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4,000+ ready-made scrapers availableOAuth support for easy authenticationHosted service with zero setup
best for
/ Data scientists needing web scraping at scale
/ Market researchers tracking competitor information
/ E-commerce businesses monitoring pricing
/ AI agents requiring web data extraction
capabilities
/ Extract data from social media platforms
/ Scrape e-commerce product information
/ Search and crawl search engine results
/ Collect data from maps and location services
/ Access thousands of pre-built web scrapers
/ Automate website data extraction workflows
what it does
Connects AI agents to 4,000+ pre-built web scrapers and crawlers from Apify Store to extract data from websites, social media, search engines, and e-commerce platforms.
about
Apify Actor is an official MCP server published by apify that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Apify Actor offers 4,000+ cloud tools for web scraping. Scrape any website for data from e-commerce, social media, maps, It is categorized under search web, developer tools.
how to install
You can install Apify Actor in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server supports remote connections over HTTP, so no local installation is required.
license
MIT
Apify Actor is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
The Apify Model Context Protocol (MCP) server at [**mcp.apify.com**](https://mcp.apify.com) enables your AI agents to extract data from social media, search engines, maps, e-commerce sites, and any other website using thousands of ready-made scrapers, crawlers, and automation tools from the [Apify Store](https://apify.com/store). It supports OAuth, allowing you to connect from clients like Claude.ai or Visual Studio Code using just the URL.
> **🚀 Use the hosted Apify MCP Server!**
>
> For the best experience, connect your AI assistant to our hosted server at **[`https://mcp.apify.com`](https://mcp.apify.com)**. The hosted server supports the latest features - including output schema inference for structured Actor results - that are not available when running locally via stdio.
💰 The server also supports [Skyfire agentic payments](#-skyfire-agentic-payments), allowing AI agents to pay for Actor runs without an API token.
Apify MCP Server is compatible with `Claude Code, Claude.ai, Cursor, VS Code` and any client that adheres to the Model Context Protocol.
Check out the [MCP clients section](#-mcp-clients) for more details or visit the [MCP configuration page](https://mcp.apify.com).
## Table of Contents
- [🌐 Introducing the Apify MCP server](#-introducing-the-apify-mcp-server)
- [🚀 Quickstart](#-quickstart)
- [⚠️ SSE transport deprecation](#%EF%B8%8F-sse-transport-deprecation)
- [🤖 MCP clients](#-mcp-clients)
- [🪄 Try Apify MCP instantly](#-try-apify-mcp-instantly)
- [💰 Skyfire agentic payments](#-skyfire-agentic-payments)
- [🛠️ Tools, resources, and prompts](#%EF%B8%8F-tools-resources-and-prompts)
- [📊 Telemetry](#-telemetry)
- [🐛 Troubleshooting (local MCP server)](#-troubleshooting-local-mcp-server)
- [⚙️ Development](#%EF%B8%8F-development)
- [🤝 Contributing](#-contributing)
- [📚 Learn more](#-learn-more)
# 🌐 Introducing the Apify MCP server
The Apify MCP Server allows an AI assistant to use any [Apify Actor](https://apify.com/store) as a tool to perform a specific task.
For example, it can:
- Use [Facebook Posts Scraper](https://apify.com/apify/facebook-posts-scraper) to extract data from Facebook posts from multiple pages/profiles.
- Use [Google Maps Email Extractor](https://apify.com/lukaskrivka/google-maps-with-contact-details) to extract contact details from Google Maps.
- Use [Google Search Results Scraper](https://apify.com/apify/google-search-scraper) to scrape Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
- Use [Instagram Scraper](https://apify.com/apify/instagram-scraper) to scrape Instagram posts, profiles, places, photos, and comments.
- Use [RAG Web Browser](https://apify.com/apify/web-scraper) to search the web, scrape the top N URLs, and return their content.
**Video tutorial: Integrate 8,000+ Apify Actors and Agents with Claude**
[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKu8H91uCTg)
# 🚀 Quickstart
You can use the Apify MCP Server in two ways:
**HTTPS Endpoint (mcp.apify.com)**: Connect from your MCP client via OAuth or by including the `Authorization: Bearer ` header in your requests. This is the recommended method for most use cases. Because it supports OAuth, you can connect from clients like [Claude.ai](https://claude.ai) or [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) using just the URL: `https://mcp.apify.com`.
