# Profile

> An account's bio, avatar, banner and exact follower, following and post counts.

- **Request:** `GET https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/bluesky/profile`
- **Auth:** `x-api-key` header ([get a free key](https://lurkapi.com/login?next=/dashboard))
- **Cost:** 1 credit per call. Validation errors, `401`/`402`/`429` rejections and `5xx` failures are free; `not_found` is charged ([how charging works](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#credits)).
- **MCP tool:** `bluesky_profile` on `https://api.lurkapi.com/mcp`
- **Freshness:** responses are cached for up to 30 seconds
- **Try it live:** https://lurkapi.com/docs/bluesky/profile#try (no signup)
- **Platform:** [Bluesky](https://lurkapi.com/docs/bluesky.md) (bsky.app)
- **Web page:** https://lurkapi.com/docs/bluesky/profile

## When to use this

Use it to size up an account: exact followers, following and posts, plus bio, images and join date. `did` is the permanent id; the handle can change.

Accounts that opted out of logged-out visibility (`!no-unauthenticated`) return 403 `not_public`.

Unknown, deactivated and suspended accounts return 404 `not_found`.

## Parameters

All parameters go in the query string.

| Name | Type | Required | Default | Allowed values | Description | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `handle` | string | yes |  |  | Handle (e.g. `bsky.app`, with or without @), a DID (`did:plc:…`) or the profile URL. A bare name like `jay` means `jay.bsky.social`. | `bsky.app` |

## Example request

Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` with your key, or set `LURKAPI_KEY` for the code. [Get a free key](https://lurkapi.com/login?next=/dashboard).

curl:

```bash
curl "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/bluesky/profile?handle=bsky.app" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

JavaScript:

```js
const params = new URLSearchParams({
  handle: "bsky.app",
});
const res = await fetch(`https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/bluesky/profile?${params}`, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.LURKAPI_KEY },
});
const data = await res.json();
if (!data.success) throw new Error(`${data.code}: ${data.error}`);
console.log(data);
```

Python:

```python
import os
import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/bluesky/profile",
    params={
        "handle": "bsky.app",
    },
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["LURKAPI_KEY"]},
    timeout=60,
)
data = res.json()
if not data["success"]:
    raise RuntimeError(f"{data['code']}: {data['error']}")
print(data)
```

## Example response

A real response from this endpoint, captured from the live API and trimmed to a couple of items. Strings over 96 characters (mostly signed media URLs) are cut short and end in `…`.

200 OK (application/json):

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "credits_remaining": 999994,
  "credits_charged": 1,
  "did": "did:plc:z72i7hdynmk6r22z27h6tvur",
  "handle": "bsky.app",
  "displayName": "Bluesky",
  "description": "official Bluesky account (check username👆)\n\nBugs, feature requests, feedback: support@bsky.app",
  "url": "https://bsky.app/profile/bsky.app",
  "avatar": "https://cdn.bsky.app/img/avatar/plain/did:plc:z72i7hdynmk6r22z27h6tvur/b…",
  "banner": "https://cdn.bsky.app/img/banner/plain/did:plc:z72i7hdynmk6r22z27h6tvur/b…",
  "followersCount": 35097048,
  "followsCount": 15,
  "postsCount": 865,
  "createdAt": "2023-04-12T04:53:57.057Z",
  "pinnedPost": "at://did:plc:z72i7hdynmk6r22z27h6tvur/app.bsky.feed.post/3l6oveex3ii2l",
  "verified": false,
  "hiddenFromLoggedOut": false
}
```

## Response fields

Every field of a successful response. `[]` marks a list: `a[].b` is the `b` of each item in `a`. **nullable** fields can be `null`; **optional** fields can be missing.

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `success` | `true` | Always true here; errors have `success: false`. |
| `credits_remaining` | `number` | Your balance after this call. On anonymous playground calls: free tries left today. |
| `credits_charged` | `number` | Credits this call cost; 0 on free endpoints. On anonymous playground calls: tries used (1). |
| `did` | `string` | The account's permanent id, e.g. `did:plc:z72i7hdynmk6r22z27h6tvur`. |
| `handle` | `string` | Handle, e.g. `bsky.app`. |
| `displayName` | `string`, nullable | Display name; null if not set. |
| `description` | `string`, nullable | Bio text; null if not set. |
| `url` | `string` | The profile on bsky.app. |
| `avatar` | `string`, nullable | Avatar image URL; null if none. |
| `banner` | `string`, nullable | Banner image URL; null if none. |
| `followersCount` | `number` | Followers, exact. |
| `followsCount` | `number` | Accounts they follow. |
| `postsCount` | `number` | Posts, replies included. |
| `createdAt` | `string`, nullable | When the account was created, ISO 8601. |
| `pinnedPost` | `string`, nullable | `at://` URI of the pinned post; null if none. |
| `verified` | `boolean` | Has Bluesky's blue verification check. |
| `hiddenFromLoggedOut` | `boolean` | Always false for returned profiles. Accounts hidden from logged-out visitors return 403 `not_public`. |

## Caching and freshness

Responses are cached for up to 30 seconds, so a repeat call within that window can return the same data. It still costs 1 credit.

## Errors

Errors return `{ success: false, error, code, docs }` with the HTTP status below. Validation errors, `401`/`402`/`429` rejections and `5xx` failures are free; `not_found` is charged ([how charging works](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#credits)). [All error codes](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#errors).

| Status | Code | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 401 | `missing_api_key` | No API key. Send it in the `x-api-key` header. |
| 401 | `invalid_api_key` | The key is unknown or was revoked. |
| 402 | `insufficient_credits` | Not enough credits for this call. Buy a pack or wait for tomorrow's top-up. |
| 403 | `not_public` | The platform confirmed this account or content isn't available to logged-out visitors. Use a publicly visible target. Charged when the platform was checked. |
| 404 | `not_found` | The endpoint, or the thing you asked for (ad, post, subreddit), doesn't exist. Charged when the platform was checked. |
| 405 | `method_not_allowed` | Endpoints take GET with query params. |
| 429 | `rate_limited` | Too many calls at once. Wait for the `retry-after` seconds, then retry. |
| 500 | `internal_error` | Something broke on our side. Retry; 5xx errors are free. |
| 502 | `upstream_error` | The platform didn't give a usable answer. Retry; 5xx errors are free. |
| 503 | `upstream_busy` | All our connections to the platform are busy. Retry in a few seconds; 5xx errors are free. |
| 504 | `upstream_timeout` | The platform took over 30 seconds to answer. Retry; timeouts are free. |

## Use it in Claude

Once LurkAPI is [connected to Claude](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#claude), this endpoint is the `bluesky_profile` tool. Ask in plain English, for example:

Ask Claude:

```text
Use LurkAPI's bluesky_profile with handle "bsky.app" and summarize what you find.
```

Claude calls `bluesky_profile` with arguments like these, and each call costs 1 credit:

Tool arguments:

```json
{
  "handle": "bsky.app"
}
```

Tool results skip nulls and empty lists to save tokens.

---

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