# Mastodon Hashtag Monitor: New Public Posts Since Last Run (`accountable_eel/mastodon-hashtag-monitor`) Actor

New public Mastodon posts for any hashtag on mastodon.social or another instance, with text, author, boosts and links. A real monitoring mode returns, and bills for, only the posts new since your last run.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/accountable_eel/mastodon-hashtag-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Adriana Voss](https://apify.com/accountable_eel) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.60 / 1,000 post returneds

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?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Mastodon Hashtag Monitor: New Public Posts Since Last Run

**Get every new public Mastodon post for a hashtag, without being charged for the ones you already have.**
Reads the public hashtag timeline of mastodon.social (or any other Mastodon instance you name) and returns one row per post: plain text, author, posted time, replies, boosts, favourites, tags, attachments and a link. Turn on monitoring mode and run it on a schedule: you only get, and only pay for, the posts that are new since your last run, and a quiet hour costs nothing.

**Who uses it:** PR and comms teams watching a campaign tag, journalists and sources tracking `#JournoRequest` or `#PRrequest`, community managers and researchers following a topic across the fediverse, and workflow builders feeding n8n, Make or Clay.

**What it does not return:** author bios, follower counts or avatars. This is a post monitor, not a profile scraper. Coverage is the instance's own view of the fediverse: a post only appears on an instance that has seen it, so the same hashtag can return different counts on different instances. Some instances refuse anonymous hashtag timelines; those come back as a free `BLOCKED` row.

### How to use

1. **In the Apify Console.** Open the actor page and click **Start** — the `hashtags` field is already pre-filled with a working example. Results land in the run's dataset as soon as each item is found.
2. **Via the API.** Call it directly with a POST request — no Console needed once you have an API token:
   ```bash
   curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~mastodon-hashtag-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"hashtags":["journorequest"]}'
   ```
3. **On a schedule.** Save this actor as an Apify **Task** with the input you want, then add a **Schedule** (hourly, daily, weekly) so it runs on its own — no server of your own required.

### Input

```json
{
  "hashtags": [
    "journorequest"
  ]
}
```

One hashtag per line, with or without the #. Letters, digits and underscores only. Each hashtag is read from the public timeline of the instance chosen below. Accepted formats: journorequest, photography, #opensource.

One run reads each hashtag's timeline newest-first, up to **Max posts per run**. Keyword include/exclude and the language filter are applied before monitoring remembers anything, so a post your filter hides is not marked as seen and will still be delivered if you widen the filter later.

### Output

One row per post, for example:

| query | found | status | instance | postCount | truncated | monitorStatus | posts | hashtag | postUrl | uri | statusId | text | contentWarning | language | createdAt | editedAt | authorHandle | authorDisplayName | authorProfileUrl | authorIsBot | repliesCount | boostsCount | favouritesCount | hashtags | mediaCount | mediaUrls | isReply | isSensitive | isNew | firstSeenAt | scrapedAt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| journorequest | true | OK | <instance> | <posts returned> | <more posts were available> | <monitoring status> | \<all posts (full list)> | <hashtag> | <post link> | <post uri> | <status id on this instance> | <post text> | <content warning> | <language> | <posted> | <last edited> | <author handle> | <author name> | <author profile link> | <author is a bot account> | <replies> | <boosts> | <favourites> | <all hashtags on the post> | <attachments> | <attachment links> | <is a reply> | <marked sensitive> | \<is this post new?> | <first seen on a run> | 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z |

A hashtag with no posts comes back as a row with `"found": false` and is never charged. Missing values are `null`, never `0` or an empty string (a real count of zero stays `0`). A monitoring run with nothing new returns one row with `postCount: 0` and costs nothing.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event. A flat per-run fee covers session/proxy warmup; you're billed
per item only when data is actually found and returned — see
`.actor/pay_per_event.json` for exact prices. A miss is never charged.

### Example runs

Paste any of these into the Input tab and press Start. All three return rows with no key, no token
and no account of your own beyond an Apify login.

