# Substack Scraper — Publication Posts | $1.50/1K (`bovi/substack-publication`) Actor

Scrape any Substack newsletter's post list via the official Substack public API. No auth, no proxy. Title, subtitle, date, free/paid audience, type, reactions, restacks, podcast\_url. Podcast posts billed at premium rate ($2.50/1K). Pay per post.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bovi/substack-publication.md
- **Developed by:** [Vitalii Bondarev](https://apify.com/bovi) (community)
- **Categories:** Marketing, News, Social media
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.91 / 1,000 listings

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Substack Scraper — Publication Posts & Metadata | $1.50/1K | No Auth, Official API

For newsletter researchers, content agencies, competitive intelligence teams, and AI pipelines that need Substack content at scale.

**Pricing: $1.50 per 1,000 post records · $2.50 per 1,000 podcast posts** (posts where `type=podcast` and `podcast_url` is present — audio file URL included). No monthly fees. No authentication required.

Scrape any Substack publication's post listing via the **official public REST API** — no authentication, no proxy, no browser required. Returns structured metadata for every post: title, subtitle, publish date, audience (free vs paid), post type, reactions, comments, restacks, cover image, wordcount, and canonical URL.

**Pay per post returned** (PPE pricing).

***

### What you get

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `title` | Post title |
| `subtitle` | Deck / tagline |
| `canonical_url` | Full URL to the post |
| `slug` | URL slug |
| `post_date` | Published timestamp (ISO 8601 UTC) |
| `audience` | `everyone` (free) or `only_paid` (paywalled) |
| `type` | `newsletter`, `podcast`, `video`, etc. |
| `podcast_url` | Audio file URL (podcast posts only) |
| `reactions_count` | Total hearts |
| `comment_count` | Number of comments |
| `restacks` | Number of Substack reposts |
| `cover_image` | Cover image URL |
| `wordcount` | Approximate word count |
| `publication_slug` | Short publication identifier |
| `parse_confidence` | Data quality score 0–1 |
| `warnings` | List of missing-field codes |

> **Note:** Post bodies (full text / HTML) are not returned by the listing API. Paywalled posts return metadata only — body content requires a paid subscription and is not scraped.

***

### Pricing example

**$1.50 per 1,000 newsletter posts · $2.50 per 1,000 podcast posts** (posts where `type=podcast` and `podcast_url` is present). A 500-post archive = $0.75. Scraping 5 newsletters × 200 posts = $1.50. No per-run fee.

### Sample output

```json
{
  "title": "The Collapse of Web Scraping",
  "subtitle": "Why every major site now requires a browser — and what to do about it",
  "canonical_url": "https://on.substack.com/p/the-collapse-of-web-scraping",
  "post_date": "2026-05-18T14:00:00Z",
  "audience": "everyone",
  "type": "newsletter",
  "podcast_url": null,
  "reactions_count": 312,
  "comment_count": 47,
  "restacks": 89,
  "wordcount": 2100,
  "publication_slug": "on",
  "parse_confidence": 1.0,
  "scraped_at": "2026-06-05T09:00:00Z"
}
```

### Frequently asked questions

**Do I need a Substack account or API key?**
No. The actor uses the official Substack public listing API — no authentication required for public publications.

**Do I need a proxy?**
No. The Substack API is open. Zero proxy cost to you.

**What formats does the output come in?**
JSON, CSV, and Excel via the Apify dataset. Native integration with n8n, Make, Zapier.

**What if the publication returns a 403 or empty results?**
Some publications restrict their API access (e.g. bankless.substack.com). The actor logs the error and exits cleanly — it pushes nothing and charges nothing. Switch to a different slug and try again.

### Input

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `publication` | string | `on` | Slug (e.g. `on`), full URL (e.g. `https://on.substack.com`), or custom domain |
| `maxPosts` | integer | `100` | Max posts to return. `0` = no limit (fetch entire archive) |

#### Publication examples

```
on                          →  on.substack.com
bankless                    →  bankless.substack.com
https://on.substack.com     →  on.substack.com (same)
https://platformer.news     →  custom domain (supported)
```

***

### How it works

Uses the Substack per-publication public REST endpoint:

```
GET https://<publication>.substack.com/api/v1/posts?offset=0&limit=50
```

Paginates via `offset` until all posts are retrieved or `maxPosts` is reached. No auth headers needed. No proxy required for public publications.

