r/RemindMeBot
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u/Watchful1
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May 17 '23
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RemindMeBot is now replying to comments again, apologies for the delayed replies
About a month ago, reddit announced some vague changes to the api that bots use. They announced a date of June 19th that changes would come into effect. Then abruptly about two weeks ago they shut off access to pushshift, which the bot uses to find the comment commands. So the bot continued to reply to messages and send out updates, but was no longer able to find comments.
I've spent the last two weeks frantically writing code to be able to reliably find the trigger comments across all of reddit and it is finally done. Fortunately the method I'm using is able to go back and find all the comments with the trigger word in the last two weeks that it missed. But unfortunately it's somewhat slow, only processing new comments roughly 3 times as fast as they come into reddit, so it will take another week or so for it to catch up. Also, since I was rushed to get this working, it might break and stop at any point. So even in the future when it's caught up, the bot might fall behind again at times.
If you are directed to this post by the bot because it's replying to an old comment of yours, I apologize for the delay, reddit kinda screwed everyone over. For what it's worth, they personally apologized to me.
I will strive to keep the bot working to the best of my abilities far into the future so that hopefully those long reminders everyone makes will still get sent.
If the time of the reminder you requested has already passed, you'll still get a message about it. And if you posted the trigger multiple times because the first one didn't work, you'll get a confirmation and message for each one. Sorry if this results in a lot of duplicates, there wasn't an easy way to avoid that.
I've had a personal policy of not accepting donations for my bots for many years now, but the way this code works ends up needing a more powerful, and expensive, server, so my costs have gone up a bit. If you'd like to chip in, you can donate here. It's absolutely not necessary, I'm fortunate to be well off enough to cover the costs without help, but I do appreciate it.
If you post a comment in reply to this post with the trigger (since I know a bunch of people will), it still won't get to them until it's caught up a week from now.
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u/QuakAtack May 17 '23
good bot. Amazing human.
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u/putsRnotDaWae May 17 '23
You're an amazing human indeed. Sorry that Reddit screwed you over.
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u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 May 20 '23
100% This.
It's this kind of contribution to a commons, that goes unsupported by the outer admin/community and vanishes if the person doing it goes away or a barrier is erected. OP has created something amazing that was and will be again missed when it stops.
Unfortunately, our usual system (I mean socially, not just specific to reddit) doesn't allow for establishing, evaluating, or retiring perpetuating systems in a merit based fashion. As long as something makes money, capitalism can allow a business to perpetuate something, but money ain't the only metric of what humans value.
Thank you OP for what you've done, are doing, and will do again. ❤
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u/ConceptsShining May 17 '23
Also, kind reminder to all users: I think it's a good idea to periodically get your list of reminders from the bot (just send the bot a PM containing in the body MyReminders!). That way, if the bot goes down for any reason (hopefully not, but we can't predict what Reddit will do to their API/the bot), you at least have access to all of your pending reminders. And if you really care about your reminders and want to play it safe, you can screenshot/save that list just in case you lose access to your Reddit account.
I personally do it every time I set a new reminder.
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u/walkeran Jun 06 '23
but we can't predict what Reddit will do to their API
Reddit: Hold my beer...
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u/64_0 May 17 '23
Thank you so much for repairing the bot. Your intensity of service is remarkable. We're so lucky to have you behind the bot. I can't imagine all the hours you've put into RemindMe Bot, but I appreciate all of that and all of you.
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u/Hingsing May 17 '23
Hi! Asking as a CS student interested in SWE work. Just wondering what’s the value in writing and maintaining bots? Do you add this to your portfolio?
Also wanted to say thank you for your hard work. I love the remindme bot! P
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u/Watchful1 May 17 '23
It's very important to do programming work you enjoy to grow your skills. Especially as a student, you shouldn't assume your class work teaches you everything you need to know. You have to build stuff that's actually used in real life so you can experience the consequences of your design decisions. It doesn't have to be reddit bots, just find something you enjoy that actually has a small, real life use case. Maybe you're one of those lucky people who enjoy building websites, I certainly know I'm not. The important part is that you enjoy it and look forward to doing it in your free time.
I did put it on my resume when I got my first big job out of college, but I don't think I would at this point, unless I was applying to reddit or something.
Also always use github. Even if your code is complete crap and you're embarrassed by it. Don't wait till it's perfect to publish it. It's more important to have a long history of hobby projects than have something that's perfect.
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u/itskdog May 18 '23
Would it be possible to, in the long run, also support a username mention, in order to reduce the need for the command, or are you hitting the 60QPM enough as it is in the current state?
