# npm Registry Package Data Scraper (`ahmdshrif/npm-registry-package-scraper`) Actor

Exports flat npm package records — latest version, license, dependency counts, maintainers, downloads, and quality scores — from registry.npmjs.org lookups and search queries.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ahmdshrif/npm-registry-package-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ahmed](https://apify.com/ahmdshrif) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Integrations
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

$0.03 / 1,000 actor starts

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

## npm Registry Package Data Scraper

Exports flat JSON records for npm packages — latest version, license, dependency counts, maintainers, publish dates, and weekly downloads — by querying registry.npmjs.org directly. Built for developers vetting dependencies, SEO/content tools tracking package metadata, and lead-gen or research workflows that need structured data on npm packages at scale.

### Why this scraper

- Covers the same fields as other npm-registry scrapers — license, dependencies, maintainers, downloads, quality/popularity/maintenance scores — with nothing missing from the standard set.
- Priced at $0.00003 per run, undercutting the $0.00005 charged by most comparable actors on the same per-run unit, and avoids per-result pricing that scales up fast on large searches.
- Reads straight from npm's public, keyless JSON API — no browser rendering, no auth, no session overhead — so there's no added cost or fragility from anti-bot workarounds that this source doesn't require.

### Output fields

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| packageName | string | npm package name, e.g. express |
| latestVersion | string | dist-tags.latest version string |
| description | string | Package description |
| license | string | License identifier, e.g. MIT |
| homepage | string | Package homepage URL |
| repositoryUrl | string | Source repository URL |
| keywords | string | Comma-joined keyword list |
| author | string | Primary author name |
| maintainersCount | integer | Number of listed maintainers |
| versionsCount | integer | Total published versions in the versions map |
| dependenciesCount | integer | Number of dependencies on the latest version |
| peerDependenciesCount | integer | Number of peerDependencies on the latest version |
| weeklyDownloads | integer | Downloads in the last week, from the npm downloads API |
| lastPublishedAt | string | ISO timestamp of the latest version's publish date |
| createdAt | string | ISO timestamp the package was first published |
| qualityScore | number | npm search quality score (search results only) |
| popularityScore | number | npm search popularity score (search results only) |
| maintenanceScore | number | npm search maintenance score (search results only) |
| sourceUrl | string | The startUrl this record was scraped from |

### Input

```json
{
  "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/express" }],
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

You can also point `startUrls` at a search endpoint, e.g. `https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=typescript&size=50`, to pull multiple packages from one query. Set `includeDownloads: false` to skip the extra weekly-downloads lookup and reduce latency.

### Output

```json
{
  "packageName": "express",
  "latestVersion": "5.2.1",
  "description": "Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework",
  "license": "MIT",
  "homepage": "https://expressjs.com/",
  "repositoryUrl": "git+https://github.com/expressjs/express.git",
  "keywords": "express, framework, sinatra, web, http, rest, restful, router, app, api",
  "author": "TJ Holowaychuk",
  "maintainersCount": 5,
  "versionsCount": 288,
  "dependenciesCount": 28,
  "peerDependenciesCount": null,
  "weeklyDownloads": null,
  "lastPublishedAt": "2025-12-01T20:49:43.268Z",
  "createdAt": "2010-12-29T19:38:25.450Z",
  "qualityScore": null,
  "popularityScore": null,
  "maintenanceScore": null,
  "sourceUrl": "https://registry.npmjs.org/express"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.00003 per Actor Start**, charged once per run no matter how many `startUrls` or how large `maxItems` is. A typical run — one or several package lookups, or a single search query returning up to 50 results — costs $0.00003 total.

### Use cases

- Dependency auditing: pull license, maintainer count, and last-publish date for every package in a `package.json` before a security or compliance review.
- Package research tools: build a dashboard or CLI that compares weekly downloads and dependency counts across candidate libraries before adoption.
- Ecosystem monitoring: track new versions and publish cadence for packages your product depends on, or for competitive analysis of libraries in your space.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Pages to export.

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

Stop after this many records.

## `includeDownloads` (type: `boolean`):

If true, fetches weeklyDownloads via an extra call to the npm downloads API (adds latency); defaults to true

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/express"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/react"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=typescript&size=50"
    }
  ],
  "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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/express"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/react"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=typescript&size=50"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ahmdshrif/npm-registry-package-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 = { "startUrls": [
        { "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/express" },
        { "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/react" },
        { "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=typescript&size=50" },
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ahmdshrif/npm-registry-package-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://registry.npmjs.org/express"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/react"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=typescript&size=50"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call ahmdshrif/npm-registry-package-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ahmdshrif/npm-registry-package-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/gBW6nA4emkd3RQD3L/builds/pzPvNLCAuN5HoNZsg/openapi.json