# Brilliant.org Courses Catalog Scraper (`parseforge/brilliant-courses-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes Brilliant.org course catalog entries by subject area. Returns each course as a flat row with title, description, and metadata.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/brilliant-courses-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 89.7% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $19.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### Brilliant.org Courses Catalog Scraper

**Scrape Brilliant.org's full course catalog by subject, up to a million courses per run.** Each course comes with its description, lesson count, and structured metadata. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Brilliant.org offers hundreds of interactive courses in math, science, programming, and data analysis, but browsing them manually to build a learning plan or analyze the catalog is slow. This actor reads the public course listings directly, filtered by subject area, and returns each match in one fixed schema.

| Who uses it | What they scrape Brilliant.org for |
|---|---|
| Curriculum designers | Audit the full Brilliant.org catalog to map topics against their own learning paths. |
| EdTech market analysts | Track how Brilliant.org expands its STEM and logic course offerings over time. |
| Learners planning a study roadmap | Export a filtered list of courses in a subject to plan a self-study sequence. |

### What it does

This Actor collects Brilliant.org course catalog entries by subject and returns each one as a flat row.

- 📚 **Subject filtering:** Target all courses or narrow to Math, Data Analysis, Programming, Science, or Logic sub-categories.
- ⚙️ **Configurable volume:** Set a maximum number of courses to collect, from a single preview up to a full catalog dump.
- 📄 **Flat row output:** Every course lands as one row in your dataset, ready for spreadsheets or databases.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with Brilliant.org data

**📋 Build a learning curriculum.**

A curriculum designer scrapes all Programming courses to compare Brilliant's topic coverage with their own bootcamp syllabus.

**📊 Monitor catalog growth.**

An EdTech analyst runs the scraper monthly on the Science subject to track new course additions and retiring topics.

**🗺️ Plan a personal study path.**

A learner scrapes the Advanced Math category, exports it to CSV, and maps a 12-week self-study sequence in a spreadsheet.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **Subject filter** | Collect courses from one area or the entire catalog in a single run. |
| **Structured output** | Get consistent fields for course title, description, and metadata across every row. |
| **No auth required** | Reads the public catalog pages directly with no login, API key, or registration. |

### How it compares

This actor and the alternative Brilliant.org Courses Scraper both target the public course catalog. Here is how their listed capabilities compare.

| Feature | ParseForge | Brilliant.org Courses Scraper |
|---|---|---|
| Subject filtering | Yes, 8 subject options plus All | Not listed |
| Configurable max items per run | Yes, 1 to 1,000,000 | Not listed |
| Course descriptions | Yes | Yes |
| Lesson counts | Yes | Yes |
| No login or API key required | Yes | Not listed |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a subject filter and a maximum item limit, and filtering runs as each course is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.021 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $2.10 |
| 1,000 results | $21.00 |
| 10,000 results | $210.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [Brilliant.org Courses Catalog Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/brilliant-courses-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Brilliant.org through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/brilliant-courses-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that your subject filter is set to a category that contains courses. If you set 'Maximum courses' very low and the subject has fewer courses than expected, try increasing the limit or switching to 'All'.

**The run finishes but returns fewer courses than I set in 'Maximum courses'.**

This is normal. The actor stops when it has collected the requested number or when it has read all available courses in the selected subject, whichever comes first.

**Some course fields are empty in my dataset.**

Brilliant.org may not populate every metadata field for every course. Empty cells mean the information was not present on the public catalog page for that specific course.

**The actor times out or runs very slowly.**

Try reducing the 'Maximum courses' value. Scraping a very large number of pages takes time. If the issue persists, check your Apify plan's timeout limits.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need a Brilliant.org account or API key to scrape? | No. This actor reads the publicly accessible course catalog pages. No login, API key, or registration is required. |
| What subjects can I filter by? | You can choose All, Math, Data Analysis, Programming & Computer Science, Science & Engineering, Everyday Math, Foundational Math, Advanced Math, or Foundational Logic. |
| How many courses can I scrape in one run? | You set the maximum with the 'Maximum courses' input. The limit can be as low as 1 or as high as 1,000,000. |
| What data does each course row contain? | Each row includes the course title, description, and structured metadata such as lesson counts. The exact fields are shown in the sample output on the actor's page. |
| Can I scrape only a specific course by URL? | This actor is designed for catalog-wide or subject-filtered scraping. It does not accept a single course URL as input. |
| Does this scrape course content, exercises, or user progress? | No. It scrapes only the public catalog listing metadata, not the interactive lesson content, exercises, or any user-specific data. |
| What export formats are supported? | Your dataset can be exported to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform. |
| Is this an official Brilliant.org API? | No. This is an unofficial scraper that reads the public website. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Brilliant Worldwide, Inc. |
| How often is the catalog data updated? | The actor reads the live Brilliant.org website on each run, so you always get the current catalog state at the moment of scraping. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Brilliant Worldwide, Inc. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `subject` (type: `string`):

Filter to a subject area or "all".

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

Maximum number of courses to collect per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "subject": "all",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/brilliant-courses-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 = { "maxItems": 10 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/brilliant-courses-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 '{
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/brilliant-courses-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/brilliant-courses-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/lW8K8K6XRf9mb32DI/builds/VEcqHPwrw4OacMYkG/openapi.json