Setting up and Getting Started with meetupr

meetupr is an R package that provides a client for the Meetup.com GraphQL API. It allows you to search for groups, retrieve event information, get member lists, and access other Meetup data directly from R. This vignette will guide you through setup, authentication, and common use cases.

Quick Setup Check

Start by running meetupr_sitrep() to check your authentication status or set up authentication:

meetupr_sitrep()
#> 
#> ── meetupr Situation Report ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> 
#> ── Active Authentication Method ──
#> 
#> ✔ Authentication available
#> ℹ Active method: jwt
#> ℹ Client name: rladies
#> ✔ JWT token: Available and valid
#> ✔ JWT issuer: 251470805
#> ✔ Client key: sr9210...
#> 
#> ── API Connectivity Test ──
#> 
#> ✔ API Connection: Working
#> ℹ Authenticated as: R-Ladies Global

This function shows you:

Which authentication method is currently active
Whether your credentials are properly configured
API connectivity status
Setup instructions if authentication is missing

The function provides actionable feedback, telling you exactly what to do if authentication isn’t working.

Authentication

Authentication is required to access the Meetup API. meetupr automatically detects whether you’re working interactively or in an automated environment:

Interactive sessions (RStudio, R console): OAuth opens a browser for authorization
Non-interactive sessions (CI/CD, scheduled scripts): OAuth uses pre-cached tokens

This detection uses rlang::is_interactive() to determine the context and switch authentication flows accordingly.

When working interactively:

# First time: browser opens for authorization
get_group("rladies-lagos")

# Subsequent calls: uses cached token (no browser)
get_group_events("rladies-lagos")

When running non-interactively (GitHub Actions, cron jobs):

# Load token from environment variables (set via CI secrets)
meetupr_encrypt_load()

# All API calls use the loaded token
get_group_events("rladies-lagos")

The package handles the switching automatically — you don’t need to change your code between environments.

Interactive Authentication

For interactive use (exploring data, one-off analyses), simply authenticate when prompted:

# Authenticate interactively (opens browser)
meetupr_auth()

# Check authentication status
meetupr_auth_status()

When you run meetupr_auth():

A browser window opens to Meetup’s authorization page
You log in with your Meetup credentials
You grant permission to the meetupr app
The OAuth token is securely cached on your system

The OAuth token is stored locally in your httr2 cache directory. Token files follow the naming pattern: {hash}-token.rds.enc. These files are encrypted and specific to your system.

You only need to authenticate once. The token will be reused in future R sessions until it expires (typically after 90 days).

Non-Interactive Authentication (CI/CD)

meetupr also supports secure, non-interactive authentication for automated workflows (such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and other CI/CD systems). This allows you to run scripts and scheduled jobs without manual login.

For details on setting up meetupr in CI/CD, including secure token management and advanced authentication options, see the Advanced Authentication vignette.

Verification

After authenticating, verify the setup:

meetupr_sitrep()
#> 
#> ── meetupr Situation Report ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> 
#> ── Active Authentication Method ──
#> 
#> ✔ Authentication available
#> ℹ Active method: jwt
#> ℹ Client name: rladies
#> ✔ JWT token: Available and valid
#> ✔ JWT issuer: 251470805
#> ✔ Client key: sr9210...
#> 
#> ── API Connectivity Test ──
#> 
#> ✔ API Connection: Working
#> ℹ Authenticated as: R-Ladies Global

The output shows:

Whether an OAuth token exists and is valid
Whether you’re in CI mode (token loaded from environment variables)
API connectivity status

Basic Usage Examples

Once authenticated, you can start querying the Meetup API. All functions return tibbles (data frames) for easy manipulation with dplyr and other tidyverse packages.

