# Substack Publication Scraper (`gio21/substack-publication-scraper`) Actor

Scrape any Substack newsletter or publication: posts, podcasts, videos with title, date, reactions, comments, wordcount. Multi-publication batch. Direct API, fast, no captchas. $0.004 per post.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gio21/substack-publication-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Gio](https://apify.com/gio21) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, SEO tools, News
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 1,000 post scrapeds

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

## Substack Publication Scraper

Scrape any **Substack** newsletter or publication archive in one shot.

Multi-publication batch, direct Substack API, no JavaScript rendering, no captchas. Returns posts, podcasts, videos with the engagement metrics that matter (reactions, comments, restacks, wordcount).

> **$0.004 / post** — cheaper than per-platform-call alternatives.

### What it extracts

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `publication` | Hostname of the publication |
| `id` | Substack post ID |
| `title`, `subtitle`, `slug` | Post metadata |
| `type` | `newsletter` / `podcast` / `video` / `thread` |
| `audience` | `everyone` / `only_paid` / `only_free` |
| `url` | Canonical post URL |
| `description` | Social description / preview text |
| `postedAt` | ISO publish timestamp |
| `wordcount` | Reading length |
| `reactionCount` | ❤️ count |
| `commentCount` | 💬 count |
| `restackCount` | 🔁 count |
| `podcastDuration` | Seconds (when type = podcast) |
| `sectionName`, `sectionSlug` | Section the post belongs to |
| `coverImage` | Hero image URL |
| `searchEngineTitle`, `searchEngineDescription` | SEO fields |
| `scrapedAt` | ISO timestamp |

### Input

| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `publications` | yes | Array — accepts full URLs, hostnames, or bare substack subdomains. |
| `sort` | no | `new` (default) or `top`. |
| `maxItems` | no | Total cap across all publications (default 50). |

#### Examples

**One Substack newsletter, latest 30 posts:**

```json
{ "publications": ["lennysnewsletter.com"], "sort": "new", "maxItems": 30 }
```

**Multiple custom-domain publications, top reactions:**

```json
{ "publications": ["stratechery.com", "pragmaticengineer.com"], "sort": "top", "maxItems": 100 }
```

**Substack subdomain (auto-expands):**

```json
{ "publications": ["platformer"], "maxItems": 20 }
```

### Pricing

**$0.004 per post.** No actor-start fee.

| Volume | Cost |
|---|---|
| 100 posts | $0.40 |
| 1,000 posts | $4.00 |
| 10,000 posts | $40.00 |

Free Apify plan: 20 posts per run.

### How it works

- Calls `https://{publication}/api/v1/archive?sort={sort}&offset={offset}&limit=12` — the same API the public Substack website uses to render the archive page.
- got-scraping handles TLS fingerprinting (no rate limit on reasonable usage).
- Stops when an empty page is returned or `maxItems` reached. Hard safety cap at offset 2000.

### Caveats

- **Paid-only posts** (`audience: only_paid`) are returned but with truncated body / no full text — Substack only exposes the metadata publicly. Use a logged-in scraper if you need full paid content.
- The archive API skips posts older than the publication's `archive_limit` setting (rare; most publications don't set one).

# Actor input Schema

## `publications` (type: `array`):

Substack publications to scrape. Accepts full URLs (https://www.lennysnewsletter.com), bare hostnames (stratechery.com), or substack subdomains (pmarchive — auto-expands to pmarchive.substack.com).

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Order of posts.

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

Total cap across all publications.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "publications": [
    "lennysnewsletter.com"
  ],
  "sort": "new",
  "maxItems": 30
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Substack posts with reactions, comments, wordcount and metadata.

# 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 = {
    "publications": [
        "lennysnewsletter.com"
    ],
    "sort": "new",
    "maxItems": 30
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gio21/substack-publication-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 = {
    "publications": ["lennysnewsletter.com"],
    "sort": "new",
    "maxItems": 30,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gio21/substack-publication-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 '{
  "publications": [
    "lennysnewsletter.com"
  ],
  "sort": "new",
  "maxItems": 30
}' |
apify call gio21/substack-publication-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gio21/substack-publication-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/znheFrSEA1wIVa8Lb/builds/LbkeIUqf3PvxehSwW/openapi.json