# NPM Packages Scraper (`gio21/npm-packages-scraper`) Actor

Search and scrape NPM packages by keyword. Extract name, version, description, downloads, dependencies, license, repository, and quality scores. Uses the public NPM registry API. Pay per result.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gio21/npm-packages-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Gio](https://apify.com/gio21) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$6.00 / 1,000 npm package results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## NPM Packages Scraper

Search and scrape NPM packages by keyword using the public NPM registry API.

### Features

- Search by keyword (e.g., "react", "web scraping", "machine learning")
- Extract name, version, description, downloads, license, scores
- Optional detail scraping for dependencies, engines, contributors
- Fast JSON API - no HTML parsing needed
- Pay-per-event pricing

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| name | Package name |
| version | Latest version |
| description | Package description |
| keywords | Package keywords |
| license | License type |
| author | Publisher username |
| weeklyDownloads | Weekly download count |
| monthlyDownloads | Monthly download count |
| dependents | Number of dependent packages |
| quality | NPM quality score (0-1) |
| popularity | NPM popularity score (0-1) |
| maintenance | NPM maintenance score (0-1) |
| finalScore | Overall NPM score (0-1) |
| homepage | Homepage URL |
| repository | Repository URL |
| npmUrl | NPM package page URL |
| lastPublished | Last publish date |

#### With `scrapeDetails: true`

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| dependencies | List of runtime dependencies |
| dependencyCount | Number of runtime dependencies |
| devDependencyCount | Number of dev dependencies |
| engines | Node/npm engine requirements |
| contributorsCount | Number of contributors |

### Cost

Pay-per-event: charged per result returned.
Free users are limited to 15 results per run.

# Actor input Schema

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Keyword to search for on NPM (e.g., 'react', 'web scraping', 'machine learning')

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

Maximum number of packages to scrape. Default 50.

## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch extra details for each package from the NPM registry (full dependency list, contributors count, engines). Slower but richer data.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keyword": "web scraping",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "scrapeDetails": false
}
```

# 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 = {
    "keyword": "web scraping",
    "maxItems": 50,
    "scrapeDetails": false
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gio21/npm-packages-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 = {
    "keyword": "web scraping",
    "maxItems": 50,
    "scrapeDetails": False,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gio21/npm-packages-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 '{
  "keyword": "web scraping",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "scrapeDetails": false
}' |
apify call gio21/npm-packages-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gio21/npm-packages-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/OtdafZpUQpaiUwews/builds/i4XoorJVL14VQKUMW/openapi.json