- `https://mcp.apify.com` streamable transport
**Standard Input/Output (stdio)**: Ideal for local integrations and command-line tools like the Claude for Desktop client.
- Set the MCP client server command to `npx @apify/actors-mcp-server` and the `APIFY_TOKEN` environment variable to your Apify API token.
- See `npx @apify/actors-mcp-server --help` for more options.
You can find detailed instructions for setting up the MCP server in the [Apify documentation](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp).
# ⚠️ SSE transport deprecation on April 1, 2026
Update your MCP client config before April 1, 2026.
The Apify MCP server is dropping Server-Sent Events (SSE) transport in favor of Streamable HTTP, in line with the official MCP spec.
Go to [mcp.apify.com](https://mcp.apify.com/) to update the installation for your client of choice, with a valid endpoint.
# 🤖 MCP clients
Apify MCP Server is compatible with any MCP client that adheres to the [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.org/), but the level of support for dynamic tool discovery and other features may vary between clients.
To interact with the Apify MCP server, you can use clients such as: [Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download), [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/), or [Apify Tester MCP Client](https://apify.com/jiri.spilka/tester-mcp-client).
Visit [mcp.apify.com](https://mcp.apify.com) to configure the server for your preferred client.
### Supported clients matrix
The following table outlines the tested MCP clients and their level of support for key features.
| Client | Dynamic Tool Discovery | Notes |
|-----------------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| **Claude.ai (web)** | 🟡 Partial | Tools mey need to be reloaded manually in the client |
| **Claude Desktop** | 🟡 Partial | Tools may need to be reloaded manually in the client |
| **VS Code (Genie)** | ✅ Full | |
| **Cursor** | ✅ Full | |
| **Apify Tester MCP Client** | ✅ Full | Designed for testing Apify MCP servers |
| **OpenCode** | ✅ Full | |
**Smart tool selection based on client capabilities:**
When the `actors` tool category is requested, the server intelligently selects the most appropriate Actor-related tools based on the client's capabilities:
- **Clients with dynamic tool support** (e.g., Claude.ai web, VS Code Genie): The server provides the `add-actor` tool instead of `call-actor`. This allows for a better user experience where users can dynamically discover and add new Actors as tools during their conversation.
- **Clients with limited dynamic tool support** (e.g., Claude Desktop): The server provides the standard `call-actor` tool along with other Actor category tools, ensuring compatibility while maintaining functionality.
# 🪄 Try Apify MCP instantly
Want to try Apify MCP without any setup?
Check out [Apify Tester MCP Client](https://apify.com/jiri.spilka/tester-mcp-client)
This interactive, chat-like interface provides an easy way to explore the capabilities of Apify MCP without any local setup.
Just sign in with your Apify account and start experimenting with web scraping, data extraction, and automation tools!
Or use the MCP bundle file (formerly known as Anthropic Desktop extension file, or DXT) for one-click installation: [Apify MCP server MCPB file](https://github.com/apify/apify-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/apify-mcp-server.mcpb)
# 💰 Skyfire agentic payments
The Apify MCP Server integrates with [Skyfire](https://www.skyfire.xyz/) to enable agentic payments - AI agents can autonomously pay for Actor runs without requiring an Apify API token. Instead of authenticating with `APIFY_TOKEN`, the agent uses Skyfire PAY tokens to cover billing for each tool call.
**Prerequisites:**
- A [Skyfire account](https://www.skyfire.xyz/) with a funded wallet
- An MCP client that supports multiple servers (e.g., Claude Desktop, OpenCode, VS Code)
**Setup:**
Configure both the Skyfire MCP server and the Apify MCP server in your MCP client. Enable payment mode by adding the `payment=skyfire` query parameter to the Apify server URL:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"skyfire":
---
FAQ
What is the Apify Actor MCP server?
Apify Actor is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server profile on explainx.ai. MCP lets AI hosts (e.g. Claude Desktop, Cursor) call tools and resources through a standard interface; this page summarizes categories, install hints, and community ratings.
How do MCP servers relate to agent skills?