Get Group Information

Retrieve detailed information about a specific group using its URL name (the part after meetup.com/ in the URL):

group_info <- get_group("rladies-lagos")
str(group_info)
#> List of 13
#>  $ id          : chr "32612004"
#>  $ name        : chr "R-Ladies Lagos"
#>  $ description : chr "R-Ladies is a world-wide organization to promote gender diversity in the R community.\nR-Ladies welcomes member"| __truncated__
#>  $ urlname     : chr "rladies-lagos"
#>  $ link        : chr "https://www.meetup.com/rladies-lagos"
#>  $ location    :List of 2
#>   ..$ city   : chr "Lagos"
#>   ..$ country: chr "ng"
#>  $ timezone    : chr "Africa/Lagos"
#>  $ created     : POSIXct[1:1], format: "2019-08-16 10:45:21"
#>  $ members     : int 893
#>  $ total_events: int 13
#>  $ organizer   :List of 2
#>   ..$ id  : chr "251470805"
#>   ..$ name: chr "R-Ladies Global"
#>  $ category    :List of 2
#>   ..$ id  : chr "546"
#>   ..$ name: chr "Technology"
#>  $ photo_url   : chr "https://secure-content.meetupstatic.com/images/classic-events/"
#>  - attr(*, "class")= chr [1:2] "meetupr_group" "list"

The result includes:

Group name, description, and URL
Location (city, state, country)
Member count
Organizer information
Group creation date

List Group Events

Get events for a specific group. By default, this returns upcoming events:

events <- get_group_events("rladies-lagos")
head(events)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 23
#>   id        title   event_url created_time status date_time duration description
#>   <chr>     <chr>   <chr>     <chr>        <chr>  <chr>     <chr>    <chr>      
#> 1 264156061 satRda… https://… 2019-08-20T… PAST   2019-09-… PT7H     "satRday-L…
#> 2 266757265 Data M… https://… 2019-11-26T… PAST   2019-12-… PT7H     "Hi there …
#> 3 267804814 Gettin… https://… 2020-01-10T… PAST   2020-02-… PT7H     "Hi there …
#> 4 284322273 Data N… https://… 2022-02-28T… PAST   2022-03-… PT2H     "**About t…
#> 5 284612394 R Ladi… https://… 2022-03-14T… PAST   2022-05-… PT1H     "Join us f…
#> 6 292261535 Women … https://… 2023-03-15T… PAST   2023-03-… PT2H     "Join us f…
#> # ℹ 15 more variables: group_id <chr>, group_name <chr>, group_urlname <chr>,
#> #   venues_id <list>, venues_name <list>, venues_address <list>,
#> #   venues_city <list>, venues_state <list>, venues_postal_code <list>,
#> #   venues_country <list>, venues_lat <list>, venues_lon <list>,
#> #   venues_venue_type <list>, rsvps_count <int>, featured_event_photo_url <chr>

Each row represents an event with:

Event ID, title, and description
Date and time (as POSIXct objects)
Duration
RSVP counts (yes, waitlist, total)
Venue information (if available)

Get Past Events

To retrieve historical events, use the status parameter:

past_events <- get_group_events(
  "rladies-lagos",
  status = "past",
  max_results = 10
)
head(past_events)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 23
#>   id        title   event_url created_time status date_time duration description
#>   <chr>     <chr>   <chr>     <chr>        <chr>  <chr>     <chr>    <chr>      
#> 1 264156061 satRda… https://… 2019-08-20T… PAST   2019-09-… PT7H     "satRday-L…
#> 2 266757265 Data M… https://… 2019-11-26T… PAST   2019-12-… PT7H     "Hi there …
#> 3 267804814 Gettin… https://… 2020-01-10T… PAST   2020-02-… PT7H     "Hi there …
#> 4 284322273 Data N… https://… 2022-02-28T… PAST   2022-03-… PT2H     "**About t…
#> 5 284612394 R Ladi… https://… 2022-03-14T… PAST   2022-05-… PT1H     "Join us f…
#> 6 292261535 Women … https://… 2023-03-15T… PAST   2023-03-… PT2H     "Join us f…
#> # ℹ 15 more variables: group_id <chr>, group_name <chr>, group_urlname <chr>,
#> #   venues_id <chr>, venues_name <chr>, venues_address <chr>,
#> #   venues_city <chr>, venues_state <chr>, venues_postal_code <chr>,
#> #   venues_country <chr>, venues_lat <dbl>, venues_lon <dbl>,
#> #   venues_venue_type <chr>, rsvps_count <int>, featured_event_photo_url <chr>

Filter Events by Date

You can filter events within a specific date range:

