Is AmputatorBot dead on Reddit?

https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/14ofnmx/is_amputatorbot_dead_on_reddit/

created by Xenophore on 02/07/2023 at 05:09 UTC

18 upvotes, 3 top-level comments (showing 3)

Clicking on u/AmputatorBot now gives the message:

Sorry, nobody on Reddit goes by that name.

**The person may have been banned or the username is incorrect.**

Comments

Comment by Killed_Mufasa at 02/07/2023 at 08:50 UTC*

1 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Ugh this is a shitty thing to wake up to. After some investigation, here are my findings and actions:

u/AmputatorBot appears to be hitting unexpected rate limits, likely due to recent changes to the Reddit API that have been enforced since yesterday. You can find more details on these changes here: Reddit API rate limit changes[1]
While AmputatorBot doesn't seem to be banned, it may be shadowbanned, which renders its comments and submissions invisible to other users.
To address this, I've reached out to Reddit and applied for both the free developer tier and a moderating tool exemption, considering that the bot is widely approved by subreddit moderators and is used to perform other actions with.
Despite my initial belief that AmputatorBot's API usage didn't require these measures, it appears I was mistaken. I applied for the new developer portal months ago but didn't receive a response.
I am committed to resolving this issue and reviving AmputatorBot. I am willing to collaborate with Reddit to ensure we stay within the rate limits in the future - if that is even the issue..

I hope Reddit responds quickly so that I can bring AmputatorBot back to life. Thanks for the report, and I'll keep you posted!

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/redditdev/comments/14nbw6g/updated_rate_limits_going_into_effect_over_the/

e1 July 4th: 36 hours later, and I received one reply from Reddit so far, saying that it seems unlikely that AmputatorBot is being ratelimited and that there might be something else going on. We'll see what happens :/

e2 July 5th: AmputatorBot has been granted a moderator exemption! This means that theoretically, it shouldn't have to worry as much about being banned, hitting ratelimits and high costs. I say theoretically because the bot is still shadowbanned :p I'm still in talks with Reddit about that.

In the meantime, I've also been granted access to the new shiny developer platform, which is in beta. I can't say much about it since I believe I'm under an NDA, but boy oh boy is the potential for AmputatorBot and other bot creators great!

e3 July 6th: u/xenophore, u/AmputatorBot is alive again! Someone from the Reddit team has switched a toggle to make it 'operable' again, and from what I tell, it seems to have done the trick; it's no longer shadowbanned. Partyyyy