# Hotfrog Business Data Scraper — Live Leads (`b2b_leads/hotfrog-real-time-data-scraper`) Actor

Collect live Hotfrog business data: keyword + location search, profile scraping, and lead details (phones, addresses, websites, emails). Structured JSON streamed to your dataset in real time. Free plans get a 2-result sample.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/b2b_leads/hotfrog-real-time-data-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Emmanuel](https://apify.com/b2b_leads) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 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

## Hotfrog Real-Time Data

Live Hotfrog business directory data — keyword + location search, profile scraping, and lead details — streamed to your dataset as structured JSON in real time.

> **Free trial:** free Apify plan users get a 2-result sample per run. Upgrade to a paid Apify plan for full, unlimited data.

### Who this is for

Agencies, local-SEO teams, sales-outreach operators, and CRM builders who need fresh business lists with contact data from the Hotfrog directory.

**Use cases:**

- Build targeted lead lists by keyword and city (e.g. plumbers in Austin, dentists in Chicago)
- Enrich business records with phones, addresses, websites, and emails for outreach
- Feed CRMs, Google Sheets, or pipelines via webhooks (JSON or Slack)
- Monitor local markets — track which businesses appear per keyword and location
- Power AI agents and chatbots with live local-business answers via Apify MCP
- Run national sweeps with the "US" location or drill into specific cities

### Features

| Checkbox | What it does |
|---|---|
| 🔎 Business search (default on) | Keyword + location task table; each row yields name, address, phone, categories, and tags when listed |
| ⚡ Simple search | One keyword across several semicolon-separated cities (used only when the task table is empty) |
| 🔗 Scrape By URL | Paste Hotfrog business profile URLs directly for the same output |
| 🎯 Lead details (default on) | Enriches every row with its full profile — verified phone, address, description, tags, website/email when publicly listed, plus geo coordinates. Enriches in place: no second row, no dropped records |
| 🌐 Connection | Apify residential proxy on by default; switch country or custom proxies if needed |
| ⚙️ Output & limits | Global caps, pacing, parallel lookups, and webhook delivery |

Every discovered business is exported. Lead details enrich the same row (`detailsFetched: true`) and never filter results, so output counts — and budgeting — stay predictable.

### Input reference

- **searchTasks** (array, default: `plumbers → Austin, TX`, `roofing → Dallas, TX`): one row per search. Each row: `keyword` (e.g. `plumbers`, `roofing`, `restaurants`, `dentists`), `location` (`"Austin, TX"` with state, or `"US"` for a national search), `maxResults` (per-task override).
- **maxResultsPerTask** (integer, default `10`): default cap per search task.
- **maxPagesPerTask** (integer, default `5`, max `50`): page-depth safety cap per task.
- **enableSimpleSearch** (boolean, default `false`), **simpleKeyword**, **simpleLocations** (`"Austin, TX; Dallas, TX"` or `"US"`): alternative to the task table.
- **country** (`US` | `UK` | `CA` | `AU`, default `US`): which Hotfrog market to search.
- **enableScrapeByUrl** (boolean, default `false`), **scrapeUrls** (string list): Hotfrog `/company/…` profile URLs.
- **enableLeadDetails** (boolean, default `true`): full-profile enrichment per business (adds a little extra time per record).
- **maxItems** (integer, default `10000`): global row cap. Also capped to 2 on the free tier.
- **concurrency** (1–8, default `4`), **delayBetweenRequestsMs** (0–5000, default `1200`).
- **webhookUrl** (string, default `""`), **webhookFormat** (`json` | `slack`): additional real-time POST per record; dataset writes always happen.
- **proxyConfiguration**: Apify residential proxy (US) by default.

Empty input still runs a useful demo: business search with the prefilled tasks above.

### Output field reference

One row per business. Key fields:

`type`, `featureType` (`search` | `scrape_by_url`), `platform` (`hotfrog`), `name`, `profileUrl`, `businessId`, `phone`, `phones`, `website`, `email`, `emails`, `street`, `city`, `state`, `zipCode`, `location`, `country`, `category`, `categories`, `tags`, `description`, `imageUrl`, `reviewCount`, `rating`, `latitude`, `longitude`, `detailsFetched`, `searchKeyword`, `searchLocation`, `searchTaskIndex`, `searchTaskLabel`, `position`, `scrapedAt`.

The run summary (`OUTPUT` in the key-value store) reports `totalPushed`, `tasksRequested/Completed`, `leadDetailsEnabled`, `spendingLimitReached`, and the `paywall` object (`detected`, `isPaying`, `pricingTier`, `limited`, `blocked`).

### Webhooks

Set **webhookUrl** to also POST each record as it is collected — point it at your CRM, a Slack incoming webhook, Zapier, Make, or a Sheets bridge. Choose **json** for the full record or **slack** for a chat-friendly message. Delivery is fire-and-forget: failures are logged and never stop the run or dataset writes.

### MCP / AI-agent usage

This Actor works with the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp): connect it once and ask in plain language, for example:

> "Find 10 roofing businesses in Dallas, TX on Hotfrog with phones and addresses, and save them to a dataset."

### FAQ

- **Which connection does it use?** Apify residential proxy (US default) on the platform; the market country picker selects the Hotfrog market. No setup needed.
- **How fresh is the data?** Every run collects live directory data at run time — nothing is cached or pre-stored.
- **What does the free tier include?** A 2-result sample per run so you can verify the shape before upgrading. Paid plans are uncapped (subject to your own `maxItems` and run charge limits).
- **How am I charged?** One `result` event per exported row. Lead details enrich the same row — no double charge. When your max run charge is reached, collection stops gracefully and the summary flags `spendingLimitReached`.
- **Why did a search return nothing?** Keywords follow the directory's own taxonomy (e.g. `plumbers` vs `plumbing` can differ per city). Try the plural/category form, or broaden the location to `"US"`.

