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Overview

The CommentsExtractor class enables extraction of comments from videos and other content types on supported services. Comments can be paginated and may include replies.

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Basic Usage

1

Get Comments Extractor

Retrieve the comments extractor for a stream:
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.*;
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.comments.*;

// Initialize NewPipe first
NewPipe.init(yourDownloader);

try {
    String videoUrl = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID";
    
    // Get the service
    StreamingService service = NewPipe.getServiceByUrl(videoUrl);
    
    // Get comments extractor
    CommentsExtractor extractor = 
        service.getCommentsExtractor(videoUrl);
    
    extractor.fetchPage();
    
} catch (Exception e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}
2

Extract Comments

Get the initial page of comments:
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.ListExtractor.InfoItemsPage;

CommentsExtractor extractor = service.getCommentsExtractor(videoUrl);
extractor.fetchPage();

// Get initial comments
InfoItemsPage<CommentsInfoItem> comments = 
    extractor.getInitialPage();

for (CommentsInfoItem comment : comments.getItems()) {
    System.out.println("Author: " + comment.getUploaderName());
    System.out.println("Comment: " + comment.getCommentText());
    System.out.println("Likes: " + comment.getLikeCount());
    System.out.println();
}
3

Handle Pagination

Load more comments using pagination:
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.Page;

InfoItemsPage<CommentsInfoItem> comments = 
    extractor.getInitialPage();

Page nextPage = comments.getNextPage();

while (nextPage != null) {
    // Get next page of comments
    InfoItemsPage<CommentsInfoItem> page = 
        extractor.getPage(nextPage);
    
    for (CommentsInfoItem comment : page.getItems()) {
        System.out.println(comment.getCommentText());
    }
    
    nextPage = page.getNextPage();
}

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Comment Information

Access detailed comment metadata: 
for (CommentsInfoItem comment : comments.getItems()) {
    // Comment text
    String text = comment.getCommentText();
    System.out.println("Comment: " + text);
    
    // Author information
    String author = comment.getUploaderName();
    String authorUrl = comment.getUploaderUrl();
    System.out.println("By: " + author);
    
    // Comment ID and URL
    String commentId = comment.getCommentId();
    String commentUrl = comment.getUrl();
}

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Upload Date

Get the comment posting date: 
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.localization.DateWrapper;

for (CommentsInfoItem comment : comments.getItems()) {
    // Textual upload date (as provided by service)
    String textDate = comment.getTextualUploadDate();
    System.out.println("Posted: " + textDate);
    
    // Parsed date (if available)
    DateWrapper uploadDate = comment.getUploadDate();
    if (uploadDate != null) {
        System.out.println("Date: " + uploadDate.offsetDateTime());
    }
}

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Comment Thumbnails

Some comments include thumbnail previews: 
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.Image;

for (CommentsInfoItem comment : comments.getItems()) {
    List<Image> thumbnails = comment.getThumbnails();
    
    if (!thumbnails.isEmpty()) {
        System.out.println("Comment has thumbnail:");
        for (Image thumbnail : thumbnails) {
            System.out.println("  " + thumbnail.getUrl() + 
                             " (" + thumbnail.getWidth() + "x" + 
                             thumbnail.getHeight() + ")");
        }
    }
}

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Comment Replies

Extract replies to comments: 
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.Page;

for (CommentsInfoItem comment : comments.getItems()) {
    int replyCount = comment.getReplyCount();
    
    if (replyCount > 0) {
        System.out.println("\nComment has " + replyCount + " replies");
        
        // Get replies page
        Page repliesPage = comment.getReplies();
        
        if (repliesPage != null) {
            // Fetch replies using the extractor
            InfoItemsPage<CommentsInfoItem> replies = 
                extractor.getPage(repliesPage);
            
            for (CommentsInfoItem reply : replies.getItems()) {
                System.out.println("  Reply: " + reply.getCommentText());
                System.out.println("  By: " + reply.getUploaderName());
            }
        }
    }
}

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Comments Count

Get the total number of comments: 
CommentsExtractor extractor = service.getCommentsExtractor(videoUrl);
extractor.fetchPage();

// Get total comment count (may be -1 if unavailable)
int totalComments = extractor.getCommentsCount();

if (totalComments != -1) {
    System.out.println("Total comments: " + totalComments);
} else {
    System.out.println("Comment count unavailable");
}

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Checking if Comments are Disabled

Some videos have comments disabled. Always check before attempting to extract.
CommentsExtractor extractor = service.getCommentsExtractor(videoUrl);
extractor.fetchPage();

// Check if comments are disabled
boolean disabled = extractor.isCommentsDisabled();

if (disabled) {
    System.out.println("Comments are disabled for this video");
    return;
}

// Proceed with extraction
InfoItemsPage<CommentsInfoItem> comments = extractor.getInitialPage();

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Loading All Comments

Efficiently load all available comments: 
import java.util.ArrayList;

public List<CommentsInfoItem> getAllComments(String videoUrl) 
        throws Exception {
    
