Firefox Add-ons Scraper

Extract structured Firefox Add-ons marketplace data from Mozilla's public add-ons API.

Use this actor to collect extension names, slugs, user counts, ratings, versions, authors, categories, permissions, compatibility ranges, support links, and update timestamps from addons.mozilla.org.

What does Firefox Add-ons Scraper do?

Firefox Add-ons Scraper turns Firefox Add-ons search results and add-on pages into clean dataset rows.

It supports two workflows:

• 🔎 Search the Firefox Add-ons marketplace by keyword.
• 🔗 Fetch specific add-ons from start URLs.

The actor uses Mozilla's public JSON API, so it is lightweight, fast, and does not need a browser.

Who is it for?

This scraper is useful for teams that monitor browser-extension markets.

• 🧑‍💼 Product marketers compare competing add-ons by users, ratings, and release cadence.
• 🧑‍🔬 Market researchers build category maps for VPN, SEO, privacy, AI, or developer-tool add-ons.
• 🧑‍💻 Developer-relations teams identify popular extension authors and support channels.
• 🕵️ Security and compliance teams review extension permissions at scale.
• 📈 SEO agencies track Firefox visibility for browser add-ons alongside Chrome Web Store research.

Why use this Firefox add-ons extractor?

Firefox Add-ons pages are designed for browsing, not bulk analysis.

This actor returns normalized JSON that is ready for spreadsheets, BI tools, alerts, and enrichment pipelines.

You can repeatedly run the same query and compare:

• daily user counts
• rating averages
• rating counts
• latest version numbers
• last-updated timestamps
• permission changes
• support and homepage links

Data you can extract

The dataset includes marketplace, ranking, technical, and traceability fields.

Field	Description
name	Localized add-on name
slug	Mozilla Add-ons slug
guid	Add-on GUID
url	Public Firefox Add-ons URL
summary	Short marketplace summary
description	Longer add-on description when available
averageDailyUsers	Mozilla average daily user estimate
weeklyDownloads	Weekly download count when returned
ratingsAverage	Average rating
ratingsCount	Total rating count
ratingsTextCount	Written review count
currentVersion	Current version string
lastUpdated	Last update timestamp
authors	Structured author objects
categories	Firefox Add-ons categories
permissions	Requested extension permissions
compatibility	Firefox min/max compatibility
iconUrl	Add-on icon URL
scrapedAt	Extraction timestamp

How much does it cost to scrape Firefox Add-ons?

The actor uses pay-per-event pricing.

You pay a tiny start fee plus a per-add-on item fee.

The exact live price is shown on the Apify actor page before you run it.

Because this actor uses HTTP API calls instead of a browser, typical runs are inexpensive.

Input options

You can provide search queries, start URLs, or both.

{
  "queries": ["seo", "password manager"],
  "maxItems": 100,
  "sort": "users",
  "locale": "en-US",
  "includeDetails": true
}

Search queries

Use queries when you want marketplace discovery.

Examples:

• seo
• vpn
• password manager
• privacy
• developer tools
• screen recorder

The actor paginates Mozilla Add-ons search results until it reaches maxItems.

Start URLs

Use startUrls when you already know the add-ons or search pages you want.

Supported URL types:

• Firefox add-on pages, for example https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/seoquake-seo-extension/
• Mozilla Add-ons API detail URLs
• Mozilla Add-ons API search URLs

Unsupported URLs are skipped with a warning.

Sorting and locale

The sort input controls Mozilla search ordering.

Common values include:

• users
• rating
• updated
• created
• name
• relevance

The locale input controls localized names, summaries, and descriptions where Mozilla provides them.

