Universal web scraper
AI-driven data extraction from ~100 Actors across 15+ platforms via the Apify CLI.
Rules for every apify command:
- Pass
--jsonfor machine-readable output (stable across CLI versions). - Pass
--user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraperfor telemetry attribution. - Redirect stderr with
2>/dev/null(stderr contains progress messages that break JSON parsers).
Prerequisites
- Apify CLI v1.5.0+ (
npm install -g apify-cli) - Authenticated session (see below)
Authentication
If a CLI command fails with an auth error, authenticate using one of these methods:
- OAuth (interactive):
apify login(opens browser) - Environment variable:
export APIFY_TOKEN=your_token_here - From .env file:
source .env(if the file containsAPIFY_TOKEN=...)
Generate token: https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations
Workflow
Step 1: Understand goal and select Actor
Identify the target platform and use case. Read references/actor-index.md to find the right Actor.
If the task involves a multi-step pipeline, also read the matching workflow guide:
| Task involves... | Read |
|---|---|
| leads, contacts, emails, B2B | references/workflows/lead-generation.md |
| competitor, ads, pricing | references/workflows/competitive-intel.md |
| influencer, creator | references/workflows/influencer-vetting.md |
| brand, mentions, sentiment | references/workflows/brand-monitoring.md |
| reviews, ratings, reputation | references/workflows/review-analysis.md |
| SEO, SERP, crawl, content, RAG | references/workflows/content-and-seo.md |
| analytics, engagement, performance | references/workflows/social-media-analytics.md |
| trends, keywords, hashtags | references/workflows/trend-research.md |
| jobs, recruiting, candidates | references/workflows/job-market-and-recruitment.md |
| real estate, listings, hotels | references/workflows/real-estate-and-hospitality.md |
| price monitoring, e-commerce, products | references/workflows/ecommerce-price-monitoring.md |
| contact enrichment, email extraction | references/workflows/contact-enrichment.md |
| knowledge base, RAG, LLM data feed | references/workflows/knowledge-base-and-rag.md |
| company research, due diligence | references/workflows/company-research.md |
If no Actor matches in the index, search dynamically:
apify actors search "KEYWORDS" --user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraper --json --limit 10 2>/dev/null
From results: items[].username/items[].name (Actor ID), items[].title, items[].stats.totalUsers30Days, items[].currentPricingInfo.pricingModel.
Step 2: Fetch Actor schema and check gotchas
Fetch the input schema dynamically:
apify actors info "ACTOR_ID" --user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraper --input --json 2>/dev/null
Also read references/gotchas.md to check for common pitfalls for the selected Actor.
For Actor documentation: apify actors info "ACTOR_ID" --user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraper --readme
Step 3: Configure and run
Skip user preferences for simple lookups (e.g., "Nike's follower count"). Go straight to running with quick answer mode.
For larger tasks, confirm output format (quick answer / CSV / JSON) and result count.
Standard run (blocking):
apify actors call "ACTOR_ID" --input-file input.json --user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraper --json 2>/dev/null
Prefer --input-file input.json for large or complex inputs. For tiny inputs, inline JSON is acceptable with shell quoting: --input '{"maxItems":10}'.
From output: .id (run ID), .status, .defaultDatasetId, .stats.durationMillis
Fetch results:
apify datasets get-items DATASET_ID --user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraper --format json
For CSV: apify datasets get-items DATASET_ID --user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraper --format csv
Quick answer mode: Fetch results as JSON, pick top 5, present formatted in chat.
Save to file: Fetch results, use Write tool to save as YYYY-MM-DD_descriptive-name.csv or .json.
Large/long-running scrapes:
apify actors start "ACTOR_ID" --input-file input.json --user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraper --json 2>/dev/null
Poll: apify runs info RUN_ID --user-agent apify-agent-skills/apify-ultimate-scraper --json 2>/dev/null (check .status for SUCCEEDED).
Step 4: Deliver results
Report: result count, file location (if saved), key data fields, and links:
- Dataset:
https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/DATASET_ID - Run:
https://console.apify.com/actors/runs/RUN_ID
For multi-step workflows: suggest the next pipeline step from the workflow guide.
Troubleshooting
Common errors and pitfalls are documented in references/gotchas.md. Read it before running PPE (pay-per-event) Actors.