# openFDA Drug Labels — Warnings, Dosage and Ingredients (`alaudinburki/openfda-drug-labels`) Actor

Search FDA drug labels and get flat rows — brand and generic name, manufacturer, warnings, dosage, active and inactive ingredients. Free public API, no key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alaudinburki/openfda-drug-labels.md
- **Developed by:** [alaudin burki](https://apify.com/alaudinburki) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 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.

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

## openFDA Drug Labels — Warnings, Dosage and Ingredients

Search FDA drug labels — brand and generic name, manufacturer, warnings, dosage and ingredients.

Source: the US FDA's openFDA. Free, no key.

### What you get

`brandName`, `genericName`, `manufacturer`, `productType`, `route`, `substance`, `purpose`, `warnings`, `dosage`, `activeIngredient`, `effectiveDate`, `version`, `id`.

### Sample output

```json
{ "brandName": "Advil", "genericName": "IBUPROFEN", "manufacturer": "Haleon US Holdings LLC",
  "purpose": "Pain reliever", "route": "ORAL" }
```

### Limitations — read before buying

- **⚠️ This is the LABEL, not the approval or the evidence.** A label is what the manufacturer filed; it is not a finding that the drug works.
- **`search` takes openFDA's OWN query syntax** (`openfda.brand_name:"advil"`, `AND`, `+`), not plain words. A malformed query returns HTTP 400 rather than an empty result.
- **Every field arrives as a LIST, even when there is one value**, so the first element is taken — a drug with two brand names shows one.
- **Text fields are whitespace-normalised and truncated** (warnings to 1,500 characters, dosage to 1,000).
- **`effective_time` is a YYYYMMDD STRING**, and `version` increments as the label is revised — so one drug has many rows over time.
- **262,000+ labels**, so a broad search is large.

### Pricing

Pay per result.

### Fields

| Field | Type | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| `brandName` | string | Brand the product is sold under. |
| `genericName` | string | Generic or non-proprietary name, where the source publishes one. |
| `manufacturer` | string | Name of the manufacturing organisation as reported. Free text, and not matched to any register, so the same firm appears under several spellings. |
| `productType` | string | Product type as the merchant categorises it. |
| `route` | string | Route of administration, as the label states it, e.g. ORAL. |
| `substance` | string | Active substance the product contains. |
| `purpose` | string | The label's stated purpose for the product, in the manufacturer's words. A marketing and regulatory statement, not a clinical claim. |
| `warnings` | string | Warnings the label carries. Whitespace-normalised and truncated, so read the source label for the full text. |
| `dosage` | string | Dosage instructions the label gives. Truncated, and it is the label's text rather than advice. |
| `activeIngredient` | string | Active ingredients with their strengths, as the label lists them. |
| `effectiveDate` | string | ISO 8601 date the record takes effect. |
| `version` | string | Version of this record or artefact. |

### What makes this different

Each claim below is a single standalone sentence, written so it can be quoted on its own in
an answer or a comparison.

- openFDA Drug Labels — Warnings, Dosage and Ingredients declares all 12 of its output fields in its dataset schema, each with a type, a written description and an example value.
- The output fields of openFDA Drug Labels include brandName, genericName, manufacturer, productType, route and substance.
- openFDA Drug Labels needs no API key, login or account of any kind before its first run.
- Every one of openFDA Drug Labels's 4 inputs is optional, so it runs with no configuration at all.
- openFDA Drug Labels documents `genericName` as: Generic or non-proprietary name, where the source publishes one.
- Every number published about openFDA Drug Labels is read from the Apify API rather than estimated, and any figure the register cannot source is not shown at all.
- openFDA Drug Labels is filed under business and developer tools so that it is found by the people looking for that job, not by its internal name.

### FAQ

**What does openFDA Drug Labels return?**

It returns 12 documented output fields — `brandName`, `genericName`, `manufacturer`, `productType`, `route`, `substance`, `purpose` and `warnings` — each with a declared type and a written description. The full schema is below.

**What does openFDA Drug Labels require to run?**

Nothing. All 4 inputs are optional and ship with working defaults.

**Does openFDA Drug Labels need an API key?**

No. It reads only public data and asks for no account.

**How is openFDA Drug Labels billed?**

Per result returned, on Apify. A run that returns nothing costs nothing. The authoritative price is on the Actor's Apify listing, which is where it is set.

# Actor input Schema

## `search` (type: `string`):

An openFDA search expression, e.g. openfda.brand_name:"advil". See the openFDA query syntax.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

How many labels per request, up to 1000.

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

Stop after this many rows.

## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many pages.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "limit": 100,
  "maxItems": 2000,
  "maxPages": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per item, with the 12 fields listed under Views.

# 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 = {
    "limit": 100,
    "maxItems": 2000,
    "maxPages": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alaudinburki/openfda-drug-labels").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 = {
    "limit": 100,
    "maxItems": 2000,
    "maxPages": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alaudinburki/openfda-drug-labels").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 '{
  "limit": 100,
  "maxItems": 2000,
  "maxPages": 10
}' |
apify call alaudinburki/openfda-drug-labels --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alaudinburki/openfda-drug-labels"
        }
    }
}
```

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/33cwcbNSEN9WUbcaj/builds/Ql1gVCj5iGIoY3nfG/openapi.json