Best Multi-Platform Social Search API: 129 Rows, 4 Credits

On 4 October 2026, GET /v1/search/multi?query=coldplay&platforms=tiktok,instagram,youtube,reddit returned HTTP 200, 129 rows, and credits_used 4. That request is the measured best multi-platform social search API example in this post.

TikTok returned 30 rows, Instagram 30, YouTube 44, and Reddit 25. Those four counts add to 129, which matches data.total, and duplicates_removed was 0. All four sources had status ok and http_status 200. Each source credits value was 1, and cached on this first call was false.

Instagram on this call is reels. data.sources.instagram.endpoint was /v1/instagram/search/reels.

The row-walk names min_views, max_age_days, exclude_country, max_pages, sort_rows, and seen, bare and with a tiktok. prefix, came back HTTP 200, and the endpoint ignored them. There was no data.walk.

tiktok.region=US was accepted. It is not a filter that keeps only US posts.

What does one multi-platform search API call return?

On this capture, a multi platform search API response is four platform searches in one envelope. The capture window is 2026-10-04T15:58:36Z through 2026-10-04T15:58:55Z, with header x-api-key.

curl -s -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY" \
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/search/multi?query=coldplay&platforms=tiktok,instagram,youtube,reddit"

search_status was complete, and data.credits_charged was 4, the same number as credits_used. Source warnings were empty. data._warnings and data.walk were absent, meta was null, and since was not sent, so data.since was null.

The trimmed fields below are the ones this capture recorded for that envelope. Cursor tokens are left out. Each source still had a next cursor, and this response did not follow it.

{
  "credits_used": 4,
  "cached": false,
  "meta": null,
  "pagination": {
    "page_size": 129,
    "has_more": false,
    "next_cursor": null
  },
  "data": {
    "search_status": "complete",
    "total": 129,
    "duplicates_removed": 0,
    "credits_charged": 4,
    "since": null,
    "sources": {
      "tiktok": {
        "endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/search",
        "status": "ok",
        "http_status": 200,
        "rows": 30,
        "rows_kept": 30,
        "credits": 1,
        "has_more": true
      },
      "instagram": {
        "endpoint": "/v1/instagram/search/reels",
        "status": "ok",
        "http_status": 200,
        "rows": 30,
        "rows_kept": 30,
        "credits": 1,
        "has_more": true
      },
      "youtube": {
        "endpoint": "/v1/youtube/search",
        "status": "ok",
        "http_status": 200,
        "rows": 44,
        "rows_kept": 44,
        "credits": 1,
        "has_more": true
      },
      "reddit": {
        "endpoint": "/v1/reddit/search",
        "status": "ok",
        "http_status": 200,
        "rows": 25,
        "rows_kept": 25,
        "credits": 1,
        "has_more": true
      }
    }
  }
}

pagination.page_size was 129, while pagination.has_more was false and pagination.next_cursor was null. Every source still had has_more true. The endpoint returned one page of each search and stopped. There is no page 2 in this capture.

The response grouped rows by platform, in the order named on the query. The first two rows of each platform are below. That order is payload order, not a ranking. YouTube likes and comments, and Reddit views, are null on these sampled rows only. The rest of the page was not counted for nulls.

The second YouTube row is dvgZkm1xWPE, text prefix Coldplay - Viva La Vida (Official Video), published 2008-08-04, with 1080495932 views. It is on a 2026 search page because since was not sent. data.since stayed null. The first TikTok text prefix is Coldplay fix you (live at Ahmedabad), region GB, 3528 views. The first Reddit text prefix starts 2027 Tour Announcement Soon, 225 likes, views null.

Four searches came back in one envelope, and each source cost 1 credit on this call. The region call further down still returned rows from all four platforms and cost 1 credit.

Page-1 articles for this query are a data-collection listicle with no request, a posting API roundup, and a listening API roundup.

How do you search multiple social platforms in one request?

The coldplay call named platforms=tiktok,instagram,youtube,reddit. That set is the example that was run, not a measured default. A 23 September note names a wider platforms list: Threads, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn. It also names a default of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, and Threads when platforms is omitted. This run did not omit platforms, and it did not call Threads, X, Facebook, or LinkedIn. A price for those platforms, and the cost of the omitted-list default, was not measured here.

Instagram in the diagram is reels search, /v1/instagram/search/reels, not a general Instagram search. One page means the combined envelope. Multi's own pagination.next_cursor was null while each source still had has_more true and a cursor. The next page is that cursor sent to the source endpoint. These cursors were not followed, so this post has no second page to show.

client
  |  header x-api-key
  v
GET /v1/search/multi?query=coldplay&platforms=tiktok,instagram,youtube,reddit
  |
  +-- /v1/tiktok/search            rows 30, rows_kept 30, credits 1, has_more true
  +-- /v1/instagram/search/reels   rows 30, rows_kept 30, credits 1, has_more true
  +-- /v1/youtube/search           rows 44, rows_kept 44, credits 1, has_more true
  +-- /v1/reddit/search            rows 25, rows_kept 25, credits 1, has_more true
  |
  v
one envelope
  data.total 129
  credits_used 4
  pagination.has_more false
  pagination.next_cursor null

This request is a multi platform social search api call because four search endpoints share one response. The posting roundup linked above is a multi platform social media api for publishing. This URL searches and does not create a post.

