited scientific background, could run an experiment with reasonable, non-perfect controls that would be good enough for a corporate environment. I suppose the fact that I haven't means that either everyone else is sharing my reason for not having done so (overwhelming fatigue with the space), or it's just much harder than I am imagining.",
"createdAt": "2026-09-28T18:44:01Z",
"url": "https://lobste.rs/s/q2rymh/what_would_serious_ai_product_look_like#c_5joajg"
},
"author": {
"username": "elliotmorris"
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 1
},
"ext": {
"depth": 0
}
}
],
"metadata": {
"platform": "lobsters",
"endpoint": "story_comments",
"cached": false,
"stale": false,
"age_s": 0,
"fetched_at": "2026-01-01T12:00:00+00:00",
"credits_charged": 5,
"request_id": "7f3a9c2e5b1d4c8fa2e6d0b9c4f18e37"
},
"error": null
}Field mapping#
How this endpoint's source fields become Onekey's unified schema. Fields the source lacks come back as null.
| Source path | Onekey field | Transform |
|---|---|---|
short_id | content.id | - |
comment_plain | content.text | - |
created_at | content.createdAt | toIsoDate |
commenting_user | author.username | - |
score | engagement.likes | toNumber |
depth | ext.depth | toNumber |
url | content.url | safeUrl |
Caching and freshness#
- Fresh for about 2 minutes. Repeat calls in that window are served from cache and are free.
- Between 2 minutes and 15 minutes the cached copy is still served instantly and marked
stale: truewhile Onekey refreshes it in the background. - If the source is down when a refresh is needed, the last copy can be served for up to 1 hour more (marked stale).
- A "not found" is remembered for 1 minute and is free.
- The cache is shared across all customers, which is what keeps repeat calls cheap.
What can go wrong#
| Status | Code | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 401 | unauthorized | Check the x-api-key header. |
| 402 | insufficient_credits | Add credits; your balance must cover the price. |
| 404 | not_found | Unknown endpoint path. |
| 422 | invalid_params | Fix the parameters using the table above. Free. |
| 429 | rate_limited | Wait Retry-After seconds, then retry. |
| 502 | upstream_error | The source failed. Refunded; retry with backoff. |
See Errors for the full list and retry guidance.
Status: stable (verified against the live source).