Great question! Let's break this down clearly for you:

Where are Steemit posts and comments stored? #

Steemit is built on the Steem blockchain—a decentralized, public ledger maintained by a global network of peer-to-peer (P2P) nodes. Every post, comment, vote, and account action is permanently recorded as a transaction on this blockchain, not on centralized Steemit.com servers.

The https://api.steemjs.com endpoint you're using is just a convenience layer: it wraps direct calls to Steem blockchain nodes and returns data in a more developer-friendly format. The actual source of all that content is the decentralized Steem ledger itself.

Can you access this data without relying on Steemit's Web API? #

Absolutely! You don't need to use Steemit.com's official APIs (like steemjs) to interact with the Steem network. Here's how:

• Run your own Steem node: You can set up a local steemd node (the core Steem blockchain client) that syncs directly with the P2P network. Once synced, you can query it directly via RPC calls to fetch posts, comments, and other blockchain data.
• Connect to public Steem nodes: If running your own node isn't feasible, you can connect to any public Steem node (operated by community members) using Steem's official libraries or custom RPC clients. For example, using the Steem Python library:

  from steem import Steem
  # Connect directly to a public Steem node instead of steemjs
  steem_client = Steem(nodes=["https://api.steemit.com"])
  # Fetch a post/comment directly from the blockchain
  content = steem_client.get_content(author="your-author", permlink="your-permlink")
  

• Use decentralized Steem clients: There are third-party Steem clients that interact directly with the P2P network, cutting out the middleman entirely.

The key takeaway: Steemit's web APIs are just a proxy for the underlying blockchain. All content lives on the decentralized Steem ledger, so you can always bypass centralized APIs and interact directly with the P2P network if you choose.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Kotlinboy