Bot FAQ

Where did this come from?

Back in 2017 I started on the idea to create a Mountain Project bot for /r/climbing because I saw so many posts of a climbing area where most of the comments were people asking about the area (What's the grade? Where is this? etc). Since I'm a programmer by profession and hobby I decided to make one! In May, 2019 I released a "beta version" of the bot on /r/MountainProjectBot and in July I released it on /r/climbing. So if you haven't heard about it or didn't know !MountainProject was a thing you could do - don't worry, it's pretty new!

How does the bot work?

The bot looks through various climbing subreddits (see below) for comments that follow the format !MountainProject {search query} (eg !MountainProject Red River Gorge) - full notes on syntax here. It then uses that search query to find a match against all routes and areas using a custom-built database parsed from MountainProject.com. The bot then replies to the comment with a brief snippet of information on the found route or area.

The bot will also automatically reply to comments with MountainProject links with info about that route/area.

If you are seeing "Auto-Replies" to your post (the bot replied directly to your post, not another comment) this is part of a test to see if automatic replies are viable.

Where is the bot active?

The bot is active on the following subreddits: /r/climbing, /r/climbingporn, /r/bouldering, /r/socalclimbing, /r/climbingvids, /r/mountainprojectbot, /r/climbergirls, /r/iceclimbing, /r/rockclimbing, and /r/tradclimbing. If you want to see it somewhere else, let me know!

Do I have to put in the route/area name exactly?

No. A search for "red river" should match "Red River Gorge". When determining a match to a search query, the bot ignores spaces, letter casing, and any symbols - full notes on syntax here. Sometimes this works against us (see https://github.com/derekantrican/MountainProject/issues/11)

What does the bot do in the case of multiple matches?

If there are multiple matches to the search query, the bot returns the result with the highest "popularity". "Popularity" is currently just the page views on MountainProject.com

Can I add words like "route" or the name of the area (eg "Powerless, Exit 38") to better specify the result I want?

Yes! You can see full notes on syntax for specifying locations here: https://github.com/derekantrican/MountainProject/wiki/Bot-Syntax

How do I get the bot to stop replying to me when I post MountainProject links?

Please use the feedback form to request to be blacklisted by the bot. Blacklisting will not affect specific requests for the bot (usages of the !MountainProject keyword) - just unprompted replies.