***

### Our edge over incumbents

- **Reliable pagination** — offset-based, not page-based; survives large archives.
- **Reactions normalized** — raw `reactions` dict summed to `reactions_count` (compatible with publications adding new reaction types).
- **`parse_confidence` score** — every record includes a data-quality score and `warnings` list so you can detect schema drift without re-running.
- **`restacks` field** — Substack's repost count, absent from most competitor actors.
- **Custom domain support** — not just `*.substack.com` slugs.

***

### Limitations

- **Post bodies not included** — listing API returns metadata only. Full HTML/Markdown bodies require the individual post endpoint (not in this actor's scope).
- **Paywalled posts** — metadata is returned for all posts, but body content is not accessible without a paid subscription.
- **Publications blocking API access** — some publications (e.g. bankless.substack.com) return 403; this is a publication-level restriction, not a Substack platform restriction.

***

### Competitor comparison

| | This scraper | Other Substack actors |
|---|:---:|:---:|
| Official Substack API | ✓ | partial |
| `restacks` field | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom domain support | ✓ | ✗ |
| `podcast_url` field | ✓ | ✗ |
| parse\_confidence on every record | ✓ | ✗ |
| No auth required | ✓ | ✓ |

### Podcast use case

The `podcast_url` field makes this actor useful for extracting Substack podcast episode lists without an RSS parser. Filter records where `type == "podcast"` and `podcast_url` is non-null.

Podcast posts are billed at the `podcast-post` premium event ($2.50/1K, set in the Apify console) because they include a direct audio file URL — useful for media monitoring tools, podcast discovery platforms, and content aggregators that need the actual audio stream. Regular newsletter posts are billed at the standard `post-item` rate ($1.50/1K).

### Monitoring use case

Track a competitor's newsletter for new posts — run daily and filter by `post_date` to see only new content. Set `maxPosts=20` for fast incremental runs.

### Use with AI Agents (MCP)

This Substack scraper is callable as a **tool by AI agents** (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, n8n, or any MCP-compatible client) via Apify's hosted Model Context Protocol server.

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=bovi/substack-publication",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Integrations

Built for newsletter researchers, content agencies, and AI-pipeline teams ingesting Substack post metadata at scale — the JSON/dataset output drops into the tools you already run, no glue code:

- **n8n / Make / Zapier** — trigger a run or pipe every new dataset item into 500+ apps (Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack, HubSpot, your database) with no code: [n8n](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/n8n), [Make](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make), [Zapier](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier).
- **Webhooks** — fire your own endpoint the moment a run finishes, to push results straight into your pipeline ([docs](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks)).
- **MCP server** — expose this actor as a tool to Claude, Cursor, or any [MCP client](https://mcp.apify.com) so an AI agent can pull this data mid-conversation ([guide](https://blog.apify.com/how-to-use-mcp/)).
- **API & SDKs** — fetch the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel through the Apify REST API or the Python / JS SDKs.

See all [Apify integrations](https://apify.com/integrations).

# Actor input Schema

## `publication` (type: `string`):

Substack publication to scrape. Accepts a slug (e.g. 'on'), a full URL (e.g. 'https://on.substack.com/'), or a custom domain (e.g. 'https://www.platformer.news/'). Required.

## `maxPosts` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of posts to return. 0 = no limit (fetch all). Default 100.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "publication": "on",
  "maxPosts": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing Substack Publication records (title, subtitle, audience, type, reactions\_count, comment\_count, restacks, wordcount, publication\_slug, canonical\_url, post\_date, parse\_confidence).

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "publication": "on",
    "maxPosts": 100
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bovi/substack-publication").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "publication": "on",
    "maxPosts": 100,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bovi/substack-publication").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "publication": "on",
  "maxPosts": 100
}' |
apify call bovi/substack-publication --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bovi/substack-publication"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/LTV9rmpgENr85PWxG/builds/EIBF0cxnvKUJgGkHh/openapi.json