Reddit Modlog Wiki Publisher
Publishes a subreddit's moderation log to a wiki page as daily markdown tables. Each row links to the post or comment (never a user profile), shows the removal reason text, and carries a prefilled modmail inquiry link. A SQLite database handles deduplication and retention, and one database can serve several subreddits.
Deprecated. The supported runtime is now the Reddit-hosted Devvit app autowikimod in devvit/. It needs no self-hosting, no bot password and no SQLite. Install it from the Devvit app directory and set the wiki page in the app's subreddit settings. The Python bot documented below gets no new features and only critical fixes. It depends on password-grant Data API access, which Reddit is closing for unregistered scripts. See devvit/README.md and devvit-migration/docs/STATUS.md.
Quick start (Docker)
The bot account needs moderator access to the subreddit, including wiki edit permission. Create a Reddit app of type "script" at https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps to get a client ID and secret.
mkdir -p ./config/data ./config/logs
cp config_template.json ./config/config.json # edit credentials and source_subreddit
docker run -d --name reddit-modlog \
-e PUID=1000 -e PGID=1000 \
-v ./config:/config \
ghcr.io/baker-scripts/redditmodlog:1
The container runs modlog_wiki_publisher.py --config /config/config.json --continuous. With no /config/config.json, it starts from environment variables alone and exits if REDDIT_CLIENT_ID, REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET, REDDIT_USERNAME, REDDIT_PASSWORD, or SOURCE_SUBREDDIT is unset.
Compose, one service per subreddit:
services:
redditmodlog-example:
image: ghcr.io/baker-scripts/redditmodlog:1
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
- PUID=1000
- PGID=1000
volumes:
- ./example:/config
mem_limit: 256m
cpus: 0.5
The repo's docker-compose.yml configures a single instance from environment variables and mounts ./data and ./logs.
/config holds config.json (rewritten with new defaults on upgrade, with a .backup copy), data/modlog.db, and logs/.
Quick start (Python)
pip install -r requirements.txt # praw>=8.0.3
cp config_template.json config.json
python modlog_wiki_publisher.py --test # check config and Reddit API access
python modlog_wiki_publisher.py # run once
python modlog_wiki_publisher.py --continuous # run as a daemon
Configuration
Precedence: CLI arguments, then environment variables, then the JSON config file. Out-of-range values are clamped to the limit with a warning. python modlog_wiki_publisher.py --show-config-limits prints the limits.
Reddit credentials live under a reddit object in config.json (client_id, client_secret, username, password).
| Config key | CLI flag | Env var | Default | Range |
|---|
source_subreddit | --source-subreddit | SOURCE_SUBREDDIT | required | |
wiki_page | --wiki-page | WIKI_PAGE | modlog | |
retention_days | --retention-days | RETENTION_DAYS | 90 | 1-365 |
batch_size | --batch-size | BATCH_SIZE | 50 | 10-500 |
update_interval | --interval | UPDATE_INTERVAL | 600 | 60-3600 |
anonymize_moderators | | ANONYMIZE_MODERATORS | true | must be true |
wiki_actions | | WIKI_ACTIONS (comma-separated) | removal, spam, addremovalreason, and approval actions | |
ignored_moderators | | IGNORED_MODERATORS (comma-separated) | none in code; the template ships ["AutoModerator"] | |
max_wiki_entries_per_page | | | 1000 | 100-2000 |
max_continuous_errors | | | 5 | 1-50 |
rate_limit_buffer | | | 60 | 30-300 |
max_batch_retries | | | 3 | 1-10 |
archive_threshold_days | | | 7 | 1-30 |
| | REDDIT_CLIENT_ID, REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET, REDDIT_USERNAME, REDDIT_PASSWORD | | |
| | |
The app refuses to start when anonymize_moderators is false: moderator names are replaced with AutoModerator or HumanModerator. The database_path and display_format keys in config_template.json are not read by the code; use DATABASE_PATH.
docker-compose.yml sets its own defaults for RETENTION_DAYS (30), BATCH_SIZE (100), and UPDATE_INTERVAL (300).
Usage
python modlog_wiki_publisher.py [options]
--config FILE config file (default: config.json)
--source-subreddit NAME
--wiki-page NAME
--retention-days N
--batch-size N
--interval N seconds between updates in daemon mode
--continuous run until stopped
--test test config and Reddit API access, then exit
--debug verbose logging
--show-config-limits print limits and defaults
--force-migrate force database migration
--no-auto-update-config do not rewrite the config file with new defaults
--force-modlog fetch all modlog actions from Reddit and rebuild the wiki
--force-wiki rewrite the wiki even if the content hash is unchanged
--force-all --force-modlog plus --force-wiki
Use --force-wiki after a format change and --force-modlog to rebuild from scratch.
Info logs go to stdout and warnings to stderr. The database migrates to the current schema on startup.
Sample database queries:
sqlite3 modlog.db "SELECT action_id, action_type, moderator, removal_reason, subreddit, created_at FROM processed_actions ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 10;"
sqlite3 modlog.db "DELETE FROM processed_actions WHERE created_at < strftime('%s','now','-30 days');"
Wiki output
## 2025-08-09
| Time | Action | ID | Moderator | Content | Reason | Inquire |
|------|--------|----|-----------|---------|--------|---------|
| 08:15:42 UTC | removecomment | n7ravg2 | AutoModerator | [Comment by u/user123](https://www.reddit.com/r/example/comments/1ab2cd3/title/n7ravg2/) | Rule text | [Contact Mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/example&subject=Comment%20Removal%20Inquiry...) |
Comments show comment IDs and posts show post IDs. Pipe characters in reasons are replaced with spaces so tables render.
Docker image
ghcr.io/baker-scripts/redditmodlog, built for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 on a tag push.
| Tag | Tracks |
|---|
1 | Latest 1.x release (recommended) |
1.6 | Patch releases of 1.6 |
1.6.2 | Pinned release |
latest | Latest build of main |
sha-<commit> | One commit |
The image uses s6-overlay v3, applies PUID/PGID to the modlogbot user, and has a healthcheck that tests for the database file.
Systemd
systemd/ provides a template unit for several subreddits. The unit expects the repo at /opt/RedditModLog and a virtualenv at /opt/.venv/redditbot.
cd systemd && sudo ./install.sh
sudo cp /etc/redditmodlog/usenet.json.example /etc/redditmodlog/<subreddit>.json # edit credentials and subreddit
sudo systemctl enable --now modlog@<subreddit>
tail -f /var/log/redditmodlog/<subreddit>.log
install.sh creates the modlogbot user, /etc/redditmodlog, /var/log/redditmodlog, /opt/RedditModLog/data, and a daily logrotate rule (30 files, 100 MB max). Per-instance credentials can go in /etc/redditmodlog/<subreddit>.env. The unit sets ProtectSystem=strict and allows writes only to /opt/RedditModLog/data and /var/log/redditmodlog, so set DATABASE_PATH=/opt/RedditModLog/data/modlog.db and LOGS_DIR=/var/log/redditmodlog in that env file. Limits: 256 MB memory and 25% CPU.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|
| Auth failed | Check credentials; for 2FA accounts use an app password |
| Wiki edit denied | Give the bot wiki edit permission on the subreddit |
| Rate limiting | Raise --interval and lower --batch-size |
| Database grows | Lower --retention-days |
Contributing
Issues and pull requests welcome. See the contributing guidelines and open an issue to discuss larger changes. Include test runs and changes to CLI help output.
Disclaimer
Provided as-is with no warranty. Review the bot's Reddit credentials and permissions before deployment. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Reddit.
License
GPL-3.0
