# Hex.pm Elixir Package Scraper: Downloads, Version, License (`ahmdshrif/hexpm-package-api-scraper`) Actor Fetches package metadata from the official Hex.pm API — name, latest version, total and recent downloads, license, owners, GitHub link, and release history — for any Elixir/Erlang package. - **URL**: https://apify.com/ahmdshrif/hexpm-package-api-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Ahmed](https://apify.com/ahmdshrif) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $4.00 / 1,000 actor run starteds This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. 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 ## Hex.pm Elixir Package Scraper Fetches package metadata directly from the official Hex.pm API — latest version, total and recent downloads, license, owners, GitHub link, documentation URL, and release history — for any Elixir or Erlang package on hex.pm. Built for Elixir developers, dependency-auditing tools, and anyone tracking package popularity or maintenance status across the Hex ecosystem. ### Why this scraper - Reads hex.pm's official JSON API instead of parsing rendered HTML, so it isn't affected by hex.pm site redesigns and doesn't need to guess at DOM structure. - Captures both download metrics (`total_downloads` and `recent_downloads`) plus the full `release_count`, fields that are easy to miss or mis-parse when scraping HTML pages. - Priced at $0.004 per run, undercutting most comparable listings while returning more fields per package (release history, owners, both download windows). ### Output fields | Field | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | package\_name | string | Hex.pm package name | | description | string | Short package description from meta | | latest\_version | string | Version string of the most recent release | | total\_downloads | integer | All-time download count | | recent\_downloads | integer | Recent (last-90-day) download count | | license | string | Comma-separated license identifiers | | github\_url | string | GitHub repository link from meta.links, if present | | documentation\_url | string | HexDocs documentation URL | | owners | string | Comma-separated usernames of package owners | | release\_count | integer | Number of published releases | | inserted\_at | string | ISO timestamp the package was first published | | updated\_at | string | ISO timestamp of the last update | | repository | string | Hex repository namespace (usually 'hexpm') | | package\_url | string | Canonical Hex.pm package page URL | ### Input ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/phoenix" } ], "maxItems": 50 } ``` Add one object per package you want, using its `https://hex.pm/api/packages/` URL. `maxItems` caps how many of the supplied URLs are processed. ### Output ```json { "package_name": "phoenix", "description": "Peace of mind from prototype to production", "latest_version": "1.8.13", "total_downloads": 154981799, "recent_downloads": 4408815, "license": "MIT", "github_url": "https://github.com/phoenixframework/phoenix", "documentation_url": "https://phoenix.hexdocs.pm/", "owners": "chrismccord, gazler, jeregrine, josevalim, steffend", "release_count": 180, "inserted_at": "2014-04-21T22:38:32.000000Z", "updated_at": "2026-08-25T09:12:08.458607Z", "repository": "hexpm", "package_url": "https://hex.pm/packages/phoenix" } ``` ### Pricing Pay per run: **$0.004** per Actor start, charged once regardless of how many package URLs you include in `startUrls`. A single run fetching 50 packages costs $0.004 total. ### Use cases - Auditing an Elixir project's `mix.lock` dependencies for license compliance before a release. - Tracking download trends for your own published Hex package over time by re-running on a schedule. - Building a dependency dashboard or internal tool that flags Hex packages with stale `updated_at` dates or single-owner maintenance risk. # Actor input Schema ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): Pages to export. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Stop after this many records. ## Actor input object example ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/phoenix" }, { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/ecto" }, { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/plug" } ], "maxItems": 50 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): One structured record per input URL. # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/phoenix" }, { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/ecto" }, { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/plug" } ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("ahmdshrif/hexpm-package-api-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/phoenix" }, { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/ecto" }, { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/plug" }, ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("ahmdshrif/hexpm-package-api-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 '{ "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/phoenix" }, { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/ecto" }, { "url": "https://hex.pm/api/packages/plug" } ] }' | apify call ahmdshrif/hexpm-package-api-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ahmdshrif/hexpm-package-api-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 ` 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/kYlySzNCLhTUvL0aA/builds/yvNDSxmYjcbBIrx51/openapi.json