**Mastodon** is [free and open-source software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software "Free and open-source software") for running [self-hosted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-hosting_\(web_services\) "Self-hosting (web services)") [social networking services](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service "Social networking service"). It has [microblogging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging "Microblogging") features similar to [Twitter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter "Twitter"), which are offered by a large number of independently run [nodes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Node_\(networking\) "Node (networking)"), known as [instances](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instance_\(computer_science\) "Instance (computer science)"), each with its own [code of conduct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_conduct "Code of conduct"), [terms of service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_service "Terms of service"), [privacy policy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_policy "Privacy policy"), privacy options, and [content moderation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_moderation "Content moderation") policies.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_\(social_network\)#cite_note-Chan_2022-6)[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_\(social_network\)#cite_note-:1-7)[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_\(social_network\)#cite_note-8)
### 🐘 About This Actor
Scrape data from Mastadon, the decentralized alternative to Twitter. Extract information on users, their "toots," likes, and favorites or scrape data based on a search query, such as a hashtag or a keyword. Export accumulated data into a variety of database formats.
### 🐘 Tutorial
#### 📁 Parameters
| Input| Type | Description |
|-|-|-|
| `query` | ***string array*** | List of `Query`, `Search Terms` or `Start URL` |
| `portal` | ***string*** | Default portal *`(default: mastodon.social)`* |
| `limit` | ***integer*** | Number of results *`(per-query)`* |
#### 📁 Basic Usage
```yaml
## search posts
{ "query": ["sponge bobs"], "limit": 10 }
```
```yaml
## search hashtag
{ "query": ["#python"], "limit": 10 }
```
```yaml
## just paste an url
{ "query": ["https://mastodon.social/@elonmusk"], "limit": 10 }
```
#### 📁 Advanced Usage
***Mastodon Query Language (MQL)***
```html
[ [ Founder, CEO and lead developer @Mastodon, Germany.
", "statuses_count": 73541, "url": "https://mastodon.social/@Gargron", "username": "Gargron" }, "application": { "name": "Web" }, "card": { "blurhash": "U34x7la*9EoYxNfQayfR4mj:?cWIajfRj[a{", "description": "Learn how to get verified on Mastodon", "height": 267, "image": "https://files.mastodon.social/cache/preview_cards/images/059/998/839/original/74e91efacf98def0.png", "title": "Verification", "type": "link", "url": "https://joinmastodon.org/verification", "width": 400 }, "content": "Looks like @arstechnica is now verified on here! Always great to see this feature used. It'll be even more prominent in the future.
https://joinmastodon.org/verification
", "created_at": "2023-04-27T22:37:39.080Z", "favourites_count": 420, "id": "110273171231251728", "language": "en", "mentions": [ { "acct": "arstechnica", "id": "110266162634306901", "url": "https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica", "username": "arstechnica" } ], "reblogs_count": 280, "replies_count": 14, "uri": "https://mastodon.social/users/Gargron/statuses/110273171231251728", "url": "https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/110273171231251728", "visibility": "public" } ``` ### 🐘 Support
# Actor input Schema
## `query` (type: `array`):
💡 #hastag or @username or URLURL examples :
https://\[portal]/@usernamehttps://\[portal]/tags/\[hashtag]
## `portal` (type: `string`):
💡 Portal Hostname (default: mastadon.social)
## `limit` (type: `integer`):
💡 Number of results (per-query)
## `dev_proxy_config` (type: `object`):
💡 Supported protocol:HTTP(S), SOCKS5
{http|socks5}://{user:pass}@{hostname|ip-address}:portExample:
socks5://example.com:9000
## `dev_custom_headers` (type: `array`):
💡 Additional HTTP Headers
## `dev_custom_cookies` (type: `array`):
💡 Additional HTTP Cookies
## `dev_transform_fields` (type: `array`):
💡 Transform the resulting output. Select only needed fields.For nested object use DOT. For example:
address.streetAddress
For nested array use NUMBER (index of array element starting from index=0). For example:
images.0.url## `dev_dataset_name` (type: `string`): 💡 Save results into custom named Dataset, use mask to customize dataset name
{ACTOR} = actor name
{DATE} = date (YYYYMMDD)
{TIME} = time (HHMMSS)This masks can be used to autogenerate Dataset Name.
example:
data-{DATE}Depending on today date the dataset name will be:
data-20230603default:
data-{ACTOR}-{DATE}-{TIME}
## `dev_dataset_clear` (type: `boolean`):
Clear Dataset before insert/update.
## `dev_no_strip` (type: `boolean`):
💡 Keep/Save empty values (NULL, FALSE, empty ARRAY, empty OBJECT, empty STRING)
## Actor input object example
```json
{
"query": [
"@Mastodon/info",
"@Mastodon",
"#python",
"drama",
"https://mastodon.social/public/local"
],
"limit": 5,
"dev_custom_cookies": [
{
"key": "_session_id",
"value": ""
}
]
}
```
# 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 '