# Events from 2024 onwards
recent_events <- get_group_events(
  "rladies-lagos",
  status = "past",
  date_after = "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"
)
head(recent_events)
#> # A tibble: 3 × 23
#>   id        title   event_url created_time status date_time duration description
#>   <chr>     <chr>   <chr>     <chr>        <chr>  <chr>     <chr>    <chr>      
#> 1 300026594 Build … https://… 2024-03-26T… PAST   2024-04-… PT3H     "**🚀 Build…
#> 2 300356000 Intern… https://… 2024-04-11T… PAST   2024-04-… PT5H     "**Celebra…
#> 3 300027094 Intern… https://… 2024-03-26T… PAST   2024-04-… PT3H     "About thi…
#> # ℹ 15 more variables: group_id <chr>, group_name <chr>, group_urlname <chr>,
#> #   venues_id <list>, venues_name <list>, venues_address <list>,
#> #   venues_city <list>, venues_state <list>, venues_postal_code <list>,
#> #   venues_country <list>, venues_lat <list>, venues_lon <list>,
#> #   venues_venue_type <list>, rsvps_count <int>, featured_event_photo_url <chr>

Dates must be in ISO 8601 format with timezone (typically UTC: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ).

Get Event Details

Retrieve detailed information about a specific event using its ID:

event <- get_event(id = "103349942")
event
#> 
#> ── Meetup Event ──
#> 
#> • ID: "103349942"
#> • Title: Ecosystem GIS & Community Building
#> • Status: "PAST"
#> • Date/Time: 2013-02-18T18:30:00-05:00
#> • Duration: PT2H
#> • RSVPs: 97
#> 
#> ── Group:
#> • Data Visualization DC ("data-visualization-dc")
#> 
#> ── Venue:
#> • Name: Browsermedia/NClud
#> • Location: Washington, DC, us
#> 
#> <https://www.meetup.com/data-visualization-dc/events/103349942/>

The print() method displays a formatted summary. Access individual fields with $ notation:

event$title
event$dateTime
event$going

Get Event RSVPs

See who has RSVP’d to an event:

rsvps <- get_event_rsvps(id = "103349942")
head(rsvps)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 9
#>   id        member_id member_name         member_bio member_url member_photo_url
#>   <chr>     <chr>     <chr>               <chr>      <chr>      <chr>           
#> 1 683104152 12251810  Sean Moore Gonzalez "Backgrou… https://w… https://secure-…
#> 2 683108312 482161    Harlan Harris       ""         https://w… https://secure-…
#> 3 683109202 6382386   Harnam Rai          ""         https://w… https://secure-…
#> 4 683114012 70383262  Dario Rivera        ""         https://w… https://secure-…
#> 5 683114892 8783792   Aaron M             ""         https://w… https://secure-…
#> 6 683118132 10948775  Sam                 ""         https://w… https://secure-…
#> # ℹ 3 more variables: member_organized_group_count <int>, guests_count <int>,
#> #   status <chr>

Each row represents one RSVP with:

Member ID and name
RSVP response (yes, no, waitlist)
Number of guests
RSVP creation time

This is useful for analyzing attendance patterns or contacting attendees (with appropriate permissions).

Get Group Members

List members of a group:

members <- get_group_members("rladies-lagos", max_results = 10)
head(members)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 8
#>   id        name              member_url member_photo_url status role  join_time
#>   <chr>     <chr>             <chr>      <chr>            <chr>  <chr> <chr>    
#> 1 251470805 R-Ladies Global   https://w… https://secure-… LEADER ORGA… 2019-08-…
#> 2 225839690 EYITAYO ALIMI     https://w… https://secure-… LEADER COOR… 2019-08-…
#> 3 236466773 Adedamilola Adek… https://w… https://secure-… ACTIVE MEMB… 2019-08-…
#> 4 255806325 Helen             https://w… https://secure-… ACTIVE MEMB… 2019-08-…
#> 5 287781170 Alvin             https://w… https://secure-… ACTIVE MEMB… 2019-08-…
#> 6 266271010 ijeoma benson     https://w… <NA>             ACTIVE MEMB… 2019-08-…
#> # ℹ 1 more variable: last_access_time <chr>

Member data includes:

Member ID and name
Join date
Member status (active, organizer, etc.)
Bio and profile URL

Note: Due to privacy settings, some member information may be limited.

