# 4chan/4chan-API

Documentation for 4chan's read-only JSON API.

Repository: https://github.com/4chan/4chan-API
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/4chan-api
Homepage: http://www.4chan.org/
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-07T15:42:34+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 75/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 96, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5143, "days_push": 26, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1109, forks 78 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:37.216495+00:00)

## What it is
Official documentation for 4chan's read-only JSON API, describing endpoints for boards, threads, catalogs, and archives served from a.4cdn.org. It is a docs repository rather than executable software, including API rules, rate limits, and terms of service.

## Use cases
- fetch 4chan threads as json
- build a 4chan thread watcher
- list boards and catalog data from 4chan
- scrape imageboard posts programmatically
- understand 4chan api rate limits and endpoints

## When to choose
- you are building a client or reader app for 4chan content
- you need the authoritative reference for 4chan API endpoints and JSON schemas
- you want to comply with 4chan's API rules and terms of service

## When to avoid
- you need a write/posting API - it is read-only
- you need a client library or SDK rather than documentation
- you want to mirror or rehost 4chan content, which the terms forbid

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: active
- function: documentation, api-documentation, http-client, web-scraping
- domain: apis, social-media, developer-tools, documentation
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: json-api, 4chan, imageboard, read-only-api, api-reference, documentation, web-server

## Member repositories
- 4chan/4chan-API (main) score 75

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:37.216495+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T08:39:29.331956+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/4chan/4chan-API (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:37.216495+00:00, sha 51fb8a8753b6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.