reddit_stock_analyzer/README.md

# rstat - Reddit Stock Analyzer

A powerful, installable command-line tool and web dashboard to scan Reddit for stock ticker mentions, perform sentiment analysis, generate insightful reports, and create shareable summary images.

## Key Features

*   **Dual-Interface:** Use a flexible command-line tool (`rstat`) for data collection and a simple web dashboard (`rstat-dashboard`) for data visualization.
*   **Flexible Data Scraping:**
    *   Scan subreddits from a config file or target a single subreddit on the fly.
    *   Configure the time window to scan posts from the last 24 hours (for daily cron jobs) or back-fill data from several past days (e.g., last 7 days).
    *   Fetches from `/new` to capture the most recent discussions.
*   **Deep Analysis & Storage:**
    *   Scans both post titles and comments, differentiating between the two.
    *   Performs a "deep dive" analysis on posts to calculate the average sentiment of the entire comment section.
    *   Persists all data in a local SQLite database (`reddit_stocks.db`) to track trends over time.
*   **Rich Data Enrichment:**
    *   Calculates sentiment (Bullish, Bearish, Neutral) for every mention using NLTK.
    *   Fetches and stores daily closing prices and market capitalization from Yahoo Finance.
*   **Interactive Web Dashboard:**
    *   View Top 10 tickers across all subreddits or on a per-subreddit basis.
    *   Click any ticker to get a "Deep Dive" page, showing every post it was mentioned in.
*   **Shareable Summary Images:**
    *   Generate clean, dark-mode summary images for both daily and weekly sentiment for any subreddit, perfect for sharing.
*   **High-Quality Data:**
    *   Uses a configurable blacklist and smart filtering to reduce false positives.
    *   Automatically cleans the database of invalid tickers if the blacklist is updated.

## Project Structure

```
reddit_stock_analyzer/
├── .env                  # Your secret API keys
├── requirements.txt      # Project dependencies
├── setup.py              # Installation script for the tool
├── subreddits.json       # Default list of subreddits to scan
├── templates/            # HTML templates for the web dashboard
│   ├── base.html
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── subreddit.html
│   ├── deep_dive.html
│   ├── image_view.html
│   └── weekly_image_view.html
└── rstat_tool/           # The main source code package
    ├── __init__.py
    ├── main.py           # Scraper entry point and CLI logic
    ├── dashboard.py      # Web dashboard entry point (Flask app)
    ├── database.py       # All SQLite database functions
    └── ...
```

## Setup and Installation

Follow these steps to set up the project on your local machine.

### 1. Prerequisites
*   Python 3.7+
*   Git

### 2. Clone the Repository
```bash
git clone <your-repository-url>
cd reddit_stock_analyzer
```

### 3. Set Up a Python Virtual Environment
It is highly recommended to use a virtual environment to manage dependencies.

**On macOS / Linux:**
```bash
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
```

**On Windows:**
```bash
python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\activate
```

### 4. Install Dependencies
```bash
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

### 5. Configure Reddit API Credentials
1.  Go to the [Reddit Apps preferences page](https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps) and create a new "script" app.
2.  Create a file named `.env` in the root of the project directory.
3.  Add your credentials to the `.env` file like this:

    ```
    REDDIT_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id_from_reddit
    REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret_from_reddit
    REDDIT_USER_AGENT=A custom user agent string (e.g., python:rstat:v1.2)
    ```

### 6. Set Up NLTK
Run the included setup script **once** to download the required `vader_lexicon` for sentiment analysis.
```bash
python rstat_tool/setup_nltk.py
```

### 7. Build and Install the Commands
Install the tool in "editable" mode. This creates the `rstat` and `rstat-dashboard` commands in your virtual environment and links them to your source code.

```bash
pip install -e .
```
The installation is now complete.

---

## Usage

The tool is split into two commands: one for gathering data and one for viewing it.

### 1. The Scraper (`rstat`)

This is the command-line tool you will use to populate the database. It is highly flexible.

**Common Commands:**

*   **Run a daily scan (for cron jobs):** Scans subreddits from `subreddits.json` for posts in the last 24 hours.
    ```bash
    rstat --config subreddits.json --days 1
    ```

*   **Scan a single subreddit:** Ignores the config file and scans just one subreddit.
    ```bash
    rstat --subreddit wallstreetbets --days 1
    ```

*   **Back-fill data for last week:** Scans a specific subreddit for all new posts in the last 7 days.
    ```bash
    rstat --subreddit Tollbugatabets --days 7
    ```

*   **Get help and see all options:**
    ```bash
    rstat --help
    ```

### 2. The Web Dashboard (`rstat-dashboard`)

This command starts a local web server to let you explore the data you've collected.

**How to Run:**
1.  Make sure you have run the `rstat` scraper at least once to populate the database.
2.  Start the web server:
    ```bash
    rstat-dashboard
    ```
3.  Open your web browser and navigate to **http://127.0.0.1:5000**.

**Dashboard Features:**
*   **Main Page:** Shows the Top 10 most mentioned tickers across all scanned subreddits.
*   **Subreddit Pages:** Click any subreddit in the navigation bar to see a dashboard specific to that community.
*   **Deep Dive:** In any table, click on a ticker's symbol to see a detailed breakdown of every post it was mentioned in.
*   **Shareable Images:** On a subreddit's page, click "(View Daily Image)" or "(View Weekly Image)" to generate a polished, shareable summary card.


### 3. Exporting Shareable Images (`.png`)

In addition to viewing the dashboards in a browser, the project includes a powerful script to programmatically save the 'image views' as static `.png` files. This is ideal for automation, scheduled tasks (cron jobs), or sharing the results on social media platforms like your `r/rstat` subreddit.

#### One-Time Setup

The image exporter uses the Playwright library to control a headless browser. Before using it for the first time, you must install the necessary browser runtimes with this command:

