# Interact with discourse from Python?

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/interact-with-discourse-from-python/87543
**Category:** Development
**Created:** [May 15, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/interact-with-discourse-from-python/87543 "2018-05-15T16:34:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 33

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### Author: ![supermathie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/supermathie/32/507518_2.png) [@supermathie](https://meta.discourse.org/u/supermathie)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/interact-with-discourse-from-python/87543/33 "2026-04-20T15:11:15Z")

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> [@david](#):
>
> So I think it’s fine for the tooling to exist. It’s up to users to ensure they’re complying with any forum-specific ToS.

Yeah, this straight up echoes the arguments for VCRs… a while ago. Similarly, lockpicks. There exist legitimate and illegitimate uses of tools and it’s upon the operator to be response.

> [@Moin](#):
>
> You may not automate access to the forum, or monitor the forum, such as with a web crawler, browser plug-in or add-on, or other computer program that is not a web browser.

Again, IANAL and this is not an official statement, but I feel this accurately represents our perspective on this:

There’s a big difference between well-intended exploring with a tool ([e.g.](https://meta.discourse.org/t/interact-with-discourse-from-python/87543/20)) and setting up _automation_.

We’re not going to get grumpy with people using meta with tools like this _especially_ if they’re developing functionality or learning how to interact with the Discourse API. We’ll encourage it, as long as you’re not bulk-scraping data, incurring undue load, or degrading others’ experience.

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/interact-with-discourse-from-python/87543)._