# Sherlock (`api-empire/sherlock`) Actor

- **URL**: https://apify.com/api-empire/sherlock.md
- **Developed by:** [API Empire](https://apify.com/api-empire) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, AI
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.99 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use 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

## 🕵️ Sherlock — Username Hunter Across 400+ Social Networks

Hunt down a person's online footprint by username across **400+** social networks, forums, and platforms — in seconds, in parallel, with smart proxy fallback.

> ⚡ Powered by the open-source [sherlock-project](https://github.com/sherlock-project/sherlock) detection ruleset, wrapped as a production-grade Apify Actor.

---

### 🚀 Why Choose Us?

* 🌐 **400+ sites** — the same battle-tested ruleset that powers Sherlock CLI, refreshed live from upstream.
* 🛡️ **Smart proxy fallback** — runs with **no proxy by default**, auto-escalates to **datacenter → residential** only when a site fights back, then sticks with residential for the rest of the run.
* ⚡ **Truly parallel** — up to 200 sites checked concurrently per username.
* 💾 **Live results** — every confirmed hit is pushed to the dataset the moment it's found, so you can watch the table fill up.
* 🎯 **Bulk usernames** — enter as many as you want, one row per hit.
* 🔁 **Automatic retries** — exponential backoff on 5xx, timeouts, and rate-limits.

---

### 🧰 Key Features

* 🔎 Username hunting across GitHub, Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, X, Telegram, Pinterest, Steam, Spotify, and 390+ more.
* 🛡️ Proxy-tier escalation: `NO_PROXY → DATACENTER → RESIDENTIAL × 3`.
* 📊 Two dataset views: **Found Accounts** (one row per hit) and **Summary** (one row per username).
* 🧵 Configurable concurrency, timeout, retries, and backoff.
* 🪵 Detailed progress logs every 10% so long runs feel alive.

---

### 📥 Input

```json
{
  "usernames": ["johndoe", "elonmusk"],
  "sites": [],
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false }
}
````

| Field | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| `usernames` | `string[]` | — | One or more usernames to hunt. **Required.** |
| `sites` | `string[]` | `[]` | Optional whitelist (e.g. `["GitHub", "Reddit"]`). Empty = scan all sites. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | `object` | `{useApifyProxy: false}` | Defaults to **no proxy**; auto-falls-back to datacenter then residential on block. |

> ⚙️ Concurrency, timeout, retries and backoff are tuned internally with battle-tested defaults — no knobs to fiddle with.

***

### 📤 Output

The actor produces **two views** in the same dataset:

#### 1. **Found Accounts** (one row per hit — live updates)

```json
{
  "username": "johndoe",
  "site_name": "GitHub",
  "profile_url": "https://www.github.com/johndoe",
  "proxy_tier": "NO_PROXY",
  "status_code": 200,
  "found_at": "2026-05-19T14:32:18+00:00"
}
```

#### 2. **Summary** (one row per username — pushed at the end)

```json
{
  "username": "johndoe",
  "total_found": 287,
  "links": [
    "https://www.github.com/johndoe",
    "https://www.reddit.com/user/johndoe",
    "..."
  ]
}
```

***

### 🚀 How to Use (Apify Console)

1. 🔑 Log in at <https://console.apify.com> → **Actors**.
2. 🔍 Find **Sherlock — Username Hunter** and open it.
3. 📝 Enter one or more usernames (bulk supported).
4. 🛡️ Leave proxy on default (no proxy) — fallback is automatic.
5. ▶️ Click **Start**.
6. 📺 Watch the logs as hits stream in.
7. 📊 Open the **Output** tab when the run completes.
8. 💾 Export to JSON / CSV / XLSX.

***

### 🤖 Use via API

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/<ACTOR_ID>/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"usernames":["johndoe","elonmusk"]}'
```

***

### 💡 Best Use Cases

- 🕵️ **OSINT** — investigate a person's online footprint.
- 🛡️ **Brand monitoring** — check whether your handle is taken across platforms.
- 🔐 **Account audit** — discover dormant accounts under your own usernames.
- 🧪 **Username availability** — bulk-check before launching a product.

***

### 💸 Pricing — Pay Per Event

- `apify-actor-start` — handled by Apify (first 5 s of compute free).
- `apify-default-dataset-item` — charged automatically per pushed row, so you only pay for confirmed hits + summaries.

***

### ❓ FAQ

**Q: Why is no proxy the default?**
A: Most Sherlock sites don't need a proxy. Running direct is fastest and cheapest. The actor only escalates to datacenter / residential proxies when a site actively blocks the request, then stays there for the rest of the run.

**Q: How accurate is detection?**
A: We use the upstream `sherlock-project/sherlock` ruleset (status-code / message / response-url checks). False positives are rare but possible on sites that return generic landing pages.

**Q: Can I scan only specific sites?**
A: Yes — fill in the **Limit to specific sites** field with case-insensitive names (e.g. `GitHub`, `Reddit`).

**Q: How fast is it?**
A: At default concurrency=40 a single username takes ~30-60 s for the full 400+ site sweep.

***

### ⚖️ Cautions & Legal

- 📜 Data is collected only from **publicly available sources** — no authentication, no private content.
- 🙅 Do not use this Actor to harass, dox, or harm anyone.
- 🌐 You are responsible for legal compliance (GDPR, CCPA, anti-spam laws, target site ToS).
- 🤝 Honor `robots.txt` and reasonable rate limits — being a good citizen reduces blocks too.

***

### 📬 Support & Feedback

Open an issue or reach out via the Apify Store contact tab — we read every report.

# Actor input Schema

## `usernames` (type: `array`):

📝 Enter one or more usernames (e.g. johndoe, jane\_smith). Bulk input is supported — add as many as you need. The actor will check each username against 400+ sites in parallel.

## `sites` (type: `array`):

✨ Only check these sites (case-insensitive, e.g. GitHub, Reddit, Instagram). Leave empty for a full sweep of all 400+ sites.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

🔌 Defaults to NO PROXY. If a target site rejects/blocks the request, the actor will auto-fallback to a datacenter proxy, then a residential proxy (with up to 3 retries). Once any fallback kicks in, all remaining requests stick with the residential proxy.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "johndoe"
  ],
  "sites": [],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "usernames": [
        "johndoe"
    ],
    "sites": [],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("api-empire/sherlock").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 = {
    "usernames": ["johndoe"],
    "sites": [],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("api-empire/sherlock").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "usernames": [
    "johndoe"
  ],
  "sites": [],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call api-empire/sherlock --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=api-empire/sherlock",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Sherlock",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "ifgGEOynujo60VlCa"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/api-empire~sherlock/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-api-empire-sherlock",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/api-empire~sherlock/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-api-empire-sherlock",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/api-empire~sherlock/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-api-empire-sherlock",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "required": [
                    "usernames"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "usernames": {
                        "title": "👤 Usernames to hunt",
                        "minItems": 1,
                        "uniqueItems": true,
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "📝 Enter one or more usernames (e.g. johndoe, jane_smith). Bulk input is supported — add as many as you need. The actor will check each username against 400+ sites in parallel.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "sites": {
                        "title": "🌐 Limit to specific sites (optional)",
                        "uniqueItems": true,
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "✨ Only check these sites (case-insensitive, e.g. GitHub, Reddit, Instagram). Leave empty for a full sweep of all 400+ sites.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "🌍 Proxy Configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "🔌 Defaults to NO PROXY. If a target site rejects/blocks the request, the actor will auto-fallback to a datacenter proxy, then a residential proxy (with up to 3 retries). Once any fallback kicks in, all remaining requests stick with the residential proxy.",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": false
                        }
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```