# Lidl Product Scraper (`codingfrontend/lidl-product-scraper`) Actor

An advanced, high-speed e-commerce scraper designed for real-time price monitoring and competitor intelligence. Extracts product titles, current pricing, discounts, stock availability, specifications, images, and seller ratings from Lidl Product. Perfect for inventory tracking, drop-shipping rese...

- **URL**: https://apify.com/codingfrontend/lidl-product-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Coding Frontned](https://apify.com/codingfrontend) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Automation
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 63.3% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.99 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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

## Lidl Product Scraper

Collect structured product cards from Lidl Germany's public search pages. The Actor reads data already embedded in the public HTML; it does not call Lidl's mobile or other undocumented private APIs, impersonate an app, or manufacture placeholder rows.

### What it collects

- Product ID, ERP/article numbers, name, brand, canonical URL, and public description
- Current and regular prices, currency, unit price, packaging, and discount
- Public availability labels, images and accessibility text
- Category path, rating summary, search position, source URL, and collection timestamp

Optional fields are omitted when Lidl does not publish them. A successful run can contain fewer rows than `maxItems` because `maxItems` is a ceiling, not a promise that the storefront has that many matches.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| `searchQuery` | string | `schokolade` | German keyword or phrase (1–100 characters). |
| `country` | string | `DE` | Explicit storefront selection. Only `DE` is supported. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `48` | Maximum unique products to save (1–48). |
| `maxPages` | integer | `1` | Legacy saved-input compatibility field. The public route is one bounded page. |

Example:

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "kaffee",
  "country": "DE",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

### Output

The default dataset contains one `lidl_product` row per unique public product card. `OUTPUT` in the default key-value store records the query, requested limit, number saved, number available, HTTP status, source page, request attempts, and either `SUCCESS` or `NO_RESULTS`.

The Actor performs a direct, bounded request with an honest collector user agent and retries only transient HTTP failures. Proxy or fingerprint settings are intentionally absent because this public route does not require browser impersonation. Lidl may change its storefront markup; a future markup change should be repaired against the public page rather than by falling back to an undocumented mobile API.

### Local development

Use Node.js 22:

```sh
npm ci
npm test
npm start
npm run validate
```

Set local input in `storage/key_value_stores/default/INPUT.json`. The validator accepts a dataset directory/file or JSON/JSONL from standard input, for example `node validate-datasets.js storage/datasets/default`.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

German product keyword or phrase, up to 100 characters.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Supported storefront. This version intentionally uses only Lidl Germany's public site.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of unique product cards to save. The public search page currently exposes up to 48 cards.

## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

Accepted for saved-input compatibility. The current public storefront exposes one bounded search page; private pagination APIs are not used.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "kaffee",
  "country": "DE",
  "maxItems": 10,
  "maxPages": 1
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Default dataset containing public Lidl.de product cards.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Completion status, request scope, source, and saved counts.

# 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 = {
    "searchQuery": "schokolade"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("codingfrontend/lidl-product-scraper").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 = { "searchQuery": "schokolade" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("codingfrontend/lidl-product-scraper").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 '{
  "searchQuery": "schokolade"
}' |
apify call codingfrontend/lidl-product-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,codingfrontend/lidl-product-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

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/LkVZYCdPh4K19NgvY/builds/3gTJ35tcfRizA0rNd/openapi.json