# Lichess Chess Users Scraper (`parseforge/lichess-chess-users-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes Lichess user profiles by username. Returns ratings, game counts, titles, and online status as flat rows. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/lichess-chess-users-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $30.90 / 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)

### Lichess Chess Users Scraper

**Scrape Lichess chess user profiles by username, up to a million per run.** Each profile comes with ratings, game counts, titles, and online status. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Lichess's public API limits how many profiles you can pull and needs a token for anything beyond basic data. This reads the public user pages directly, so you can collect thousands of usernames in one run and get each profile back as a flat row. Feed it a list of Lichess usernames and it returns their ratings, game statistics, titles, and online status.

| Who uses it | What they scrape Lichess for |
|---|---|
| Chess coaches | Build a database of student and opponent profiles to track rating progress over time. |
| Market researchers | Analyze the Lichess player base by collecting profiles from leaderboards or tournaments. |
| Data analysts | Gather chess user data for statistical analysis of ratings, activity, and titles. |
| App developers | Populate a chess app with Lichess user data without hitting API rate limits. |
| Esports organizers | Verify player identities and ratings for tournament seeding. |

### What it does

This Actor collects Lichess user profiles by username and returns each one as a flat row with ratings, game counts, titles, and online status.

- 👥 **Bulk username input:** paste up to a million Lichess usernames and collect them all in one run.
- ⚡ **Fast scraping:** profiles are fetched concurrently, so thousands of users complete in minutes.
- 📊 **Flat row output:** every profile is returned as a single row with ratings, game counts, titles, and online status.
- 🔒 **No login needed:** reads public Lichess pages, no API token or OAuth required.

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

### What you can do with Lichess data

**📈 Track player ratings over time.**

A chess coach collects profiles of their students every month to monitor rating changes and adjust training plans.

**🔍 Build a player database.**

A researcher scrapes Lichess leaderboards to compile a dataset of top players for analysis of rating distributions.

**🏆 Verify tournament participants.**

An esports organizer checks Lichess profiles of registered players to confirm their ratings and titles before seeding.

**📊 Analyze the Lichess community.**

A data analyst collects a random sample of usernames to study activity patterns, game counts, and title prevalence.

**🧩 Enrich your chess app.**

A developer uses the scraper to fetch Lichess user data for display in a third-party chess application.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API limits** | Scrape thousands of profiles without Lichess API rate limits or token requirements. |
| **Bulk collection** | Input up to a million usernames and get all profiles in one dataset. |
| **Consistent schema** | Every profile returns the same fields, so you can merge and analyze easily. |
| **Export anywhere** | Download as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML for your workflow. |

### How it compares

This Actor focuses on bulk collection of Lichess user profiles, while the competitors below add game analysis or cross-platform rating aggregation.

| Feature | ParseForge | Chess Opponent Analyzer | Chess Ratings Aggregator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scrape Lichess user profiles by username | Yes | Not listed | Yes |
| Bulk input of up to 1,000,000 usernames | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Return ratings, game counts, titles, and online status | Yes | Not listed | Yes |
| Analyze game history and opening repertoire | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
| Aggregate ratings from FIDE, Chess.com, and Lichess | Not listed | Not listed | Yes |
| Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a list of Lichess usernames, and set a maximum number of users to collect per run. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "thibault"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "thibault"
  ],
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.0412 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $4.12 |
| 1,000 results | $41.20 |
| 10,000 results | $412.00 |

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 [Lichess Chess Users Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/lichess-chess-users-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 Lichess 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/lichess-chess-users-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 usernames are spelled correctly and that the list is not empty. Also ensure that maxItems is set to at least 1.

**Why are some usernames skipped?**

The Actor skips usernames that do not exist on Lichess or that have been closed. Verify the usernames manually.

**Why is the run slow?**

Large lists take time. You can increase the Apify plan's memory or reduce the number of usernames per run.

**Why do I get an error about maxItems?**

maxItems must be between 1 and 1,000,000. Set it to a valid number.

**Can I scrape private profiles?**

No, only public Lichess profiles are accessible. Private or closed accounts cannot be scraped.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How many usernames can I scrape in one run? | You can input up to 1,000,000 usernames per run. The Actor processes them concurrently, so large lists complete quickly. |
| Do I need a Lichess API token? | No. The Actor reads public Lichess profile pages directly, so no authentication or API key is required. |
| What data does each profile include? | Each profile returns ratings for bullet, blitz, rapid, classical, and other variants, plus game counts, titles, and online status. The exact fields are shown in the sample output. |
| Can I scrape profiles from a leaderboard or tournament? | Yes. First collect the usernames from the leaderboard or tournament page, then pass that list to this Actor. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export the results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset. |
| Is this Actor legal to use? | You should only scrape public data that you are allowed to access. Lichess profiles are public, but check Lichess's terms of service and respect robots.txt. |
| How fast is the scraping? | The Actor uses concurrent requests, so it can collect hundreds of profiles per minute depending on your plan and Lichess's response times. |
| Can I schedule this Actor to run regularly? | Yes, you can set up a schedule in Apify to run the Actor daily, weekly, or at any interval to keep your data fresh. |
| What if a username doesn't exist? | The Actor skips non-existent usernames and continues with the rest. You can check the run log for skipped entries. |
| Does this Actor work with Chess.com profiles? | No, this Actor only scrapes Lichess profiles. For Chess.com, you would need a different scraper. |

### 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 Lichess.org. 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

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

List of Lichess usernames to scrape (e.g. thibault, DrNykterstein, magnuscarlsen)

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

How many users to collect per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "thibault"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Overview of scraped data

## `fullData` (type: `string`):

Complete dataset

# 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 = {
    "usernames": [
        "thibault"
    ],
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/lichess-chess-users-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 = {
    "usernames": ["thibault"],
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/lichess-chess-users-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 '{
  "usernames": [
    "thibault"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/lichess-chess-users-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/lichess-chess-users-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/vRjzt3lGRWIjZzWBB/builds/oW8ws5TXNmh0aFMtS/openapi.json