Social Search Engine API is the planned search, on a different endpoint, and the later write-up is what that endpoint returned on its own date. This run did not call it.

When does a cross-platform social search API charge you?

On the two coldplay calls where the outer cached flag was false, credits_used equaled the sum of data.sources credits. That is the cross platform social search api charge these two calls support. Call B returned rows on all four platforms and credits_used was 1.

Call A is the unfiltered request already shown. credits_used 4, each source credits 1, cached false, data.credits_charged 4.

Call B used the same query and the same four platforms, plus tiktok.region=US.

curl -s -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY" \
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/search/multi?query=coldplay&platforms=tiktok,instagram,youtube,reddit&tiktok.region=US"

HTTP 200, cached false, and no ignore warning for region.

1+0+0+0 is 1, and both credits_used and data.credits_charged were 1. The four row counts still add to 129. Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit reported credits 0 beside row counts of 30, 44, and 25. The response does not say refunded, empty, or failed. No source had status empty or status failed. The outer cached flag was false, and the response has no per-source cache flag, so these three zeros stay unlabeled.

The second sampled TikTok id changed. The unfiltered call's second TikTok id was 7692138139384646926. On the region call it was 7692090331122142477, published 2026-10-02T15:19:39.000Z, 509 views, 20 likes, 0 comments, region US. The sampled Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit ids matched the first call.

post.ext.region on all 30 TikTok rows, not a two-row sample:

Both columns sum to 30. US-registered rows went from 13 to 10, not to 30. On the region call, 20 of the 30 TikTok rows carried some other code. The parameter was accepted and the TikTok page changed. The rows are not limited to US.

No source on either call had status empty or status failed, so this run cannot show what a platform with zero rows costs. A price for LinkedIn, for an omitted platforms list, for a seen repeat, or for the planned-search endpoint was not measured here.

Two later calls that attached the walk-filter names returned credits_used 0. The next section shows why. That 0 is not a refund for a filter that ran.

Where do min_views and max_pages actually change rows?

A cross platform social search that wants min_views or max_pages to change the row set has to leave GET /v1/search/multi. On the coldplay calls the endpoint ignored those names. The same names did change rows on one GET /v1/tiktok/search call the same UTC day, for a different query. The 129-row coldplay envelope is not that TikTok walk.

Ignored on the coldplay multi call

Same query, same four platforms, two extra requests. Both returned HTTP 200 with cached true, credits_used 0, and the same 129 rows, and neither returned data.walk. The TikTok region histogram matched the unfiltered call. max_pages=9 did not walk and did not return 400.

The first of those requests sent the bare names together: min_views=1000, max_age_days=30, exclude_country=IN, max_pages=9, sort_rows=views, seen=blogprobe1.

The later request sent the tiktok.-prefixed names together: tiktok.min_views=1000, tiktok.max_age_days=30, tiktok.exclude_country=IN, tiktok.max_pages=9, tiktok.sort_rows=views, tiktok.seen=blogprobe1.

The warnings, verbatim:

• min_views was ignored: GET /v1/search/multi has no such parameter.
• max_age_days was ignored: GET /v1/search/multi has no such parameter.
• exclude_country was ignored: did you mean exclude?
• max_pages was ignored: GET /v1/search/multi has no such parameter.
• sort_rows was ignored: did you mean tiktok.sort_by?
• seen was ignored: GET /v1/search/multi has no such parameter.
• tiktok.min_views was ignored: did you mean tiktok.date_posted?
• tiktok.max_age_days was ignored: did you mean tiktok.date_posted?
• tiktok.exclude_country was ignored: did you mean tiktok.date_posted?
• tiktok.max_pages was ignored: did you mean tiktok.date_posted?
• tiktok.sort_rows was ignored: did you mean tiktok.sort_by?
• tiktok.seen was ignored: did you mean tiktok.date_posted?

exclude, tiktok.sort_by, and tiktok.date_posted appear only as suggestion text. They were not sent. The rows matched the unfiltered call, so the suggestion was not applied. exclude_country=IN left the TikTok region histogram unchanged. This run did not send exclude, so it does not show that name filtering country. An unknown name on this endpoint, for these twelve strings, returned HTTP 200 and an ignore warning rather than HTTP 400.

The 0 credits are the cache hit. cached was true, and the response note says credits_remaining is not read on cache hits (credits_used is 0) and points at GET /v1/credits/balance for the current balance. That 0 does not show that the filters are free when they run, and it is not a refund for a rejected parameter. The filters did not run.

meta was null on the English multi responses. meta.hint was not in them.

Applied on a separate TikTok search

This call is separate from the coldplay multi request. Its rows and its credits stay out of the 129 and the 4.

