Show the pictures inside Reddit comments
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A comment that was a picture rendered as either a link or, for a Giphy, the
literal text `![gif](giphy|Ve7wX45gaOFmw8eeEM)`. On r/aww that is most of the
thread.

Reddit writes an inline image as a token rather than an address, in three
shapes: `![gif](giphy|ID)` for a Giphy, `![img](emote|t5_2th52|4358)` for a
subreddit emote, and `![img](jo8gf0ca92zd1)` for an image uploaded straight to
the comment. The useful part is that all three tokens are keys in that same
comment's own `media_metadata`, so this is one lookup and not three special
cases. Nothing in the adapter has to know what Giphy is.

The fourth shape is someone pasting the address of a picture, which on Reddit
is how most images in comments actually arrive -- 117 of them against 21
Giphys in the sample I scanned. Those are shown as pictures too, decided by
the file extension. A link that is not to an image stays a link.

Animated ones take `s.gif` over `s.mp4` even though the MP4 is several times
smaller: a GIF moves on its own in an `<img>`, and an MP4 would need a player
element with autoplay, loop and muted set, for something the size of a
postage stamp.

Everything goes through the `/m/` proxy, like all other media. Without that a
comment thread would have the reader's browser fetch dozens of files straight
from Reddit, which is the one thing this whole app exists to avoid.

Placing the image is the renderer's job, not the Markdown parser's, because
the proxy is a render-time concern and markdown.ts knows nothing about it --
so it takes an optional `ImageRenderer` and, without one, an image stays a
link exactly as before. The parser also learned `![...]` proper: the link rule
was matching from the `[` and stranding the `!` as text.

Verified on r/aww/comments/171dxph, which carries one Giphy and 77 pasted
images: 35 render on the first page, all 35 load, all 35 through the proxy,
no upstream address reaches the page, no token is left unresolved, and
nothing overflows the column or scrolls the page sideways.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_017nMQ2eDKnqALYhAibpTKTu
This commit is contained in:
2026-08-27 16:14:06 -03:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
parent 9abc0eaf62
commit 0db18547c8
9 changed files with 293 additions and 26 deletions
+33 -1
View File
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ type Link = {
type CommentData = {
author?: string;
body?: string;
media_metadata?: Record<string, MediaMeta>;
created_utc?: number;
score?: number;
score_hidden?: boolean;
@@ -188,6 +189,37 @@ function bodyOf(link: Link): string | undefined {
return undefined;
}
/** The whole of `![...](...)`, with the target captured. */
const INLINE_IMAGE = /!\[([^\]\n]*)\]\(([^)\s]+)\)/g;
/**
* Point a comment's inline images at something fetchable.
*
* Reddit writes them as `![gif](giphy|Ve7wX45)`, `![img](emote|t5_2th52|4358)`
* or `![img](jo8gf0ca92zd1)` — a token rather than an address. In every case
* the token is a key in that same comment's `media_metadata`, which is where
* the real URL is, so one lookup covers all three and none of them needs
* naming here.
*
* A target that is already an address is not a key, so it falls through
* untouched.
*/
export function resolveInlineImages(
body: string,
meta: Record<string, MediaMeta> | undefined,
): string {
if (!meta) return body;
return body.replace(INLINE_IMAGE, (whole, alt: string, token: string) => {
const entry = meta[token];
if (!entry || entry.status !== 'valid') return whole;
// An animated one has both; the GIF plays in an `<img>` on its own, which
// an MP4 does not.
const url = entry.s?.gif ?? entry.s?.u;
return url ? `![${alt}](${url})` : whole;
});
}
export function commentsFrom(listing: Listing<CommentData> | undefined): {
comments: Comment[];
more: number;
@@ -209,7 +241,7 @@ export function commentsFrom(listing: Listing<CommentData> | undefined): {
comments.push({
author: authorName(data.author),
...(data.body ? { text: data.body } : {}),
...(data.body ? { text: resolveInlineImages(data.body, data.media_metadata) } : {}),
...(isoFrom(data.created_utc) ? { postedAt: isoFrom(data.created_utc) } : {}),
// Reddit hides the score on a new comment so an early downvote cannot
// steer the rest. Showing a placeholder 1 would be a lie.