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apify-skill

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Run web scrapers and extract data from websites and social media platforms using Apify actors. Supports Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Google Search, and general web crawling.

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Apify Web Scraping Skill

Run pre-built web scrapers (Actors) to extract data from websites and social media platforms.

How It Works

This skill provides instructions for the Apify Actor tool node. Connect the Apify Actor node to Zeenie's input-tools handle to enable web scraping capabilities.

apify_run_actor Tool

Run any Apify actor and retrieve scraped results.

Schema Fields

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
actor_idstringYesActor ID from Apify Store (e.g., apify/instagram-scraper)
input_jsonstringNoActor input as JSON string (default: {})
max_resultsintegerNoMaximum items to return (default: 100)

Popular Actors

PlatformActor IDUse Case
Instagramapify/instagram-scraperProfiles, posts, hashtags, comments
TikTokclockworks/tiktok-scraperVideos, profiles, trends, hashtags
Twitter/Xapidojo/tweet-scraperTweets, profiles, search results
LinkedIncurious_coder/linkedin-profile-scraperProfiles, companies
Facebookapify/facebook-posts-scraperPosts, pages, groups
YouTubeapify/youtube-scraperVideos, channels, comments
Google Searchapify/google-search-scraperSERP results, organic listings
Google Mapsapify/google-maps-scraperPlaces, reviews, business info
Web Crawlerapify/website-content-crawlerAny website content
Web Scraperapify/web-scraperCustom scraping with selectors

Response Format

{
  "run_id": "abc123xyz",
  "actor_id": "apify/instagram-scraper",
  "status": "SUCCEEDED",
  "items": [
    { "id": "123", "text": "Post content...", "likes": 500 }
  ],
  "item_count": 50,
  "dataset_id": "dataset-id-here",
  "compute_units": 0.5,
  "started_at": "2026-02-23T10:00:00Z",
  "finished_at": "2026-02-23T10:02:30Z"
}

Examples

Scrape Instagram profile:

{
  "actor_id": "apify/instagram-scraper",
  "input_json": "{\"directUrls\": [\"https://instagram.com/natgeo\"], \"resultsLimit\": 50}",
  "max_results": 50
}

Search TikTok hashtag:

{
  "actor_id": "clockworks/tiktok-scraper",
  "input_json": "{\"hashtags\": [\"trending\", \"fyp\"], \"resultsPerPage\": 30}",
  "max_results": 30
}

Search Twitter/X:

{
  "actor_id": "apidojo/tweet-scraper",
  "input_json": "{\"searchTerms\": [\"AI automation\"], \"maxItems\": 100}",
  "max_results": 100
}

Google Search:

{
  "actor_id": "apify/google-search-scraper",
  "input_json": "{\"queries\": \"best AI tools 2026\", \"maxPagesPerQuery\": 3}",
  "max_results": 30
}

Crawl website content:

{
  "actor_id": "apify/website-content-crawler",
  "input_json": "{\"startUrls\": [{\"url\": \"https://docs.example.com\"}], \"maxCrawlDepth\": 2, \"maxCrawlPages\": 50}",
  "max_results": 50
}

Scrape Google Maps places:

{
  "actor_id": "apify/google-maps-scraper",
  "input_json": "{\"searchStringsArray\": [\"restaurants in San Francisco\"], \"maxCrawledPlaces\": 20}",
  "max_results": 20
}

Common Input Parameters by Actor

Instagram Scraper

ParameterTypeDescription
directUrlsarrayInstagram URLs to scrape
resultsLimitnumberMax results per URL (1-1000)
maxCommentsnumberComments per post (0-100)
searchTypestringType of search: hashtag, user, place

TikTok Scraper

ParameterTypeDescription
profilesarrayTikTok usernames to scrape
hashtagsarrayHashtags to scrape (without #)
resultsPerPagenumberResults per request

Twitter/X Scraper

ParameterTypeDescription
searchTermsarraySearch queries or hashtags
twitterHandlesarrayUsernames (without @)
maxItemsnumberMaximum tweets to fetch

Google Search Scraper

ParameterTypeDescription
queriesstringSearch query
maxPagesPerQuerynumberPages to scrape (10 results/page)
languageCodestringLanguage filter (e.g., en)
countryCodestringCountry filter (e.g., us)

Website Content Crawler

ParameterTypeDescription
startUrlsarrayURLs to crawl from (objects with url key)
maxCrawlDepthnumberLink depth (0 = start URLs only)
maxCrawlPagesnumberTotal pages limit

Error Responses

Actor not found:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Actor 'invalid/actor-id' not found"
}

Timeout:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Actor run timed out after 300 seconds"
}

Run failed:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Actor run failed with status FAILED"
}

Run Status Values

StatusMeaning
SUCCEEDEDRun completed successfully
FAILEDRun encountered an error
ABORTEDRun was manually stopped
TIMED-OUTRun exceeded timeout limit
RUNNINGRun still in progress

Use Cases

Use CaseActorDescription
Social listeningtweet-scraperMonitor brand mentions
Competitor researchinstagram-scraperAnalyze competitor posts
Lead generationlinkedin-profile-scraperExtract business contacts
SEO researchgoogle-search-scraperAnalyze SERP rankings
Content aggregationwebsite-content-crawlerCollect articles from sites
Price monitoringweb-scraperTrack product prices
Review analysisgoogle-maps-scraperGather customer reviews

Guidelines

  1. Actor IDs: Use format username/actor-name from Apify Store
  2. Input JSON: Must be valid JSON string with actor-specific parameters
  3. Timeouts: Default 300 seconds, configurable on the node
  4. Max Results: Limits items returned (not items scraped)
  5. Memory: Higher memory = faster execution, higher cost

Pricing Notes

Apify uses compute units (CU) based on memory and duration:

  • CU = Memory (GB) x Duration (hours)
  • Free tier: $5/month credits
  • Check actor pricing on Apify Store before large scrapes

Setup Requirements

  1. Connect the Apify Actor node to Zeenie's input-tools handle
  2. Configure your Apify API token in Credentials Modal
  3. Select an actor or enter custom actor ID
  4. Provide actor-specific input as JSON

Security Notes

  1. Respect website terms of service
  2. Use reasonable scraping rates to avoid IP bans
  3. Don't scrape personal data without consent
  4. Store scraped data securely
  5. Comply with GDPR and data protection laws