At 2026-10-04T15:59:55Z the capture sent:

curl -sG -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=뉴진스" \
  -d "min_views=100000" \
  -d "max_age_days=365" \
  -d "exclude_country=US" \
  -d "sort_rows=views" \
  -d "max_pages=2" \
  -d "seen=ko-newjeans-20261005" \
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/search"

region was not sent. The call returned HTTP 200, cached false, credits_used 2, and 12 rows.

{
  "credits_used": 2,
  "cached": false,
  "data": {
    "walk": {
      "pages": 2,
      "stopped": "max_pages",
      "rows_fetched": 52,
      "rows_returned": 12,
      "discarded": {
        "views_below_min": 37,
        "older_than_max_age": 2,
        "country_excluded": 1
      },
      "repeats": 0,
      "credits": {
        "pages": 2,
        "refunded": 0
      }
    }
  }
}

37+2+1 is 40, and so is 52-12. data.walk.pages was 2. stopped was max_pages, so the call stopped because the request asked for 2 pages, not because the content ended. next_cursor was present and was not followed. max_pages=5 was not sent. repeats was 0, credits.pages was 2, and credits.refunded was 0.

The 12 rows are views descending. The counts are 21974471, 11401920, 4228689, 3474772, 617569, 319066, 309407, 281670, 248911, 214954, 123405, and 113458. The minimum is 113458, so every returned row is at least 100000.

post.ext.region on those 12 rows has no US. The codes are KR 8, GB 1, TH 1, HU 1, and ID 1. published_at runs from 2026-01-29T16:14:56.000Z through 2026-10-03T06:00:08.000Z, which sits inside 365 days of 2026-10-04T15:59:55Z.

seen=ko-newjeans-20261005 did not return 400. walk.credits.refunded is 0 and credits_used is 2. The same id was not sent again, so this capture does not show a seen discount.

Forty rows were discarded and the call still cost 2, one per page walked. On this TikTok search, the filters did not make the pages free. That price belongs to GET /v1/tiktok/search. The same names never ran on GET /v1/search/multi.

How do you run this call with your own key?

What the 4 October calls measured

The English window is 2026-10-04T15:58:36Z through 2026-10-04T15:58:55Z, on base https://www.socialcrawl.dev, header x-api-key, endpoint GET /v1/search/multi, query coldplay, platforms tiktok,instagram,youtube,reddit. GET /v1/search/everywhere was not called. GET /v1/credits/balance was read around the searches and itself reported credits_used 0.

Four multi calls, in order: unfiltered credits_used 4 with cached false, bare walk names credits_used 0 with cached true, tiktok.region=US credits_used 1 with cached false, and prefixed walk names credits_used 0 with cached true.

4+0+1+0 is 5. The balance reads were 56082, then 56078, then 56077, and 56082-56077 is 5. Quote credits_used per call when you compare a rerun. The absolute balance is this key's audit trail, not a price.

The TikTok walk above is a different endpoint and the query 뉴진스. Its credits_used of 2 is not part of the English 5.

You need a SocialCrawl key in the x-api-key header. The smallest call is the coldplay URL above. The row set will differ on a later day, and the counts in this post are that 4 October window.

The multi-platform search API page documents this endpoint. The pricing page is where current page prices live. The API reference is the full catalogue. This post does not paste prices the 4 October calls did not measure. You can send the coldplay URL from the public explorer before you write a client.

Frequently asked questions

How many credits did the four-platform coldplay call use?

The unfiltered coldplay call reported credits_used 4 and data.credits_charged 4. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit each had credits 1. That figure is this call, with those four platforms named on the query. A call that omitted platforms was not made, so the 4 is not a default hold.

Does GET /v1/search/multi apply min_views or max_pages?

No. Bare min_views, max_age_days, exclude_country, max_pages, sort_rows, and seen, and the same names with a tiktok. prefix, returned HTTP 200, an ignore warning for each name, no data.walk, and the same 129 rows. max_pages=9 did not walk. The responses with credits_used 0 had cached true, which is why the charge was 0. The filter names were ignored, so they did not run.

Does tiktok.region=US keep only US posts?

No. The parameter was accepted, the TikTok page changed, and 10 of 30 TikTok rows had post.ext.region US. credits_used was 1. Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit still returned 30, 44, and 25 rows with credits 0. The response does not label those zeros as a refund.

Where do min_views and max_pages change the rows?

Not on the coldplay multi call. On a separate GET /v1/tiktok/search the same UTC day, query 뉴진스, with min_views=100000, max_age_days=365, exclude_country=US, sort_rows=views, and max_pages=2, the response had 12 rows, credits_used 2, 52 rows fetched, and 40 discarded, and data.walk.stopped was max_pages. seen refunded 0. The same seen id was not sent again.

How is this different from a planned social search?

This call returns each platform's own search page. It does not plan the query, rank the rows, or group them. The planned endpoint is the one in Social Search Engine API and the later write-up of what that call returned on its own date. This run did not call that endpoint and did not measure its price. meta was null, so meta.hint was not in the response.