Scouting Sources
ThreadLens can scout social posts and Google Search results from project-specific queries. Useful scoring and reports require AI provider readiness even when a source itself has little or no extra credential setup.
Source readiness at a glance
Section titled “Source readiness at a glance”| Source | Best for | Source credentials | First-run guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-form complaints, niche community language, and detailed workarounds | No extra source credential is documented for the current first-run path | Start here when you want the least source-specific setup. Configure an AI provider first for useful scoring and reports. | |
| Google Search | Pages, comparisons, search intent, commercial intent, and recurring problem language outside social posts | PARALLEL_API_KEY | Use after the configured search provider key is present in the repository root .env. |
| Bluesky | Shorter public posts, emerging conversation, and social commentary | BLUESKY_HANDLE and BLUESKY_APP_PASSWORD | Use after both Bluesky credentials are present in the repository root .env. |
Reddit is useful for long-form complaints, niche community language, and detailed workarounds. It is the recommended first source when you want the least source-specific credential overhead.
Reddit results still need AI provider readiness before you should expect useful scoring, analysis, or reports.
Bluesky
Section titled “Bluesky”Bluesky is useful for shorter public posts and emerging conversation. Configure BLUESKY_HANDLE and BLUESKY_APP_PASSWORD before relying on Bluesky scouting.
Google Search
Section titled “Google Search”Google scouting finds pages and search results that can show comparison intent, commercial intent, and recurring problem language. Configure PARALLEL_API_KEY when using the Parallel.ai Search provider.
Source selection
Section titled “Source selection”Start with one source, inspect the results, then add more sources after the project query language is producing useful findings. If a source returns errors or empty results, check both the AI provider credential and the source-specific credential for that source.
For first-run credential setup, see Configuration Basics. For the complete variable reference, see Environment Variables.