How to Get Tags in Which a User is Interested

(Using Medium API with Javascript)

Medium has become a platform for millions of readers and writers, where personalization and relevant content play a pivotal role in keeping users engaged.

Suppose you want to analyze or tailor content based on user interests. In that case, you can fetch the tags they follow using their Medium user ID, enabling you to deliver curated experiences. Here's a step-by-step guide to achieve this using the "medium-api-js" package.

By the end of this guide, you'll know how to fetch the list of tags a Medium user is interested in and understand how to interpret the data.

Prerequisites

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

• Node.js Installed: Ensure Node.js and npm are installed on your machine.
• API Key: Obtain a valid API key from RapidAPI to access Medium’s API endpoints.
  How to Subscribe to Medium API and Get Your API Key from RapidAPI Platform
• Dependencies: Install the medium-api-js package and dotenv for environment variable management:

  npm install medium-api-js dotenv

• Environment Configuration: Create a .env file in your project root directory and add your RapidAPI key:

  RAPIDAPI_KEY=your_api_key_here

• User ID: Have the Medium user ID whose interests you want to fetch. You can obtain the user ID through Medium’s API or other methods.

Code Explanation

The following code fetches the tags a user is interested in:

1. Importing Dependencies

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

dotenv.config();

• Medium: This package provides access to Medium’s API.
• dotenv: Used to load environment variables from a .env file into process.env.
• dotenv.config(): Initializes the environment variable configuration.

2. Initializing the Medium API

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

Creates an instance of the Medium API client using your API key stored in the .env file.

3. Defining the User ID

const userId = '1985b61817c3';

Replace '1985b61817c3' with the actual user ID whose interests you want to retrieve.

4. Fetching User Interests

medium.getUserInterests(userId)
    .then(data => console.log('User Interests:', data));

• getUserInterests(userId): Calls the method of the Medium API client with the user ID.
• .then(data => { ... }): Prints the response data to the console, including the list of tags and the total count.

Running the Code

Save the code in a file named getUserInterests.js and run the following command in your terminal:

node getUserInterests.js

Output

The script outputs a JSON object to the console. Here’s a sample output:

Explanation of the Output

• id: The user ID of the Medium user.
• tags_followed: An array containing all the tags the user follows.
• count: The total number of tags the user follows.

Potential Use Cases

• Content Personalization: Deliver articles tailored to the user’s interests.
• Recommendations: Suggest similar tags or topics to enhance user engagement.
• Profile Insights: Enrich user profiles with detailed interest data for better marketing strategies.

Summary

Fetching user interests using their Medium user ID is straightforward with the medium-api-js package. This process can unlock a plethora of opportunities, from improving user experiences to driving better engagement through tailored content and insights.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to nishu@mediumapi.com.

Happy coding!