Search for Groups

Find groups matching a search term:

r_groups <- find_groups("R programming")
head(r_groups)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 14
#>   id       name       urlname city  state country   lat    lon memberships_count
#>   <chr>    <chr>      <chr>   <chr> <chr> <chr>   <dbl>  <dbl>             <int>
#> 1 38267718 R User Gr… r-nvsu  Mani… ""    ph       14.6 121.                   3
#> 2 24890872 Warwick R… warwic… Cove… "43"  gb       52.4  -1.56               918
#> 3 18574545 Johannesb… joburg… Joha… ""    za      -26.2  28.0               1587
#> 4 2906882  Birmingha… Birmin… Birm… "43"  gb       52.5  -1.9                810
#> 5 2727002  Vienna<-R  ViennaR Vien… ""    at       48.2  16.4                812
#> 6 38263588 R 程式交流組 R… r-prog… Hong… ""    hk       22.3 114.                   8
#> # ℹ 5 more variables: founded_date <dttm>, timezone <chr>, join_mode <chr>,
#> #   is_private <lgl>, membership_status <chr>

Search results include:

Group name and URL name
Location
Member count
Description snippet

This is useful for discovering groups in your area or analyzing group networks.

Pagination and Rate Limits

The Meetup API limits how many results can be returned in a single request. The max_results parameter controls pagination:

# Get up to 50 events (may require multiple API calls)
many_events <- get_group_events(
  "rladies-san-francisco",
  status = "past",
  max_results = 50
)

cli::cli_alert_info("Retrieved {nrow(many_events)} events")
#> ℹ Retrieved 50 events

meetupr automatically handles pagination behind the scenes. It makes multiple API requests if needed and combines the results into a single tibble.

The Meetup API rate limit is 500 requests per 60 seconds. meetupr automatically throttles requests to stay under this limit. For large batch operations, consider adding explicit delays:

# Process multiple groups with delays
groups <- c("rladies-nyc", "rladies-sf", "rladies-london")

events <- purrr::map_dfr(groups, \(x) {
  result <- get_group_events(x, max_results = 20)
  Sys.sleep(0.5)  # 500ms delay between requests
  result
})

Pro Account Features

If you have a Meetup Pro account, you can access network-wide data using the Pro functions. These functions require appropriate permissions and will error if you don’t have Pro access.

List All Pro Groups

# Get all groups in the R-Ladies network
pro_groups <- get_pro_groups("rladies")
head(pro_groups)

Network-Wide Events

# Get upcoming events across all groups in network
upcoming <- get_pro_events("rladies", status = "upcoming")
head(upcoming)

# Get cancelled events
cancelled <- get_pro_events("rladies", status = "cancelled")
head(cancelled)

Pro functions return data for all groups in your network with a single API call, which is more efficient than querying each group individually.

Debug Mode

Sometimes issues arise due to misconfiguration or unexpected API behavior. Enabling debug mode shows the exact GraphQL queries being sent to the API.

local_meetupr_debug(1)
meetupr_sitrep()
#> 
#> ── meetupr Situation Report ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> 
#> ── Active Authentication Method ──
#> 
#> ✔ Authentication available
#> ℹ Active method: jwt
#> ℹ Client name: rladies
#> ✔ JWT token: Available and valid
#> ✔ JWT issuer: 251470805
#> ✔ Client key: sr9210...
#> 
#> ── API Connectivity Test ──
#> 
#> ℹ Using GraphQL template: '/private/var/folders/y5/zlbbcqn56gx1tcg6xfb425100000gp/T/Rtmpgge72m/Rinst1a4b4da4fe20/meetupr/graphql/get_self.graphql'
#> ℹ Using jwt token authentication
#> ✔ API Connection: Working
#> ℹ Authenticated as: R-Ladies Global
find_groups("R programming")
#> ℹ Using GraphQL template: '/private/var/folders/y5/zlbbcqn56gx1tcg6xfb425100000gp/T/Rtmpgge72m/Rinst1a4b4da4fe20/meetupr/graphql/find_groups.graphql'
#> ℹ Using jwt token authentication
#> # A tibble: 200 × 14
#>    id       name     urlname city  state country   lat     lon memberships_count
#>    <chr>    <chr>    <chr>   <chr> <chr> <chr>   <dbl>   <dbl>             <int>
#>  1 38267718 R User … r-nvsu  Mani… ""    ph       14.6  121.                   3
#>  2 24890872 Warwick… warwic… Cove… "43"  gb       52.4   -1.56               918
#>  3 18574545 Johanne… joburg… Joha… ""    za      -26.2   28.0               1587
#>  4 2906882  Birming… Birmin… Birm… "43"  gb       52.5   -1.9                810
#>  5 2727002  Vienna<… ViennaR Vien… ""    at       48.2   16.4                812
#>  6 38263588 R 程式交流組… r-prog… Hong… ""    hk       22.3  114.                   8
#>  7 29568404 adminR:… adminR  Bern  ""    ch       47.0    7.44               581
#>  8 1696476  Denver … Denver… Denv… "CO"  us       39.8 -105.                1476
#>  9 21760043 R-Ladie… rladie… Buen… ""    ar      -34.6  -58.4               1966
#> 10 37281989 Cape To… cape-t… Cape… ""    za      -33.9   18.5                112
#> # ℹ 190 more rows
#> # ℹ 5 more variables: founded_date <dttm>, timezone <chr>, join_mode <chr>,
#> #   is_private <lgl>, membership_status <chr>

