# 🧩 VS Code Extensions Scraper - Installs & Ratings (`benthepythondev/vscode-extensions-scraper`) Actor

Extract VS Code extensions with install counts, ratings, publisher info, and trending data. Search by keyword, browse categories, or track publishers. Get extension analytics for market research, competitor tracking, and developer tool discovery. Fast, reliable, pay-per-result.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/benthepythondev/vscode-extensions-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ben](https://apify.com/benthepythondev) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Other, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 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.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## 🧩 VS Code Extensions Scraper — Installs, Ratings & Publisher Data

Extract **data from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace** — install counts, ratings and
review counts, publisher details, categories, versions and trending metrics — for any
extension. Pull the most-installed extensions, find what's trending this week, search
by keyword, browse a category, or list everything from a publisher. It's the
Marketplace analytics you'd otherwise have to reverse-engineer from a private gallery
API, returned as one clean row per extension. Export to JSON/CSV/Excel, run on a
schedule, call via API, or connect to Make, Zapier or n8n.

### 🟦 What is the VS Code Extensions Scraper?

It turns the VS Code Marketplace into a structured dataset. Pick a mode — popular,
trending, search, category or publisher — and it queries Microsoft's public gallery
API and returns each extension with its install count, average rating, review count,
publisher, categories, tags, version, update dates and trending figures. Built-in
extensions are filtered out, so dev-tool builders, market researchers and competitive
analysts get only the real third-party Marketplace landscape.

#### What data does it extract?

- **Extension ID & display name** (`name`, `display_name`)
- **Publisher ID & display name** (`publisher`, `publisher_display_name`)
- **Install count** (`install_count`)
- **Average rating & review count** (`rating`, `rating_count`, `weighted_rating`)
- **Latest version**, **last updated** and **release date**
- **Categories and tags**
- **Short & long descriptions**
- **Icon URL** and the **Marketplace URL**
- **Trending metrics** — daily, weekly and monthly (`trending_daily`, `trending_weekly`, `trending_monthly`)

### ⬇️ Input

Run it five ways — popular, trending, search, by category, or by publisher:

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `scrapeMode` | `popular`, `trending`, `search`, `category`, or `publisher` |
| `searchQuery` | Search term (required for `search` mode), e.g. `python`, `docker` |
| `category` | Category name (required for `category` mode), e.g. `Programming Languages`, `Themes`, `Linters` |
| `publisher` | Publisher ID (required for `publisher` mode), e.g. `ms-python`, `esbenp` |
| `sortBy` | `InstallCount`, `Rating`, `PublishedDate`, `LastUpdatedDate`, or `Name` |
| `trendingPeriod` | `daily`, `weekly` or `monthly` (for `trending` mode) |
| `maxResults` | Cap the run (1–1000) |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "scrapeMode": "search",
  "searchQuery": "python",
  "sortBy": "InstallCount",
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

### ⬆️ Output

Every extension is one clean row (view as a **table**, or export **JSON / CSV / Excel**):

```json
{
  "name": "python",
  "display_name": "Python",
  "publisher": "ms-python",
  "publisher_display_name": "Microsoft",
  "version": "2024.4.1",
  "description": "A Visual Studio Code extension with rich support for the Python language...",
  "short_description": "Python language support with extension access points for IntelliSense, debugging and more.",
  "install_count": 128000000,
  "rating": 4.21,
  "rating_count": 612,
  "categories": ["Programming Languages", "Debuggers", "Linters", "Data Science"],
  "tags": ["python", "django", "flask", "jupyter"],
  "marketplace_url": "https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-python.python",
  "icon_url": "https://ms-python.gallerycdn.vsassets.io/extensions/.../icon.png",
  "last_updated": "2024-04-18T10:15:00.000Z",
  "release_date": "2018-01-26T00:00:00.000Z",
  "trending_daily": 12,
  "trending_weekly": 84,
  "trending_monthly": 320,
  "weighted_rating": 4.18,
  "scraped_at": "2026-06-26T15:30:00.000Z"
}
```

### 💡 Use cases

- **🔍 Developer-tool market research:** rank extensions by installs and ratings to size a category and spot gaps.
- **🥊 Competitor tracking:** monitor a rival publisher's extensions, versions and install growth over time.
- **📊 Publisher analytics:** list everything from a publisher and benchmark their reach and review scores.
- **📈 Trend spotting:** use daily/weekly/monthly trending metrics to catch fast-rising tools early.

