How to Get Recommended Medium Users by Tag

Using Medium API JS Package

Medium’s platform is a treasure trove of insightful content and influential creators. But what if you’re looking to discover users associated with a specific topic? Whether you're conducting research, building a recommendation engine, or simply exploring a niche, knowing how to fetch recommended Medium users by tag can be incredibly useful.

This guide walks you through the process of using the Medium API to get a list of recommended users for a specified tag. We’ll explore the code step by step, review its output, and discuss potential use cases for this functionality.

Prerequisites

Before diving into the code, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

• Node.js Installed: Make sure you have Node.js installed on your machine. You can download it from nodejs.org.
• Medium API Access: Obtain a RapidAPI key for the Medium API. Sign up at RapidAPI’s Medium API page.
  How to Subscribe to Medium API and Get Your API Key from RapidAPI Platform
• Environment Variables: Create a .env file in your project directory to securely store your RapidAPI key.
• Install Required Packages:
  • npm install medium-api-js
  • npm install dotenv

Code Explanation

Step 1: Import Necessary Libraries

import Medium from 'medium-api-js';
import dotenv from 'dotenv';

dotenv.config();

• Medium: This is the Medium API wrapper that simplifies interactions with Medium’s platform.
• dotenv: Used to securely load environment variables from the .env file.
• dotenv.config(): Initializes dotenv to make the variables in .env accessible in the script.

Step 2: Initialize the Medium API

const medium = new Medium(process.env.RAPIDAPI_KEY);

• process.env.RAPIDAPI_KEY: Retrieves the API key from the environment variables.
• new Medium(): Creates an instance of the Medium API wrapper using your API key.

Step 3: Fetch Recommended Users for a Tag

medium.getRecommendedUsers('technology').then(data => {
    console.log('Recommended Users:', data);
});

• getRecommendedUsers('technology'): Sends a request to the Medium API to fetch recommended users associated with the “technology” tag.
• .then(data => ...): Handles the promise returned by the API call and logs the result to the console.

Command to Run the Code

Save the script as getRecommendedUsers.js and run the following command in the terminal:

node getRecommendedUsers.js

Output Explanation

When the script runs successfully, it fetches and logs a list of recommended users for the specified tag (“technology”) as JSON:

• recommended_users: An array of user IDs associated with the “technology” tag. These IDs can be used to fetch further details about the users.
• tag: The tag used in the request (“technology” in this case).
• count: Total number of recommended users returned.

Potential Use Cases

• Content Discovery: Find influencers and writers in a specific niche to follow or collaborate with.
• Recommendation Engines: Integrate this functionality into a platform that suggests relevant users to Medium readers.
• Market Research: Identify key creators in a niche for competitor analysis or partnership opportunities.
• Community Building: Build a list of contributors for themed content or events.

Summary

Fetching recommended Medium users by tag opens up a world of possibilities for discovering relevant creators and analyzing niche content trends.

This article demonstrates how to leverage the Medium API effectively, empowering you to explore and utilize Medium’s rich ecosystem.

If you have any questions or need assistance with Medium API, feel free to reach out at nishu@mediumapi.com. Happy coding!