Output example

{
  "name": "SEOquake",
  "slug": "seoquake-seo-extension",
  "url": "https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/seoquake-seo-extension/",
  "averageDailyUsers": 13558,
  "ratingsAverage": 4.4,
  "ratingsCount": 900,
  "currentVersion": "3.9.9",
  "lastUpdated": "2023-01-03T12:07:49Z",
  "categories": ["web-development", "search-tools"],
  "permissions": ["contextMenus", "tabs", "storage"],
  "sourceQuery": "seo",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z"
}

How to run it

1. Open the actor on Apify.
2. Enter one or more Firefox Add-ons search queries.
3. Set maxItems to the number of add-ons you need.
4. Choose the sort order.
5. Run the actor.
6. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS.

Tips for better results

• Start with sort: users to find established add-ons.
• Use sort: updated to monitor recently maintained add-ons.
• Use exact category keywords for cleaner market maps.
• Keep includeDetails enabled when you need permissions or compatibility fields.
• Run the same query weekly to detect version and rating changes.

Integrations

Firefox Add-ons Scraper works well in automated workflows.

Examples:

• Send new high-user add-ons to Slack.
• Export permissions into a security review sheet.
• Join Firefox add-on data with Chrome Web Store data.
• Monitor competitor version changes in Airtable.
• Feed category-level metrics into a dashboard.

API usage: Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/firefox-addons-scraper').call({
  queries: ['seo'],
  maxItems: 100,
  sort: 'users',
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0]);

API usage: Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient
import os

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('automation-lab/firefox-addons-scraper').call(run_input={
    'queries': ['password manager'],
    'maxItems': 50,
    'sort': 'users',
})
items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items
print(items[0])

API usage: cURL

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~firefox-addons-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"queries":["vpn"],"maxItems":50,"sort":"users"}'

MCP integration

Use this actor through the Apify MCP server with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or other MCP clients.

MCP URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/firefox-addons-scraper

Claude Code setup:

$claude mcp add apify-firefox-addons https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/firefox-addons-scraper

Claude Desktop JSON config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-firefox-addons": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/firefox-addons-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompts:

• "Find the top Firefox VPN add-ons and summarize their permissions."
• "Compare Firefox SEO add-ons by users, ratings, and last update date."
• "Create a table of password manager add-ons with support URLs and authors."

Monitoring workflows

Scheduled runs are especially useful for extension tracking.

You can store each run's dataset and compare rows over time.

Useful changes to monitor:

• version changed
• daily users increased or decreased
• rating count changed
• rating average dropped
• permissions changed
• support URL changed
• add-on disappeared from search results

Performance and reliability

The actor is HTTP-only and uses Mozilla's public API.

It does not launch Chrome, Firefox, or Playwright.

It retries rate-limit responses with bounded backoff and keeps unsupported URLs from crashing the whole run.

Limitations

The actor returns what Mozilla's public API exposes.

Some fields may be empty for add-ons that do not publish support links, homepage links, detailed descriptions, or certain permission categories.

Mozilla's rankings and average daily user counts are estimates from the marketplace source.

Legality

This actor extracts public metadata from Mozilla Add-ons.

You are responsible for using the data in accordance with Mozilla's terms, applicable laws, and your internal compliance rules.

Avoid collecting or storing personal data unless you have a lawful basis.

Related scrapers

Other automation-lab actors that pair well with Firefox Add-ons Scraper:

• Chrome Web Store scrapers for cross-browser extension intelligence.
• Website Contact Finder for enriching add-on homepages.
• Google Search scrapers for extension visibility research.
• URL status checkers for monitoring homepage and support links.

FAQ

Can I scrape one specific Firefox add-on?

Yes. Put the add-on page in startUrls and set maxItems to 1.

Can I scrape by category?

Use category-like search terms or Mozilla search URLs in startUrls.

Why are some permission arrays empty?

Mozilla may omit optional permission groups for add-ons that do not request them.

Why is a description not in my language?

If the requested locale is missing, the actor falls back to en-US or the first localized text returned by Mozilla.

Does the actor need proxies?

No. The MVP uses Mozilla's public unauthenticated JSON API and does not configure proxies.

Changelog

• 0.1 Initial version with query search, add-on URL support, detail enrichment, ratings, users, versions, permissions, compatibility, and author fields.