# Stack Overflow & Stack Exchange Scraper (`alleserojje/stackoverflow-scraper`) Actor

Search questions across Stack Overflow and 25+ Stack Exchange sites; export title, tags, score, answers, views, author, dates, link and optional top answers via the official Stack Exchange API. No scraping, no key. Pay per question.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alleserojje/stackoverflow-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Pedro Resende](https://apify.com/alleserojje) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, AI, Agents
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 question scrapeds

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

## Stack Overflow & Stack Exchange Scraper

**Stack Overflow & Stack Exchange Scraper** searches questions across 25+ Stack Exchange communities (Stack Overflow, Super User, Server Fault, Ask Ubuntu, Unix, Mathematics, Cross Validated, and more) and returns rich, structured records — title, tags, score, answer/view counts, author, dates, link, and optional nested top answers — via the official Stack Exchange API. No scraping, no anti-bot, no key required. Pay only per question.

### What this scraper does

- **Search** questions by free text (`intitle:` supported) and/or tags across any of 25+ Stack Exchange sites.
- **Filter** by minimum score, minimum answer count, answered/unanswered status, and creation date range.
- **Sort** by relevance, votes, activity, or newest.
- **Export** title, tags, score, view count, answer count, author name + reputation, creation date, and link per question.
- **Optionally nest** the top 3 answers (with body text) inside each question record.
- Great for **developer research**, **tech-trend analysis**, **recruiting**, **LLM/RAG datasets**, and **Q\&A mining**.

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `query` | Free-text search (supports `intitle:`). |
| `tagged` | Filter by one or more tags (OR-combined). |
| `site` | Stack Exchange community (default `stackoverflow`). |
| `maxResults` | Max questions (1–100). |
| `sort` | `relevance`, `votes`, `activity`, or `creation`. |
| `minScore` / `minAnswers` | Minimum score / answer count. |
| `answered` | `any`, `answered`, or `unanswered`. |
| `fromDate` / `toDate` | Creation date range (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| `includeAnswers` | Nest top 3 answers per question (default false). |
| `apiKey` | Optional Stack Exchange API key (raises quota to 10k/day). |

### Output

Each dataset item includes `question_id`, `title`, `tags[]`, `score`, `view_count`, `answer_count`, `is_answered`, `accepted_answer_id`, `owner_name`, `owner_reputation`, `creation_date`, `last_activity_date`, `link`, `site`, `answers[]` (optional) and `scrapedAt`.

### Pricing

**Pay per event:** billed once per question returned. An aborted run only pays for what it delivered. No monthly rental.

> Note: this Actor uses the official Stack Exchange API (api.stackexchange.com) — no scraping of the web UI. Public data is served under CC BY-SA.

# Actor input Schema

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

Free-text search. Supports intitle: for title-only matches, e.g. "intitle:python web scraping".

## `tagged` (type: `array`):

Filter by one or more tags (OR-combined), e.g. python, javascript.

## `site` (type: `string`):

Which Stack Exchange community to query.

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

Max questions to return (1-100).

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Order results by relevance, score, activity, or creation date.

## `minScore` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Only return questions with at least this score (upvotes).

## `minAnswers` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Only return questions with at least this many answers.

## `answered` (type: `string`):

Filter by whether the question has an accepted answer.

## `fromDate` (type: `string`):

Optional. Only questions created on/after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `toDate` (type: `string`):

Optional. Only questions created on/before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `includeAnswers` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch the top-scored answers for each question and nest them in the record (one extra API request per 100 questions).

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional. Register at stackapps.com for a key; raises the quota from ~300 to 10,000 requests/day.

## `proxy` (type: `object`):

Not required — the Stack Exchange API is open. Datacenter proxy available if you want it.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "intitle:rust error handling",
  "tagged": [
    "python"
  ],
  "site": "stackoverflow",
  "maxResults": 20,
  "sort": "relevance",
  "answered": "any",
  "fromDate": "2024-01-01",
  "toDate": "2025-12-31",
  "includeAnswers": false,
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "query": "web scraping",
    "tagged": [
        "python"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alleserojje/stackoverflow-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 = {
    "query": "web scraping",
    "tagged": ["python"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alleserojje/stackoverflow-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 '{
  "query": "web scraping",
  "tagged": [
    "python"
  ]
}' |
apify call alleserojje/stackoverflow-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alleserojje/stackoverflow-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/M7gVMwhWuxlXC6Acd/builds/bXbbJnYiig0JtzXdd/openapi.json