How to Get Recommended Lists from Medium

(Using JavaScript)

On Medium you can find content on various topics, and can get curated recommendations based on specific tags that can help users discover articles tailored to their interests.

This article explains how to fetch recommended lists for a specific tag using the Medium API and the "medium-api-js" package. By the end, you’ll know how to implement this process, understand the output, and explore its potential applications.

Prerequisites

Before diving into the code, ensure you have the following:

• Node.js installed: If not, download and install it from Node.js official website.
• A RapidAPI key: Sign up at RapidAPI and subscribe to the Medium API.
How to Subscribe to Medium API and Get Your API Key from RapidAPI Platform
• medium-api-js package: Install this package in your project by running npm install medium-api-js.
• dotenv package: Install this package using npm install dotenv to manage environment variables.
• Basic JavaScript knowledge: Familiarity with promises and API calls will help in understanding the code.

Code Explanation

Here’s how you can fetch recommended lists for a specific tag on Medium. Let’s break down the code into digestible parts:

1. Import Dependencies

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

dotenv.config();

• medium-api-js: This package simplifies interacting with the Medium API.
• dotenv: Used to load environment variables from a .env file, ensuring sensitive information like the API key is kept secure.
• dotenv.config(): Loads the variables defined in the .env file.

2. Initialize the Medium Client

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

• process.env.RAPIDAPI_KEY: Retrieves the API key from the .env file.
• new Medium(): Creates an instance of the Medium client using the provided API key.

3. Define the Tag

const tag = 'technology';

• | The tag 'technology' is specified to fetch recommended lists for content related to this topic. You can change this to any tag of your choice, such as 'science' or 'design'.

4. Fetch Recommended Lists

medium.getRecommendedLists(tag)
    .then(data => {
        console.log('Recommended Lists:', data);
    });

• medium.getRecommendedLists(tag): Calls the Medium API to get recommended lists for the specified tag.
• .then(data => {...}): Handles the resolved promise and logs the returned data to the console.

Running the Code

Save the script in a file named getRecommendedLists.js. To run it, execute the following command in your terminal:

node getRecommendedLists.js

Output Explanation

When you run the code, the output will look like this:

• recommended_lists: An array of unique IDs representing the recommended lists for the specified tag.
• tag: The tag used in the query.
• count: The total number of recommended lists fetched.

Potential Use Cases

• Niche Community Platforms: Use curated lists to enhance the user experience in forums or communities focused on specific interests.
• Educational Projects: Create personalized learning platforms by fetching content lists related to specific educational topics.
• Content Syndication Services: Provide updated recommendations as part of content aggregation platforms.

Summary

You learned how to fetch recommended lists from Medium, understand their output, and explored various use cases for leveraging this feature. With these skills, you can confidently build tools or applications that make content discovery more engaging and tailored.

For questions or further assistance, contact nishu@mediumapi.com.

Best of luck with your projects!