# NuGet Packages Scraper (`parseforge/nuget-packages-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes NuGet package metadata and version history by search query, owner, or author. Returns each package as a flat row with full metadata and up to 1000 versions.

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

## Pricing

from $26.25 / 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)

### NuGet Packages Scraper

**Scrape NuGet package metadata, version history, and download stats from any search query, owner, or author, up to a million packages per run.** Every package comes with its full metadata, version list, and computed signals. No API key or registration required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The official NuGet API requires an API key for higher rate limits and returns paginated results you must stitch together yourself. This Actor reads the public NuGet catalog directly, filters by package type, prerelease status, owner, or author, and returns each matching package in one consistent flat schema.

| Who uses it | What they scrape NuGet for |
|---|---|
| Developer tool vendors | Monitor competitor package releases and feature adoption. |
| Open-source maintainers | Track dependency chains and version usage across the .NET ecosystem. |
| Security researchers | Audit package metadata for deprecated or vulnerable dependencies. |
| Market analysts | Measure .NET library popularity and technology trends by package type. |

### What it does

This Actor collects NuGet packages by free-text search, owner, or author, and returns each one as a flat row with its metadata and version history.

- 🔍 **Free-text search:** Search across package IDs, titles, tags, authors, owners, and descriptions with a single query.
- 👤 **Owner and author filters:** Narrow results to packages owned or authored by a specific NuGet account, like 'microsoft' or 'aspnet'.
- 📦 **Package type filter:** Restrict results to a specific package type, such as .NET tool, template, or MSBuild SDK.
- 🔄 **Version history:** Collect up to 1000 versions per package, with prerelease inclusion controlled by a checkbox.
- 📊 **Output limits:** Cap the total packages collected per run, from a single test record up to one million.

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

### What you can do with NuGet data

**📈 Track .NET ecosystem trends.**

A market analyst runs a weekly scrape for 'Dependency' type packages tagged 'machine learning' to identify which ML libraries are gaining traction in the .NET community.

**🔒 Audit supply chain dependencies.**

A security researcher scrapes all packages owned by a specific author to check for deprecated or unmaintained libraries before a compliance review.

**🛠️ Monitor competitor tooling releases.**

A developer tool vendor scrapes all 'DotnetTool' packages with a keyword query to track new competitor releases and feature updates.

**📊 Build a NuGet intelligence dashboard.**

A data engineer runs daily scrapes of the top 10,000 packages by relevance and feeds the metadata into an internal analytics dashboard for the development team.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **Full metadata** | Package ID, title, authors, owners, license, tags, and description. |
| **Version history** | Up to 1000 versions per package, with prerelease filtering. |
| **Package type filtering** | Target specific package types like .NET tools, templates, or MSBuild SDKs. |
| **No API key** | Reads the public NuGet catalog directly with no registration or rate-limit headaches. |

### How it compares

This Actor scrapes the public NuGet catalog directly with no API key, while the competitors below use the official NuGet API and focus on different subsets of metadata.

| Feature | ParseForge | NuGet Package Stats | NuGet Package Intelligence API | NuGet Package Scraper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free-text search across all package fields | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Filter by package type (tool, template, SDK, etc.) | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Filter by owner or author | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Version history with prerelease control | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not listed |
| No API key required | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Up to 1,000,000 packages per run | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a free-text search query, an owner, or an author, alone or together, and filters run as each package is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
  "semVerLevel": "2.0.0",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
  "semVerLevel": "2.0.0",
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.035 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $3.50 |
| 1,000 results | $35.00 |
| 10,000 results | $350.00 |

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 [NuGet Packages Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/nuget-packages-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 NuGet 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/nuget-packages-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 query, owner, or author filter is not too restrictive. Try broadening your search or setting the package type to 'Any' and enabling prerelease to see if results appear.

**Why are some packages missing version history?**

Ensure the 'Max versions per package' field is set high enough. If it is set to 0, all versions are kept. Also check that 'Include prerelease' is enabled if you expect preview versions.

**The run stopped before collecting all packages I expected.**

Check the 'Maximum packages' limit. The Actor stops once it reaches this number. Increase it up to 1,000,000 if you need more results.

**Why do I see duplicate packages in my dataset?**

The NuGet catalog may return the same package under different queries. Use the 'deduplicate' option in your dataset export or post-process the results to remove duplicates by package ID.

**Can I filter by a specific SemVer version range?**

The SemVer level setting controls which version format is honored, not a version range filter. To filter by version, scrape the full version history and filter the dataset after the run.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need a NuGet API key to use this scraper? | No. This Actor reads the public NuGet catalog directly and does not require any API key, registration, or authentication. |
| Can I filter packages by a specific owner like Microsoft? | Yes. Use the Owner input field to restrict results to packages owned by a specific NuGet account, such as 'microsoft' or 'aspnet'. |
| Does it collect version history for each package? | Yes. You can set the maximum number of versions per package, up to 1000, and choose whether to include prerelease versions. |
| What package types can I filter by? | You can filter by Dependency (library), .NET tool, Template, MSBuild SDK, .NET client tool, .NET platform, Compatibility, and MSBuild task, or leave it on 'Any' to include all types. |
| How many packages can I scrape in one run? | You can set the maximum packages per run from 1 up to 1,000,000. The Actor will stop once it reaches that limit. |
| Can I search by keyword or package name? | Yes. The query field performs a free-text search across package IDs, titles, tags, authors, owners, and descriptions. |
| What output formats are supported? | You can export your dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML directly from the Apify platform. |
| Does it include download counts for each package? | The Actor returns the metadata and version history available in the public NuGet catalog. Download counts are included when present in the catalog data. |
| Can I combine multiple filters in one run? | Yes. You can combine a free-text query with an owner filter and a package type filter to narrow results precisely. |
| Is this scraper suitable for monitoring new package releases? | Yes. You can schedule regular runs with a query and the prerelease filter enabled to catch new and updated packages as they appear. |

### 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 Microsoft Corporation. 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

## `query` (type: `string`):

Free-text search across NuGet package IDs, titles, tags, authors, owners and descriptions. Leave blank to browse the full catalog ordered by relevance.

## `owner` (type: `string`):

Restrict to packages owned by a specific NuGet account (e.g. 'microsoft', 'aspnet'). Combined with the query as 'owner:<value>'.

## `author` (type: `string`):

Restrict to packages by a specific author. Combined with the query as 'author:<value>'.

## `packageType` (type: `string`):

Restrict to a specific NuGet package type. Leave as 'Any' to include all types.

## `prerelease` (type: `boolean`):

Include preview, alpha, beta and release-candidate versions in the results. Enable this to surface unreleased work; leave off for stable releases only.

## `semVerLevel` (type: `string`):

Highest SemVer level to honour. '2.0.0' is recommended and includes packages with build metadata.

## `maxVersions` (type: `integer`):

Cap the size of the per-package version history. Use 0 to keep every version returned by the catalog.

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

How many packages to collect per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "",
  "owner": "",
  "author": "",
  "packageType": "",
  "prerelease": true,
  "semVerLevel": "2.0.0",
  "maxVersions": 50,
  "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 = {
    "packageType": "",
    "semVerLevel": "2.0.0",
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/nuget-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 = {
    "packageType": "",
    "semVerLevel": "2.0.0",
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/nuget-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 '{
  "packageType": "",
  "semVerLevel": "2.0.0",
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/nuget-packages-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/nuget-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/3hVBjl4LDemidWEoC/builds/s1DpR8jFWPFTD90yU/openapi.json