Start a social scan

Scan one channel for new discussions relevant to this brand — the same scan the “Run a scan” button in the product triggers. One call scans one channel; to scan both Reddit and LinkedIn, make two calls.

Only one scan may run per brand per channel at a time. A second call while one is already running is refused, not queued.


POST /brands/{brand_id}/social/scans

Authorization

Header	Type	Required
`Authorization`	`Bearer asky_sk_…`	required
`Idempotency-Key`	`string`	required on every write. See Idempotency

Path parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`brand_id`	`uuid`	required	From List brands

Body parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`channel`	`string`	required	One of: `reddit`, `linkedin`.
`result_count`	`integer`	conditional	5 to 50, must be a multiple of 5. Required unless this is the brand’s first scan on this channel, which is free at a fixed count and ignores this field.

Request

cURL


curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://api.askylabs.com/v1/brands/242546de-4cee-4a7d-952e-f6aa60c63ef8/social/scans' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <api-key>' \
  --header 'Idempotency-Key: 3f9a1c2e-8b4d-4a6f-9c1e-2d5b7a8f9e01' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"channel": "reddit", "result_count": 10}'

Python


import requests
 
url = "https://api.askylabs.com/v1/brands/242546de-4cee-4a7d-952e-f6aa60c63ef8/social/scans"
 
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer <api-key>",
    "Idempotency-Key": "3f9a1c2e-8b4d-4a6f-9c1e-2d5b7a8f9e01",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
}
 
response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json={"channel": "reddit", "result_count": 10})
 
print(response.text)

JavaScript


const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer <api-key>',
    'Idempotency-Key': '3f9a1c2e-8b4d-4a6f-9c1e-2d5b7a8f9e01',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ channel: 'reddit', result_count: 10 }),
};
 
fetch('https://api.askylabs.com/v1/brands/242546de-4cee-4a7d-952e-f6aa60c63ef8/social/scans', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

PHP


<?php
 
$curl = curl_init();
 
curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.askylabs.com/v1/brands/242546de-4cee-4a7d-952e-f6aa60c63ef8/social/scans",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode(["channel" => "reddit", "result_count" => 10]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: Bearer <api-key>",
    "Idempotency-Key: 3f9a1c2e-8b4d-4a6f-9c1e-2d5b7a8f9e01",
    "Content-Type: application/json"
  ],
]);
 
$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);
 
curl_close($curl);
 
if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

Go


package main
 
import (
    "bytes"
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "io"
)
 
func main() {
 
    url := "https://api.askylabs.com/v1/brands/242546de-4cee-4a7d-952e-f6aa60c63ef8/social/scans"
    payload := []byte(`{"channel": "reddit", "result_count": 10}`)
 
    req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, bytes.NewBuffer(payload))
 
    req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <api-key>")
    req.Header.Add("Idempotency-Key", "3f9a1c2e-8b4d-4a6f-9c1e-2d5b7a8f9e01")
    req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")
 
    res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
 
    defer res.Body.Close()
    body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
 
    fmt.Println(string(body))
 
}

Ruby


require 'uri'
require 'net/http'
require 'json'
 
url = URI("https://api.askylabs.com/v1/brands/242546de-4cee-4a7d-952e-f6aa60c63ef8/social/scans")
 
http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true
 
request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <api-key>'
request["Idempotency-Key"] = '3f9a1c2e-8b4d-4a6f-9c1e-2d5b7a8f9e01'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = { channel: "reddit", result_count: 10 }.to_json
 
response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

Response

200


{
  "data": {
    "job_id": "7c9e1f3a-4b2d-4e6f-8a1c-9d3e5b7f2a10",
    "channel": "reddit",
    "result_count": 10,
    "credit_cost": 20,
    "is_free_scan": false
  },
  "request_id": "req_5a3c8d0e2f4b46a1bc9d"
}

400


{
  "error": {
    "code": "invalid_request",
    "message": "result_count must be a multiple of 5 between 10 and 50.",
    "request_id": "req_2b6e9c4a1d3f47b8ae5c"
  }
}

401


{
  "error": {
    "code": "token_expired",
    "message": "This API key has expired. Roll it from the API tab on the Connections page to get a replacement.",
    "request_id": "req_8f21c0aa47b1490d2e63"
  }
}

403


{
  "error": {
    "code": "plan_required",
    "message": "LinkedIn discovery is not included in your plan. Upgrade to enable it.",
    "request_id": "req_9d4a7c1e3b5f48d0ac2e"
  }
}

404


{
  "error": {
    "code": "not_found",
    "message": "Not found.",
    "request_id": "req_5b0e77d213a94f6a8ce1"
  }
}

409


{
  "error": {
    "code": "conflict",
    "message": "A scan is already running for reddit. Wait for it to finish.",
    "request_id": "req_1e6b3f9a2c4d47e5b8fa"
  }
}

429


{
  "error": {
    "code": "rate_limited",
    "message": "Too many requests. Retry after 24 seconds.",
    "request_id": "req_31c9ba7f0e5d4a118cc2"
  }
}

Response fields

Field	Type	Description
`data.job_id`	`uuid`	required. Pass to Get scan status
`data.channel`	`string`	required. `reddit` or `linkedin`
`data.result_count`	`integer`	required. The count actually used — the free-scan fixed count if this was free, otherwise what you requested
`data.credit_cost`	`integer`	required. `0` when `is_free_scan` is `true`
`data.is_free_scan`	`boolean`	required
`request_id`	`string`	required. Also returned as the `x-request-id` header. Quote it when contacting support

Errors

Status	Code	When
400	`invalid_request`	A parameter is unknown or malformed. The message names it
400	`invalid_request`	No active keywords, or `result_count` outside 5-50 / not a multiple of 5
401	`invalid_token`	The key is missing, malformed, or does not exist
401	`token_expired`	The key passed its expiry date
401	`token_revoked`	The key was revoked
403	`plan_required`	LinkedIn discovery is not included in this workspace’s plan
403	`quota_exceeded`	Insufficient credits for this scan’s cost
404	`not_found`	The brand does not exist, or this key is not allowed to reach it
409	`conflict`	A scan is already running for this brand and channel
429	`rate_limited`	Over 300 requests per minute. See the `Retry-After` header

Notes

Only one scan per brand per channel at a time, enforced at the database level. Reddit and LinkedIn scans for the same brand run independently and do not block each other.

Credits and free-scan eligibility are always computed server-side. result_count is ignored on a qualifying free first scan; do not rely on it to predict credit_cost, read the response instead.

This endpoint only starts the scan. Poll Get scan status with the returned job_id, then read the results from List social discussions once it completes.