**Journalist requests on mastodon.social.** The default shape.

```json
{
  "hashtags": ["journorequest"],
  "maxResults": 20
}
```

**A topic across two hashtags, English only, on another instance.**

```json
{
  "hashtags": ["opensource", "selfhosted"],
  "instance": "fosstodon.org",
  "language": "en",
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

**A scheduled alert: only posts new since the last run.**

```json
{
  "hashtags": ["prrequest", "journorequest"],
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": true,
  "deltaName": "pr-requests"
}
```

### Related actors

- [Mastodon Lookup: Hashtag Posts and Account Profiles](https://apify.com/accountable_eel/mastodon-lookup): look up account profiles as well as hashtag posts.

### Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an AI agent

This actor runs synchronously over plain HTTP — call it directly from a script, a workflow tool, or an AI agent, no Apify Console needed once you have an API token.

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~mastodon-hashtag-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"hashtags":["journorequest"]}'
```

**n8n.** Add an HTTP Request node: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~mastodon-hashtag-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body Content Type `JSON`, JSON Body `{"hashtags":["journorequest"]}` (swap in an expression from an earlier node for a real value).

**Clay.** Add an "HTTP API" column: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~mastodon-hashtag-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body `{"hashtags":["{{hashtag}}"]}`, mapping the row's hashtag into the `hashtags` array.

**MCP.** In Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the Apify MCP server, ask for "mastodon hashtag monitor" — the agent will find and run this actor.

# Actor input Schema

## `hashtags` (type: `array`):

One hashtag per line, with or without the #. Letters, digits and underscores only. Each hashtag is read from the public timeline of the instance chosen below. Accepted formats: journorequest, photography, #opensource. You're only charged for the ones we actually find — a miss costs nothing.

## `instance` (type: `string`):

Host name of the instance to read, for example mastodon.social or fosstodon.org. Each instance serves its own view of the fediverse, so counts differ between instances. Some instances refuse anonymous hashtag timelines; those return a clear BLOCKED row and are not charged.

## `testRun` (type: `boolean`):

Turn this on to test your input on a small sample before running the full list. Turn it off to process everything.

## `onlyFound` (type: `boolean`):

Only keep rows where something was actually found. Misses are always free, whether or not you show them here.

## `includeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Only keep results that mention at least one of these words (e.g. a job title, a city, a product name). Leave empty to keep everything.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Drop any result that mentions one of these words. Leave empty to skip nothing.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Up to 1,000. Caps how many posts you get (and pay for) in one run.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Two-letter code such as en or de. Only posts whose author set that language are kept (posts with no language set are dropped). Leave empty for all languages.

## `onlyNewSinceLastRun` (type: `boolean`):

On: only posts you have not been given before are returned and charged for. Run this on a schedule as a hashtag alert. The first run returns what is on the timeline now and remembers it. Off: every matching post is returned every time.

## `deltaName` (type: `string`):

Optional. Name this watchlist's monitoring memory so you can tell two schedules apart, or keep one memory across an input change. Leave empty to derive one from your hashtags and filters.

## `columns` (type: `array`):

Choose which pieces of information to include in each result row. All are included by default.

## `expandRows` (type: `boolean`):

When on, each post found gets its own row instead of being grouped under its hashtag. You're still only charged once per hashtag, no matter how many rows it produces.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Keep conservative — this target has no browser fallback, so getting blocked costs more than slow-and-steady.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "hashtags": [
    "journorequest"
  ],
  "instance": "mastodon.social",
  "testRun": false,
  "onlyFound": false,
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": [],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "language": "",
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
  "deltaName": "",
  "columns": [
    "instance",
    "postCount",
    "truncated",
    "monitorStatus",
    "posts",
    "hashtag",
    "postUrl",
    "uri",
    "statusId",
    "text",
    "contentWarning",
    "language",
    "createdAt",
    "editedAt",
    "authorHandle",
    "authorDisplayName",
    "authorProfileUrl",
    "authorIsBot",
    "repliesCount",
    "boostsCount",
    "favouritesCount",
    "hashtags",
    "mediaCount",
    "mediaUrls",
    "isReply",
    "isSensitive",
    "isNew",
    "firstSeenAt"
  ],
  "expandRows": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 1
}
```

# 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 = {
    "hashtags": [
        "journorequest"
    ],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("accountable_eel/mastodon-hashtag-monitor").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 = {
    "hashtags": ["journorequest"],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("accountable_eel/mastodon-hashtag-monitor").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 '{
  "hashtags": [
    "journorequest"
  ],
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": []
}' |
apify call accountable_eel/mastodon-hashtag-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,accountable_eel/mastodon-hashtag-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

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/GbbA0AhPorrnBNbD3/builds/ATGb7HyWOhfc9bnSh/openapi.json