# Medium Following Scraper (`easyapi/medium-following-scraper`) Actor

Extract detailed information about Medium users' following lists. Get comprehensive data including usernames, bios, membership status, and more. Perfect for influencer research, network analysis, and understanding content creator communities. 🔍

- **URL**: https://apify.com/easyapi/medium-following-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [EasyApi](https://apify.com/easyapi) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media
- **Stats:** 14 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 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

## Medium Following Scraper 👥

### 🤖 What does Medium Following Scraper do?

This actor allows you to scrape following lists from Medium users. For any given Medium username, it extracts detailed information about the people they follow, including names, bios, profile URLs, and membership status.

### ✨ Features

- 🔍 Scrape following lists from any public Medium profile
- 👤 Get detailed user information including:
  - User ID
  - Name
  - Username
  - Bio
  - Profile URL
  - Profile Image
  - Membership Tier
  - Book Author Status
- ⚡ High-performance scraping with built-in request management
- ⚙️ Configurable maximum items limit

### 🔧 Input Configuration

The actor accepts the following input parameters:

- `usernames` (Array): List of Medium usernames to scrape following lists
- `maxItems` (Number): Maximum number of articles to scrape

### 📝 Use Cases

- 🎯 Influencer research and analysis
- 📊 Content creator network mapping
- 🔍 Audience analysis
- 💡 Finding potential collaborators
- 📈 Community growth analysis

### 💡 Tips

- Start with a small `maxItems` value for testing
- Use multiple usernames to batch process multiple profiles

#### Input Example

A full explanation of an input example in JSON.

```
{
	"usernames": [
        "mariaspantidi"
    ],
    "maxItems": 30
}
```

#### Output sample

The results will be wrapped into a dataset which you can always find in the **Storage** tab. Here's an excerpt from the data you'd get if you apply the input parameters above:

And here is the same data but in JSON. You can choose in which format to download your data: JSON, JSONL, Excel spreadsheet, HTML table, CSV, or XML.

```
[
	{
		"id": "6356e70393da",
		"name": "CarolF",
		"username": "carol.finch1",
		"bio": "I write diverse stuff in British English. I use the S over the Z and keep the Oxford comma for special occasions. Editor of The Parenting Portal.",
		"profileUrl": "https://medium.com/@carol.finch1",
		"imageUrl": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fill:64:64/1*Ffq1D1HG8aa3MDQB6JhjnQ.jpeg",
		"membershipTier": "FRIEND",
		"isBookAuthor": false
	},
	{
		"id": "cc2192bf0518",
		"name": "Emily J. Smith",
		"username": "emjsmith",
		"bio": "Writer and tech professional. My debut novel, NOTHING SERIOUS, is out Feb '25 from William Morrow / HarperCollins (more at emjsmith.com).",
		"profileUrl": "https://medium.com/@emjsmith",
		"imageUrl": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fill:64:64/1*N-9MfC5BB-lPPU197Yye8g.jpeg",
		"membershipTier": "MEMBER",
		"isBookAuthor": false
	},
    ...
]
```

### 🤝 Related Actors

- 📝 [Medium Post Detail Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/medium-post-detail-scraper) - Extract comprehensive Medium article data including content, claps, and responses
- 📊 [Medium Publication Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/medium-publication-scraper) - Scrape Medium publication details, stories, and writer information
- 📱 [Substack Newsletter Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/substack-newsletter-scraper) - Extract Substack newsletter content and subscriber metrics
- 🎯 [Reddit Posts Search Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/reddit-posts-search-scraper) - Gather Reddit posts with rich engagement metrics
- 💬 [Reddit Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/reddit-comments-scraper) - Extract detailed Reddit post comments and discussion threads
- 📸 [Instagram Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/instagram-profile-scraper) - Comprehensive Instagram profile data extraction
- 🖼️ [Instagram Post Detail Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/instagram-post-detail-scraper) - Scrape Instagram post details and engagement metrics
- 📊 [Instagram Hashtag Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/instagram-hashtag-scraper) - Extract Instagram hashtag posts and analytics
- 🎥 [TikTok Videos Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/tiktok-videos-scraper) - Gather TikTok video content and engagement data
- 👥 [TikTok Following Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/tiktok-following-scraper) - Extract TikTok following relationships and user data
- 🔵 [Facebook Following Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/facebook-following-scraper) - Scrape Facebook following lists and connections
- 👥 [Twitter Following Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/twitter-following-scraper) - Extract Twitter following relationships and user data
- 📱 [LinkedIn Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/linkedin-profile-scraper) - Gather detailed LinkedIn profile information
- 👥 [LinkedIn Connection Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/linkedin-connection-scraper) - Extract LinkedIn connection networks and relationships
- 📊 [DEV.to Article Scraper](https://apify.com/easyapi/devto-article-scraper) - Scrape developer articles and engagement metrics from DEV.to

# Actor input Schema

## `usernames` (type: `array`):

List of Medium usernames to scrape following lists from

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

Maximum number of following users to collect per profile

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optionally, use Apify Proxy or custom HTTP proxy to avoid IP address-based blocking.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "mariaspantidi"
  ],
  "maxItems": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("easyapi/medium-following-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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("easyapi/medium-following-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 '{}' |
apify call easyapi/medium-following-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,easyapi/medium-following-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/U4aY0Ie42jgGf3M0R/builds/hFZfOydjLV7bsqsKK/openapi.json