reddit.subreddit.message no longer works

[crackerjam]

Describe the Bug

Trying to use reddit.subreddit.message to send a modmail message no longer works.

Desired Result

Sending a mod mail.

Code to reproduce the bug

sub = reddit.subreddit("yoursubreddit")

sub.message(subject="Test Message", message="Test Message")

My code does not include sensitive credentials

• Yes, I have removed sensitive credentials from my code.

Relevant Logs

praw.exceptions.RedditAPIException: USER_DOESNT_EXIST: "that user doesn't exist" on field 'to'
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/praw/objector.py", line 240, in objectify
    return self._objector.objectify(
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/praw/reddit.py", line 513, in _objectify_request
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    return self._objectify_request(
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/praw/reddit.py", line 861, in post
    raise last_exception
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/praw/reddit.py", line 879, in post
    return func(**dict(zip(_old_args, args)), **kwargs)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/praw/util/deprecate_args.py", line 46, in wrapped
    self._reddit.post(API_PATH["compose"], data=data)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/praw/models/reddit/mixins/messageable.py", line 67, in message

This code has previously worked as intended

Yes

Operating System/Environment

python:3.12.11 Docker container

Python Version

3.12.11

PRAW Version

7.8.1

Links, references, and/or additional comments?

No response

[github-actions]

This issue is stale because it has been open for 30 days with no activity.

Remove the Stale label or comment or this will be closed in 30 days.

[AlleLouis]

Remove the Stale label or comment or this will be closed in 30 days.

The issue persists.

[LilSpazJoekp]

This is a breaking change Reddit made. They either need to revert the change they made when migrating the underlying API (re: PM -> chat migration) or we need to update PRAW which will require everyone to update to the latest version.

For the time being, you can do this instead:

data = {
    "subject": "Test subject",
    "text": "Test message",
    "to": f"r/yoursubreddit",
}
reddit.post("/api/compose", data=data)

or

sub = reddit.subreddit("yoursubreddit")
sub.MESSAGE_PREFIX = "r/"
sub.message(subject="Test Message", message="Test Message")

[AlleLouis]

For the time being, you can do this instead:

data = {
"subject": "Test subject",
"text": "Test message",
"to": f"r/yoursubreddit",
}
reddit.post("/api/compose", data=data)

or

sub = reddit.subreddit("yoursubreddit")
sub.MESSAGE_PREFIX = "r/"
sub.message(subject="Test Message", message="Test Message")

Thank you for the workaround.