Skills are reusable instruction packages (often SKILL.md); MCP servers expose live capabilities. Teams frequently combine both—skills for workflows, MCP for APIs and data. See explainx.ai/skills and explainx.ai/mcp-servers for parallel directories.
How are reviews shown for Apify Actor?
This profile displays 64 aggregated ratings (sample rows for discoverability plus signed-in user reviews). Average score is about 4.6 out of 5—verify behavior in your own environment before production use.
Use Cases▌
Web Research & Information Gathering
Fetch and extract information from websites automatically
Example
Research competitor pricing, scrape product reviews, monitor news mentions
✓
Automate 5-10 hours/week of manual web research
Content Monitoring & Alerts
Track website changes, new content, price updates
Example
Monitor competitor blog for new posts, track stock availability, watch for pricing changes
✓
Stay informed without manual checking, never miss important updates
Data Extraction & Aggregation
Extract structured data from multiple websites
Example
Compile product listings from 10 e-commerce sites, aggregate job postings, collect real estate data
✓
Build datasets 100x faster than manual copying
API-less Integration
Interact with services that don't offer APIs
Example
Check form submissions, validate website functionality, test user flows
✓
Automate interactions with any website, even without API
Implementation Guide▌
Prerequisites
›Claude Desktop or Cursor with MCP support
›Understanding of web scraping ethics and robots.txt
›Rate limiting awareness to avoid overwhelming target sites
›Knowledge of legal restrictions on data collection
Time Estimate
20-40 minutes including configuration and testing
Installation Steps
1.Install web automation MCP server via npm or pip
2.Configure allowed domains and rate limits in MCP config
3.Test with simple fetch: 'Get content from example.com'
4.Progress to extraction: 'Extract all product prices from this page'
5.Set up monitoring: 'Check this URL daily for changes'
6.Parse structured data: 'Create CSV from this table'
7.Respect robots.txt and rate limits always
Troubleshooting
⚠403 Forbidden: Website blocks bots—respect their wishes, use official API instead
⚠Rate limit errors: Slow down requests, add delays between fetches
⚠Stale data: Target site changed HTML structure—update selectors
⚠Timeout errors: Site is slow or blocking—increase timeout, try different user agent
⚠JavaScript-rendered content: Use headless browser MCP servers for dynamic sites
Best Practices▌
✓ Do
+Check robots.txt and respect crawl rules
+Rate limit requests: 1-2 requests/second maximum
+Use official APIs when available instead of scraping
+Identify your bot with descriptive user agent
+Cache results to minimize repeated requests
+Handle errors gracefully with retries and fallbacks
+Validate extracted data for accuracy
✗ Don't
−Don't scrape sites that explicitly forbid it (robots.txt, ToS)
−Don't overwhelm servers with rapid requests—use rate limiting
−Don't scrape personal data without consent and legal basis
−Don't ignore copyright on extracted content
−Don't assume HTML structure is stable—handle changes
−Don't use scraped data for commercial purposes without permission
💡 Pro Tips
★Use CSS selectors or XPath for robust data extraction
★Set up monitoring alerts for extraction failures (structure changed)
★Implement exponential backoff for retries on failures
★Store raw HTML for reprocessing if extraction logic changes
★Combine with data analysis tools for insights from extracted data
★Consider using official APIs or RSS feeds as more stable alternatives
Technical Details▌
Architecture
MCP server handles HTTP requests, HTML parsing, JavaScript rendering (if headless browser), and returns structured data to Claude.
Protocols
HTTP/HTTPS
WebSocket (for real-time sites)
Puppeteer/Playwright (for JavaScript sites)
Compatibility
Static HTML sites
JavaScript-rendered SPAs (with headless browser)
REST APIs
GraphQL endpoints
When to Use This▌
✓ Use When
Use for research automation, content monitoring, data aggregation from multiple sources, and when official APIs don't exist. Best for read-only information gathering.
✗ Avoid When
Avoid for sites with APIs (use API instead), sites that explicitly forbid scraping, when data is copyrighted, or for login-required content without proper authorization.
Integration▌
→Scheduled monitoring with change detection
→Multi-source data aggregation pipelines
→Fallback to web scraping when API rate limits hit
→Headless browser for JavaScript-heavy sites
Discussion
Product Hunt–style comments (not star reviews)
No comments yet — start the thread.
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