# Actor input Schema

## `enableSearch` (type: `boolean`):

Search the Hotfrog directory by keyword and location. Enabled by default.

## `searchTasks` (type: `array`):

Primary input. Add one row per search: pair a keyword with a city + state (or US for a national search). Use the Simple search section below only if you prefer one keyword across several cities.

## `maxPagesPerTask` (type: `integer`):

Maximum depth to paginate each search (safety cap for very large runs).

## `enableSimpleSearch` (type: `boolean`):

Turn on to search with one keyword and a list of cities instead of the task table. Ignored while off.

## `simpleKeyword` (type: `string`):

One keyword for this simple search (e.g. "plumbers", "roofing"). Only used when Simple search is enabled.

## `simpleLocations` (type: `string`):

One or more US cities with state, separated by semicolons (e.g. "Austin, TX; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX"), or "US" for a national search. Only used when Simple search is enabled.

## `maxResultsPerTask` (type: `integer`):

Default maximum businesses per search task. Override per task in the list above.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Which Hotfrog market to search. US by default; UK, CA, and AU are supported.

## `enableScrapeByUrl` (type: `boolean`):

Scrape specific Hotfrog business profile URLs instead of searching.

## `scrapeUrls` (type: `array`):

Hotfrog business profile URLs to scrape (one per line).

## `enableLeadDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Enrich every business with its full profile (verified phone, address, description, tags, website and email when publicly listed). Every business is still exported even when no details are found — adds a little extra time per business.

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

Global cap on total dataset rows across all features. Set high for large runs (e.g. 10000+). Note: the run also respects your max total charge for this run.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many detail lookups to run in parallel (1–8). Higher is faster; 4 is a good default.

## `delayBetweenRequestsMs` (type: `integer`):

Polite pacing between directory fetches (0–5000 ms). Higher values are slower but gentler.

## `webhookUrl` (type: `string`):

Optional. Every record is always saved to the run's dataset — this webhook is an ADDITIONAL real-time push. When set, each new record is also POSTed to this URL (CRM, Slack incoming webhook, Zapier, Make, Google Sheets).

## `webhookFormat` (type: `string`):

json = full record object; slack = Slack-friendly message payload.

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

Apify residential proxy (US) is enabled by default for reliable collection.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "enableSearch": true,
  "searchTasks": [
    {
      "keyword": "plumbers",
      "location": "Austin, TX",
      "maxResults": 10
    },
    {
      "keyword": "roofing",
      "location": "Dallas, TX",
      "maxResults": 10
    }
  ],
  "maxPagesPerTask": 5,
  "enableSimpleSearch": false,
  "simpleKeyword": "",
  "simpleLocations": "",
  "maxResultsPerTask": 10,
  "country": "US",
  "enableScrapeByUrl": false,
  "scrapeUrls": [],
  "enableLeadDetails": true,
  "maxItems": 10000,
  "concurrency": 4,
  "delayBetweenRequestsMs": 1200,
  "webhookUrl": "",
  "webhookFormat": "json",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "US"
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Complete dataset with every business row from all enabled features in this run.

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

Businesses from keyword + location search.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Per-run metadata: totals, lead-details flag, spending-limit status, and the paywall object (detected, isPaying, pricingTier, limited, blocked).

# 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 = {
    "enableSearch": true,
    "searchTasks": [
        {
            "keyword": "plumbers",
            "location": "Austin, TX",
            "maxResults": 10
        },
        {
            "keyword": "roofing",
            "location": "Dallas, TX",
            "maxResults": 10
        }
    ],
    "maxPagesPerTask": 5,
    "enableSimpleSearch": false,
    "maxResultsPerTask": 10,
    "country": "US",
    "enableLeadDetails": true,
    "maxItems": 10000,
    "concurrency": 4,
    "delayBetweenRequestsMs": 1200,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ],
        "apifyProxyCountry": "US"
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("b2b_leads/hotfrog-real-time-data-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 = {
    "enableSearch": True,
    "searchTasks": [
        {
            "keyword": "plumbers",
            "location": "Austin, TX",
            "maxResults": 10,
        },
        {
            "keyword": "roofing",
            "location": "Dallas, TX",
            "maxResults": 10,
        },
    ],
    "maxPagesPerTask": 5,
    "enableSimpleSearch": False,
    "maxResultsPerTask": 10,
    "country": "US",
    "enableLeadDetails": True,
    "maxItems": 10000,
    "concurrency": 4,
    "delayBetweenRequestsMs": 1200,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
        "apifyProxyCountry": "US",
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("b2b_leads/hotfrog-real-time-data-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 '{
  "enableSearch": true,
  "searchTasks": [
    {
      "keyword": "plumbers",
      "location": "Austin, TX",
      "maxResults": 10
    },
    {
      "keyword": "roofing",
      "location": "Dallas, TX",
      "maxResults": 10
    }
  ],
  "maxPagesPerTask": 5,
  "enableSimpleSearch": false,
  "maxResultsPerTask": 10,
  "country": "US",
  "enableLeadDetails": true,
  "maxItems": 10000,
  "concurrency": 4,
  "delayBetweenRequestsMs": 1200,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "US"
  }
}' |
apify call b2b_leads/hotfrog-real-time-data-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,b2b_leads/hotfrog-real-time-data-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/FBnymWq8hmfKgla1F/builds/FZzEDOes2XZI3CBVb/openapi.json