Substack Publication Recommendations

Get the publications a Substack publication recommends to its readers, and the publications that recommend it. Each entry carries the publication’s name, URL, tagline, author, language, paid status and the recommender’s blurb.

Endpoint

GET /v1/substack/publication/recommendations

Price: $0.003 per request Free tier: 50 requests/month

Provide exactly one of publication or publication_id.

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`publication`	One required	Publication subdomain (`lenny`), host (`lenny.substack.com`, `www.lennysnewsletter.com`) or any URL on it (max 500 characters). Provide either `publication` or `publication_id`.
`publication_id`	One required	Numeric publication ID, as returned in `publication_id`. Provide either `publication` or `publication_id`.

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`publication`	object	The publication (`publication_id`, `name`, `subdomain`, `url`, `logo_url`)
`recommends`	array	Publications this publication recommends
`recommends[].publication_id`	string	Publication ID
`recommends[].name`	string	Publication name
`recommends[].subdomain`	string	Substack subdomain
`recommends[].url`	string	Publication home URL
`recommends[].logo_url`	string	Logo URL
`recommends[].description`	string	Publication tagline
`recommends[].author`	string	Primary author’s handle
`recommends[].author_name`	string	Primary author’s display name
`recommends[].author_id`	string	Primary author’s user ID
`recommends[].author_url`	string	Link to the primary author’s profile
`recommends[].language`	string	Language code
`recommends[].paid_enabled`	boolean	Whether paid subscriptions are enabled
`recommends[].blurb`	string	The recommender’s note about the publication, empty when none
`recommends[].date`	string	Date the recommendation was made (UTC)
`recommended_by`	array	Publications that recommend this publication (the most recent 50), same fields
`recommends_count`	integer	Number of outgoing recommendations returned
`recommended_by_count`	integer	Number of incoming recommendations returned

Example Request

cURL

curl "https://apidirect.io/v1/substack/publication/recommendations?publication=lenny" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://apidirect.io/v1/substack/publication/recommendations",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    params={"publication": "lenny"}
)
print(response.json())

Example Response

{
  "publication": {
    "logo_url": "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8MSN!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F…",
    "name": "Lenny's Newsletter",
    "publication_id": "10845",
    "subdomain": "lenny",
    "url": "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"
  },
  "recommended_by": [
    {
      "author": "deepthiconnects",
      "author_id": "496409115",
      "author_name": "Deepthi",
      "author_url": "https://substack.com/@deepthiconnects",
      "blurb": "",
      "date": "2026-10-11 04:59:17",
      "description": "My personal Substack",
      "language": "en-gb",
      "logo_url": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3e9d7ce7-391a-454e-b54e-a5732b0dde33_1254x1254.png",
      "name": "YStartUps",
      "paid_enabled": false,
      "publication_id": "11624830",
      "subdomain": "ystartups",
      "url": "https://ystartups.substack.com"
    }
  ],
  "recommended_by_count": 50,
  "recommends": [
    {
      "author": "merlindotinc",
      "author_id": "510813323",
      "author_name": "Merlin",
      "author_url": "https://substack.com/@merlindotinc",
      "blurb": "",
      "date": "2026-05-25 20:11:01",
      "description": "learn about silicon valley companies, people, jobs, and ideas through the eyes of two startup junkies.",
      "language": "",
      "logo_url": "https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1e2e78d1-1693-48ab-9755-ea88a06e2f23_1080x1080.png",
      "name": "early days",
      "paid_enabled": false,
      "publication_id": "9047553",
      "subdomain": "earlydaysbymerlin",
      "url": "https://earlydaysbymerlin.substack.com"
    }
  ],
  "recommends_count": 11
}