Debug output includes:

The complete GraphQL query sent to the API
Variable values being passed
The raw JSON response

This is invaluable when queries fail unexpectedly or you’re unsure what data is being returned.

To turn it off again, set it to 0:

local_meetupr_debug(0)
meetupr_sitrep()
#> 
#> ── meetupr Situation Report ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> 
#> ── Active Authentication Method ──
#> 
#> ✔ Authentication available
#> ℹ Active method: jwt
#> ℹ Client name: rladies
#> ✔ JWT token: Available and valid
#> ✔ JWT issuer: 251470805
#> ✔ Client key: sr9210...
#> 
#> ── API Connectivity Test ──
#> 
#> ✔ API Connection: Working
#> ℹ Authenticated as: R-Ladies Global
find_groups("R programming")
#> # A tibble: 200 × 14
#>    id       name     urlname city  state country   lat     lon memberships_count
#>    <chr>    <chr>    <chr>   <chr> <chr> <chr>   <dbl>   <dbl>             <int>
#>  1 38267718 R User … r-nvsu  Mani… ""    ph       14.6  121.                   3
#>  2 24890872 Warwick… warwic… Cove… "43"  gb       52.4   -1.56               918
#>  3 18574545 Johanne… joburg… Joha… ""    za      -26.2   28.0               1587
#>  4 2906882  Birming… Birmin… Birm… "43"  gb       52.5   -1.9                810
#>  5 2727002  Vienna<… ViennaR Vien… ""    at       48.2   16.4                812
#>  6 38263588 R 程式交流組… r-prog… Hong… ""    hk       22.3  114.                   8
#>  7 29568404 adminR:… adminR  Bern  ""    ch       47.0    7.44               581
#>  8 1696476  Denver … Denver… Denv… "CO"  us       39.8 -105.                1476
#>  9 21760043 R-Ladie… rladie… Buen… ""    ar      -34.6  -58.4               1966
#> 10 37281989 Cape To… cape-t… Cape… ""    za      -33.9   18.5                112
#> # ℹ 190 more rows
#> # ℹ 5 more variables: founded_date <dttm>, timezone <chr>, join_mode <chr>,
#> #   is_private <lgl>, membership_status <chr>

For persistent debugging across R sessions, set the environment variable in your .Renviron file:

MEETUPR_DEBUG=1

Common Issues

Authentication Errors

Error: Authentication required

Solution: Run meetupr_sitrep() to diagnose the issue. Common causes include:

No OAuth token cached (run meetupr_auth())
Expired token (re-authenticate with meetupr_auth())
Missing CI environment variables (check meetupr_token and meetupr_token_file)

Multiple Token Warning

Warning: Multiple tokens found in cache

Solution: Clear old tokens and re-authenticate:

meetupr_deauth()
meetupr_auth()

This happens when tokens from different OAuth applications accumulate in your cache directory.

Rate Limiting

Error: Rate limit exceeded

Solution: The Meetup API limits you to 500 requests per 60 seconds. If you hit this limit:

Add delays between requests (Sys.sleep(0.5))
Reduce max_results to minimize pagination
Cache results locally to avoid repeated queries

meetupr automatically throttles requests, but aggressive batch operations may still hit limits.

Group Not Found

Error: Group not found

Solution: Verify the group URL name. The URL name is the part after meetup.com/ in the group’s URL. For example, for https://www.meetup.com/rladies-san-francisco/, the URL name is rladies-san-francisco.