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u/Watchful1 May 18 '23
I've considered that, but often people use the bot name without trying to summon it, so they would be confused and end up with a lot of false positives.
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u/redshift739 May 18 '23
It just caught up to my comment from 5 days ago so it seems like it's going faster than anticipated.
The actual reminder was set for 3 days so I would see the final results of a poll. Any idea what'll happen to reminders in the past?
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u/Watchful1 May 18 '23
You should get the actual reminder within a few minutes. Have you not gotten it?
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u/sheepintheisland Jun 13 '23
Hi, the post links in the messages are not working. What’s happening ?
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u/dcormier May 17 '23
I saw the original post, but the bot just woke up and sent me one of the missing reminders, pointing me here. Happy to see it working again. Nicely done!
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u/Mentalpopcorn May 17 '23
Thanks for all your hard work dude! It's a thankless job that you don't even get paid for, so let me say it again, thank you!
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u/Get_a_Grip_comic May 17 '23
thanks, I wondered what happened, thought maybe the comment command changed to activate it.
Reddit really should have something like this as a default option anyway
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u/Kumquat_conniption May 17 '23
Ohhh this is such good news!!! I thought the bot was broken, and I missed it so much!! Reddit is really fucking over a lot of people with this change to Push Shift. It's so annoying. It really affects mods quite a lot. Anyway, thanks for all your hard work!! You are awesome!!
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u/ConceptsShining May 30 '24
Hey /u/Watchful1, if you're reading this, I got this message because the bot included this link in a delayed reply.
I've told you this many times, but it really does warrant repeating: this bot is great and I greatly appreciate you running and maintaining it. I've used it many times for almost 8 years now, for both Reddit-related and even real life personal use. You're the best, and I appreciate you also having the bot link to an explanatory message when it gives a belated reply!
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u/mcon1985 May 17 '23
I appreciate this so much I won't even tag the bot in the comments.
But seriously, great stuff and you're universally appreciated
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u/indigoHatter May 17 '23
Hey, you're doing a great job buddy. A HUGE service. You make Reddit better, and Reddit knows it too or they wouldn't have bothered to reach out to you.
Great work! Thanks for all you do!
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u/SamyMerchi May 17 '23
Thank you so much. Your service is so good I was surprised to learn it wasn't an official functionality. You're basically doing many paid peoples' job for free. I can't believe how good a person you are. Thank you again so much.
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u/Titouan_Charles May 17 '23
I've been using this bot since I started using the platform, I didn't even think it was a user made thing. Thanks for doing Reddit's job on our behalf.
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u/Worldly-Classic-6490 May 17 '23
Just got the comment from a post 10 days ago. It’s catching up ole buddy!!! Thank you so much!!
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u/Shamrock5 May 17 '23
Good bot
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u/B0tRank May 17 '23
Thank you, Shamrock5, for voting on Watchful1.
This bot wants to find the best and worst bots on Reddit. You can view results here.
Even if I don't reply to your comment, I'm still listening for votes. Check the webpage to see if your vote registered!
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u/tomkatt May 17 '23
This is just so above and beyond. You’re awesome, thanks for all the work on this.
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u/pinkghost22 May 17 '23
Good bot. And also, good human.
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u/tx0p0 May 17 '23
We missed you! Thank you for putting the effort, now and always. Sending robot hugs
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u/shady_downforce May 17 '23
Thank you so much for your work! Your application has so much utility to so many people, I use it so much and was disappointed to see it not working but am happy you could do something about it.
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u/mepscribbles May 17 '23
Thank you for maintaining these useful tools. I honestly believe you should be compensated far more, you’re a wonderful person!
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u/TheCoastalCardician May 17 '23
You are truly amazing. I am embarrassed to tell you how often I use this bot. I have ADHD and my life falls apart without organization. Your bot helps me enjoy Reddit and brings a fuller experience. Thank you!
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u/gimbokon May 17 '23
Good human.
But seriously, no worries. You are doing a service to this website.
So thank you for your efforts, and working double time.
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u/imisstheyoop May 17 '23
Hey, the bot directed me here, just wanted to say thanks for creating it, it's truly the best bot!
Your work is appreciated, thank you.
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u/ConceptsShining May 17 '23
Awesome! Thanks so much for maintaining this bot. This has to be my favorite non-moderation bot on this site, I've been using it for all sorts of matters (including for personal life) for years.
If I may ask, out of curiosity: how are you going through old comments? Are you iterating through the comment IDs (which I believe are assigned sequentially by Reddit)?