### ❓ FAQ

**How do I scrape VS Code Marketplace data?** Pick a `scrapeMode` (popular, trending,
search, category or publisher), add the matching field (e.g. `searchQuery` or
`publisher`), then Run. You get structured extensions with installs, ratings,
publisher info, categories and trending metrics.

**Do I need an API key?** No. It uses the VS Code Marketplace's public gallery API —
no login or token required.

**Can I list every extension from one publisher?** Yes — set `scrapeMode: publisher`
with the publisher ID (e.g. `ms-python` or `esbenp`) to pull their full catalog.

**How do I find trending extensions?** Use `scrapeMode: trending` and set
`trendingPeriod` to `daily`, `weekly` or `monthly`. The output also includes
`trending_daily`, `trending_weekly` and `trending_monthly` figures you can sort on.

**Which categories can I browse?** Standard Marketplace categories such as
`Programming Languages`, `Snippets`, `Linters`, `Themes`, `Debuggers`, `Formatters`,
`Data Science`, `Machine Learning`, `Testing` and more — pass one in `category`.

**How can I sort the results?** Use `sortBy`: `InstallCount`, `Rating`,
`PublishedDate`, `LastUpdatedDate` or `Name`. Built-in Microsoft extensions are
excluded automatically.

**What's the difference between `rating` and `weighted_rating`?** `rating` is the raw
average star score and `rating_count` is the number of reviews behind it;
`weighted_rating` is the Marketplace's adjusted score that factors in review volume, so
a 5-star extension with three reviews doesn't outrank a 4.5-star one with thousands.

**How many extensions can it return?** Up to your `maxResults` cap (1–1000); it
paginates the gallery API automatically.

**Can I run it on a schedule or via API?** Yes — schedule recurring runs in Apify,
call it via the API/SDK, or connect it to Make, Zapier or n8n.

**Is scraping the VS Code Marketplace legal?** It reads publicly available Marketplace
data only. Use it responsibly for research, and follow applicable laws and Microsoft's
terms.

### 🔗 You might also like

- **[npm Package Scraper](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/npm-package-scraper)** — npm downloads, dependencies & quality scores
- **[GitHub Repository Intelligence](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/github-repository-intelligence)** — repo stars, issues & contributor metrics
- **[Tech Stack Detector](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/tech-stack-detector)** — detect the technologies a website runs on
- **[Hacker News Intelligence](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/hacker-news-intelligence)** — tech news, jobs & Show HN launches

***

**Keywords:** VS Code extensions scraper, VS Code Marketplace API, extension install counts, extension ratings, publisher data, developer tools research, trending extensions, Visual Studio Code data, extension analytics, Marketplace scraper, competitor tracking, extension categories, dev tool discovery, install metrics, extension reviews.

# Actor input Schema

## `scrapeMode` (type: `string`):

What type of extensions to scrape

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Search term for finding extensions (required for search mode)

## `category` (type: `string`):

Category name (required for category mode)

## `publisher` (type: `string`):

Publisher ID (required for publisher mode)

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

How to sort results

## `trendingPeriod` (type: `string`):

Time period for trending extensions (only for trending mode)

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

Maximum number of extensions to scrape

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "scrapeMode": "popular",
  "searchQuery": "python, react, docker",
  "publisher": "ms-python, ms-vscode, esbenp",
  "sortBy": "InstallCount",
  "trendingPeriod": "weekly",
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

# 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 = {
    "scrapeMode": "popular",
    "maxResults": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("benthepythondev/vscode-extensions-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 = {
    "scrapeMode": "popular",
    "maxResults": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("benthepythondev/vscode-extensions-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 '{
  "scrapeMode": "popular",
  "maxResults": 10
}' |
apify call benthepythondev/vscode-extensions-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,benthepythondev/vscode-extensions-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/LHzpd1Rm4SIenF6rb/builds/l1KHtItNayb71kTVd/openapi.json