```bash
playwright install
```

#### Usage Workflow

The exporter works by taking a high-quality screenshot of the live web page. Therefore, the process requires two steps running in two separate terminals.

**Step 1: Start the Web Dashboard**

The web server must be running for the exporter to have a page to screenshot. Open a terminal and run:

```bash
rstat-dashboard
```
Leave this terminal running.

**Step 2: Run the Export Script**

Open a **second terminal** in the same project directory. You can now run the `export_image.py` script with the desired arguments.

**Examples:**

*   To export the **daily** summary image for `r/wallstreetbets`:
    ```bash
    python export_image.py wallstreetbets
    ```

*   To export the **weekly** summary image for `r/wallstreetbets`:
    ```bash
    python export_image.py wallstreetbets --weekly
    ```

*   To export the **overall** summary image (across all subreddits):
    ```bash
    python export_image.py --overall
    ```

#### Output

After running a command, a new `.png` file (e.g., `wallstreetbets_daily_1690000000.png`) will be saved in the images-directory in the root directory of the project.



## 4. Full Automation: Posting to Reddit via Cron Job

The final piece of the project is a script that automates the entire process: scraping data, generating an image, and posting it to a target subreddit like `r/rstat`. This is designed to be run via a scheduled task or cron job.

### Prerequisites for Posting

The posting script needs to log in to your Reddit account. You must add your Reddit username and password to your `.env` file.

**Add these two lines to your `.env` file:**
```
REDDIT_USERNAME=YourRedditUsername
REDDIT_PASSWORD=YourRedditPassword
```
*(For security, it's recommended to use a dedicated bot account for this, not your personal account.)*

### The `post_to_reddit.py` Script

This is a standalone script located in the project's root directory that finds the most recently generated image and posts it to Reddit.

**Manual Usage:**

You can run this script manually from your terminal. This is great for testing or one-off posts.

*   **Post the latest OVERALL summary image to `r/rstat`:**
    ```bash
    python post_to_reddit.py
    ```

*   **Post the latest DAILY image for a specific subreddit:**
    ```bash
    python post_to_reddit.py --subreddit wallstreetbets
    ```

*   **Post the latest WEEKLY image for a specific subreddit:**
    ```bash
    python post_to_reddit.py --subreddit wallstreetbets --weekly
    ```

*   **Post to a different target subreddit (e.g., a test subreddit):**
    ```bash
    python post_to_reddit.py --target-subreddit MyTestSub
    ```

### Setting Up the Cron Job for Full Automation

To run the entire pipeline automatically every day, you can use a simple shell script controlled by `cron`.

**Step 1: Create a Job Script**

Create a file named `run_daily_job.sh` in the root of your project directory. This script will run all the necessary commands in the correct order.

**`run_daily_job.sh`:**
```bash
#!/bin/bash

# CRITICAL: Navigate to the project directory using an absolute path.
# Replace '/path/to/your/project/reddit_stock_analyzer' with your actual path.
cd /path/to/your/project/reddit_stock_analyzer

# CRITICAL: Activate the virtual environment using an absolute path.
source /path/to/your/project/reddit_stock_analyzer/.venv/bin/activate

echo "--- Starting RSTAT Daily Job on $(date) ---"

# 1. Scrape data from the last 24 hours for all subreddits in the config.
echo "Step 1: Scraping new data..."
rstat --config subreddits.json --days 1

# 2. Start the dashboard in the background so the exporter can access it.
echo "Step 2: Starting dashboard in background..."
rstat-dashboard &
DASHBOARD_PID=$!

# Give the server a moment to start up.
sleep 10

# 3. Export the overall summary image.
echo "Step 3: Exporting overall summary image..."
python export_image.py --overall

# 4. Post the newly created overall summary image to r/rstat.
echo "Step 4: Posting image to Reddit..."
python post_to_reddit.py --target-subreddit rstat

# 5. Clean up by stopping the background dashboard server.
echo "Step 5: Stopping dashboard server..."
kill $DASHBOARD_PID

echo "--- RSTAT Daily Job Complete ---"
```**Before proceeding, you must edit the two absolute paths at the top of this script to match your system.**

**Step 2: Make the Script Executable**

In your terminal, run the following command:
```bash
chmod +x run_daily_job.sh
```

**Step 3: Schedule the Cron Job**

1.  Open your crontab editor by running `crontab -e`.
2.  Add a new line to the file to schedule the job. For example, to run the script **every day at 10:00 PM**, add the following line:

    ```
    0 22 * * * /path/to/your/project/reddit_stock_analyzer/run_daily_job.sh >> /path/to/your/project/reddit_stock_analyzer/cron.log 2>&1
    ```
    *   `0 22 * * *` means at minute 0 of hour 22, every day, every month, every day of the week.
    *   `>> /path/to/your/.../cron.log 2>&1` is highly recommended. It redirects all output (both standard and error) from the script into a log file, so you can check if the job ran successfully.

Your project is now fully automated to scrape, analyze, visualize, and post data every day.