    StreamingService service = NewPipe.getServiceByUrl(videoUrl);
    CommentsExtractor extractor = service.getCommentsExtractor(videoUrl);
    extractor.fetchPage();
    
    // Check if comments are available
    if (extractor.isCommentsDisabled()) {
        return Collections.emptyList();
    }
    
    List<CommentsInfoItem> allComments = new ArrayList<>();
    
    // Get initial page
    InfoItemsPage<CommentsInfoItem> page = extractor.getInitialPage();
    allComments.addAll(page.getItems());
    
    // Get remaining pages
    Page nextPage = page.getNextPage();
    
    while (nextPage != null) {
        page = extractor.getPage(nextPage);
        allComments.addAll(page.getItems());
        nextPage = page.getNextPage();
        
        // Optional: Add delay to avoid rate limiting
        Thread.sleep(100);
        
        // Optional: Limit total comments
        if (allComments.size() >= 1000) {
            break;
        }
    }
    
    return allComments;
}

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Comment Description

Some comments have rich text descriptions: 
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.Description;

for (CommentsInfoItem comment : comments.getItems()) {
    // Get description object (if available)
    Description description = comment.getCommentTextObject();
    
    if (description != null) {
        String content = description.getContent();
        System.out.println("Comment: " + content);
    } else {
        // Fall back to plain text
        String text = comment.getCommentText();
        System.out.println("Comment: " + text);
    }
}

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Error Handling

import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.exceptions.*;

try {
    CommentsExtractor extractor = service.getCommentsExtractor(videoUrl);
    extractor.fetchPage();
    
    if (extractor.isCommentsDisabled()) {
        System.out.println("Comments are disabled");
        return;
    }
    
    InfoItemsPage<CommentsInfoItem> comments = extractor.getInitialPage();
    
    // Check for extraction errors
    List<Throwable> errors = comments.getErrors();
    if (!errors.isEmpty()) {
        System.out.println("Some comments failed to extract:");
        for (Throwable error : errors) {
            System.err.println("- " + error.getMessage());
        }
    }
    
    // Process comments
    for (CommentsInfoItem comment : comments.getItems()) {
        System.out.println(comment.getCommentText());
    }
    
} catch (ContentNotAvailableException e) {
    System.err.println("Content not available: " + e.getMessage());
} catch (ExtractionException e) {
    System.err.println("Extraction failed: " + e.getMessage());
} catch (IOException e) {
    System.err.println("Network error: " + e.getMessage());
}

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Complete Example

import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.*;
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.comments.*;
import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.ListExtractor.InfoItemsPage;

public class CommentsExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Initialize
        NewPipe.init(yourDownloader);
        
        try {
            String url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID";
            
            // Get service and extractor
            StreamingService service = NewPipe.getServiceByUrl(url);
            CommentsExtractor extractor = service.getCommentsExtractor(url);
            extractor.fetchPage();
            
            // Check if comments are available
            if (extractor.isCommentsDisabled()) {
                System.out.println("Comments are disabled");
                return;
            }
            
            // Get comment count
            int totalComments = extractor.getCommentsCount();
            if (totalComments != -1) {
                System.out.println("Total comments: " + totalComments);
            }
            
            // Get initial comments
            InfoItemsPage<CommentsInfoItem> comments = 
                extractor.getInitialPage();
            
            System.out.println("\n=== Top Comments ===");
            
            // Display first 10 comments
            int count = 0;
            for (CommentsInfoItem comment : comments.getItems()) {
                if (count >= 10) break;
                
                System.out.println("\n" + (count + 1) + ".");
                System.out.println("Author: " + comment.getUploaderName());
                
                if (comment.isUploaderVerified()) {
                    System.out.print(" [Verified]");
                }
                if (comment.isChannelOwner()) {
                    System.out.print(" [Creator]");
                }
                System.out.println();
                
                System.out.println("Comment: " + comment.getCommentText());
                
                int likes = comment.getLikeCount();
                if (likes != -1) {
                    System.out.println("Likes: " + likes);
                }
                
                int replies = comment.getReplyCount();
                if (replies > 0) {
                    System.out.println("Replies: " + replies);
                }
                
                String date = comment.getTextualUploadDate();
                if (date != null) {
                    System.out.println("Posted: " + date);
                }
                
                count++;
            }
            
            // Check for more comments
            if (comments.getNextPage() != null) {
                System.out.println("\nMore comments available...");
            }
            
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

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Best Practices

  1. Check if comments are disabled - Always verify before extraction
  2. Handle missing data gracefully - Not all fields are available for all services
  3. Implement rate limiting - Add delays when paginating through many comments
  4. Process replies carefully - Replies may require additional requests
  5. Cache results - Avoid re-extracting the same comments
Comment availability and features vary by service. YouTube supports replies, likes, and verification badges, while other services may have limited functionality.

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Next Steps

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