This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Timur Gabaidulin
Managing your Reddit history can be overwhelming, especially if you're a long-time user with thousands of comments. That’s where Reddit Comment Cleaner 2.0.0 (Alpha) steps in a Python script designed to help you clean, edit, and delete your comments efficiently while respecting safety and customization needs.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the features, setup, and best practices for this tool to get the most out of it while staying safe. Whether you're decluttering your digital footprint or managing privacy, this script has you covered.
What Can It Do?
Reddit Comment Cleaner provides a wide array of options to clean up your Reddit comment history with precision:
- Age-Based Cleanup: Remove comments older than a specified number of days.
- Karma-Based Filtering: Delete comments with negative karma or low engagement (e.g., 1 karma and no replies).
- Keyword Management: Target comments containing specific words for deletion or exclude those with important keywords.
- Subreddit-Specific Cleanup: Focus on or exclude certain subreddits.
- Backup & Logging: Keep detailed backups and logs of all operations.
These features, combined with a dry run mode for testing, ensure that you can preview changes before making them.
Getting Started
System Requirements
To use this script, ensure you have:
- Python 3.6 or higher
- Required libraries:
praw,pytz
Installation
Clone the repository and install dependencies:
git clone https://github.com/905timur/Reddit-Comment-Cleaner-v2.git
cd Reddit-Comment-Cleaner-v2
pip install praw pytz
Reddit API Setup
To access your comment history, you need Reddit API credentials:
- Go to Reddit’s App Preferences.
- Create a script application.
- Save your
client IDandclient secret.
Create a credentials.txt file in the script directory:
your_client_id
your_client_secret
your_reddit_username
your_reddit_password
Configuration
Customize the behavior using a config.json file. It’s auto-generated on the first run but can also be created manually:
{
"replacement_text": ".",
"min_delay": 6,
"max_delay": 8,
"excluded_subreddits": ["AskScience", "PersonalFinance"],
"excluded_keywords": ["important", "keep this"],
"backup_enabled": true,
"dry_run": false
}
Usage
Run the script:
python RedditCommentCleaner.py
The interactive menu offers options like:
- Remove comments older than
xdays - Clean comments with negative or low karma
- Target specific subreddits or keywords
- Toggle dry run mode
Safety First
To avoid unintended deletions:
- Use dry run mode to preview changes.
- Maintain a backup (
deleted_comments.txt) for recovery. - Configure excluded subreddits and keywords to protect important content.
Best Practices
- Test First: Always use dry run mode to ensure your configuration is correct.
- Respect API Limits: Stick to the default delay settings (6-8 seconds).
-
Monitor Logs: Check
comment_cleaner.logfor detailed operation reports. - Stay Updated: Follow the repository for updates and contribute if you can.
Future Plans
As an alpha release, Reddit Comment Cleaner 2.0.0 is still evolving. Upcoming features include:
- Enhanced UI for configuration management.
- More granular filtering options.
- Direct integration with cloud backup services.
Contribute: If you're a developer, feel free to fork the repo and submit PRs for new features or bug fixes. Let's build a better tool together! 💻
Have questions or feedback? Share your experience in the comments or open an issue on the GitHub repo.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Timur Gabaidulin
Timur Gabaidulin | Sciencx (2025-01-07T00:16:20+00:00) Reddit Comment Cleaner. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/01/07/reddit-comment-cleaner/
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