Tutorials
Threads profile in Python
One authenticated call to /api/v1/threads/profile?handle=nasa, the response it returned, and the line that reads one field out of it.
What you need
Standard library only — urllib and json ship with Python 3. There is nothing to pip install.
The call
import json
import os
import urllib.request
url = "https://honesthook.com/api/v1/threads/profile?handle=nasa"
request = urllib.request.Request(
url,
headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + os.environ["HH_KEY"]},
)
with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=30) as response:
envelope = json.load(response)
print(envelope["success"], envelope["platform"], envelope["endpoint"])
What came back
{
"success": true,
"platform": "threads",
"endpoint": "threads/profile",
"data": {
"author": {
"id": "28829152388",
"handle": "nasa",
"name": "NASA",
"followers": 12736811,
"following": null,
"posts_count": null,
"verified": true,
"is_private": false
}
},
"error": null,
"cached": false
}
Recorded response, captured 15 Sep 2026. A live call returns the value at the moment you ask, not this one.
Every field in that capture
| In Python | Type in this capture |
|---|
envelope["success"] | boolean |
envelope["platform"] | string |
envelope["endpoint"] | string |
envelope["data"]["author"]["id"] | string |
envelope["data"]["author"]["handle"] | string |
envelope["data"]["author"]["name"] | string |
envelope["data"]["author"]["followers"] | number |
envelope["data"]["author"]["following"] | null |
envelope["data"]["author"]["posts_count"] | null |
envelope["data"]["author"]["verified"] | boolean |
envelope["data"]["author"]["is_private"] | boolean |
envelope["error"] | null |
envelope["cached"] | boolean |
A field we cannot read comes back null, never 0. A zero would be a claim about the account; null is a fact about our collection. The full list of what this route does not return is on threads-api/profile.
Reading one field
print(envelope["data"]["author"]["followers"])
envelope is the dict from the block above. os.environ raises if the key is not set, which is better than sending the word None as a bearer token.
Read this before you run anything
The call on this page goes to our endpoint. It does not go to Threads. The difference is the whole reason the route exists, and it is the one thing to be clear about before you copy anything.
A plain curl aimed at Threads does not fail. It returns 200 and a large page — and the follower count is not in it. Threads serves the object that carries the counter only to a client whose TLS handshake looks like a browser's. Same URL, same address, different signature, different page.
So a tutorial that pointed you straight at Threads would be teaching you to build something that reports success and no data. What you call here is honesthook.com, and the impersonating client sits behind it.
What you are calling
One authenticated GET to our endpoint, with your key in an Authorization header. The handle in the example is the one that produced the recorded response below.
Before you copy the block
Keep the key in an environment variable — all three examples read HH_KEY.
Then read the response as it is. Threads does not publish everything a profile elsewhere would, and what it does not publish comes back null rather than 0. Which fields those are, and why, is on /threads-api/profile.