numemac / vcj-curator

A bot that uses the Reddit API to moderate the r/vegancirclejerk subreddit (100k members).

vcj-curator

This is a bot that uses the Reddit API to moderate the r/vegancirclejerk subreddit, which has over 100k members.

Installation

The bot is set to run every 30 minutes on Linux. The following instructions have been tested on Arch Linux.

Step 1: Create a Reddit 'script' app

1. Go to https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps.
2. Set the name to vcj_mod_bot.
3. Set the description to helps moderate r/vegancirclejerk (100k users).
4. Set the about url and redirect uri to https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/vegancirclejerk.
5. Press create app.
6. Note that REDDIT_CLIENT_ID is under personal use script.
7. Note that REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET is labeled as secret after pressing edit on your app.

Step 2: Clone the repository

git clone [email protected]:numemac/vcj-curator.git

Step 3: Install the dependencies

• On Arch Linux you can just run: sudo pacman -S python-praw
• Or you can create a venv and run pip3 install vcj-curator/requirements.txt

Step 4: Configure the service

1. Copy the example service:

cp vcj-curator/systemd/example.vegancirclejerk.service vcj-curator/systemd/vegancirclejerk.service

2. Edit the service with your favourite editor, e.g., vi vcj-curator/systemd/vegancirclejerk.service.

• WARNING: Putting your credentials in plain text is dangerous, consider using a secrets manager.
• Use the REDDIT_CLIENT_ID and REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET from step 1.
• Set your REDDIT_USERNAME and REDDIT_PASSWORD to match your mod account's info.
• Be sure to replace the /EXAMPLE/PATH

Step 5. Set up systemd

1. Copy or symlink your vegancirclejerk.service file to ~/.config/systemd/user/.

ln -s vcj-curator/systemd/vegancirclejerk.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
ln -s vcj-curator/systemd/vegancirclejerk.timer ~/.config/systemd/user/

2. Enable and start the service and timer:

systemctl --user enable vegancirclejerk.timer
systemctl --user enable vegancirclejerk.service
systemctl --user start vegancirclejerk.timer

Step 6. Verify the service

Check that the service and timer are running:

systemctl --user status vegancirclejerk.timer
systemctl --user status vegancirclejerk.service