# Chrome Web Store Tracker: Users, Versions & Permissions (`blacksheepx/chrome-web-store-tracker`) Actor

Track Chrome Web Store extensions: users, rating, version, update date, size, permissions and category rank. Change detection between runs. No reviews, no personal data. Pay per profile.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/blacksheepx/chrome-web-store-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Tyler Rubino](https://apify.com/blacksheepx) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Marketing, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 extension profiles

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

## Chrome Web Store Extension Tracker: Users, Versions, Permissions & Rankings

Track any **Chrome Web Store** extension and get clean JSON, CSV or Excel: **users, rating, rating count, version, last update, size, developer, category, manifest version, permissions and host permissions**, plus the **category rank** of top extensions. Built-in **change detection** tells you exactly what changed since the last run, including new versions, user growth, rating moves and **newly requested permissions**. With **changes only** mode you pay only for extensions that changed.

### What can this Chrome extension tracker do?

- 📈 **Monitor competitors**: user counts, ratings and release cadence for any list of extensions.
- 🔐 **Security and compliance watch**: get alerted when an extension adds permissions (for example `tabs`, `<all_urls>`) or switches manifest version.
- 🏆 **Category rankings**: top extensions (up to 30) in any category, with their rank.
- 🔁 **Scheduled monitoring**: `changesOnly` returns and bills only new or changed extensions.
- 🤝 **Compliant and private**: it follows robots.txt (it never touches reviews, search or support pages) and collects no reviews and no personal data. Only the developer's public display name is included; no emails.

### Use cases

Extension developers tracking competitors, security teams auditing extensions in their fleet, VCs and analysts measuring growth, and agencies or researchers mapping categories.

### How much does it cost?

**$0.002 per extension profile ($2 per 1,000)**, with no start fee. In `changesOnly` mode, unchanged extensions are free. The default `maxItems` of 20 caps a trial run at **$0.04**.

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `extensions` | Store URLs or 32-letter IDs |
| `categoryUrls` | e.g. `https://chromewebstore.google.com/category/extensions/productivity/workflow` |
| `maxPerCategory` | Top N per category (max 30) |
| `trackChanges`, `changesOnly`, `stateKey` | Change detection and separate watchlists |
| `includeManifest` | Attach the full public manifest.json |
| `maxItems` | Cap per run (default 20) |

```json
{ "extensions": ["https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh"], "trackChanges": true, "changesOnly": true }
```

### Output

```json
{ "id": "ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh", "name": "uBlock Origin Lite", "developer": "Raymond Hill (gorhill)", "users": 21000000,
  "rating": 4.53, "ratingCount": 3717, "version": "2026.1018.2229", "lastUpdated": "2026-10-19T03:41:31.000Z", "size": "8.72MiB",
  "category": "make_chrome_yours/privacy", "manifestVersion": 3, "permissions": ["activeTab", "storage", "userScripts"], "hostPermissions": ["<all_urls>"],
  "changed": true, "changes": { "version": { "from": "2026.0101.0000", "to": "2026.1018.2229" }, "permissions": { "added": ["userScripts"], "removed": [] } } }
```

### FAQ

**Why no reviews?** Chrome Web Store's robots.txt disallows review pages, and we respect it.
**Removed extensions?** They're reported in the log and `RUN_SUMMARY` as not found, and the run continues.
**Is it legal?** It reads only public listing pages that robots.txt allows, in line with Google's Terms of Service, which prohibit automated access only where it violates robots.txt.

# Actor input Schema

## `extensions` (type: `array`):

Chrome Web Store extension URLs or 32-letter IDs, e.g. https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh

## `categoryUrls` (type: `array`):

Category pages, e.g. https://chromewebstore.google.com/category/extensions/productivity/workflow. Returns the top extensions with their rank (up to 30 per category).

## `maxPerCategory` (type: `integer`):

Top N extensions per category (the first page shows up to 30).

## `trackChanges` (type: `boolean`):

Remember each extension's last snapshot and report what changed: version, users, rating, size, permissions added or removed.

## `changesOnly` (type: `boolean`):

With change tracking on, unchanged extensions are skipped and not charged. Ideal for scheduled monitoring.

## `stateKey` (type: `string`):

Use different names to keep separate watchlists.

## `includeManifest` (type: `boolean`):

Attach the extension's full public manifest.

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

Hard cap on profiles delivered (and charged) per run. Default 20 keeps a trial at $0.04.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "extensions": [
    "https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh",
    "cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb"
  ],
  "maxPerCategory": 10,
  "trackChanges": true,
  "changesOnly": false,
  "stateKey": "default",
  "includeManifest": false,
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `extensions` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (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 = {
    "extensions": [
        "https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh",
        "cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb"
    ],
    "maxItems": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("blacksheepx/chrome-web-store-tracker").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 = {
    "extensions": [
        "https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh",
        "cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb",
    ],
    "maxItems": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("blacksheepx/chrome-web-store-tracker").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 '{
  "extensions": [
    "https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh",
    "cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb"
  ],
  "maxItems": 20
}' |
apify call blacksheepx/chrome-web-store-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,blacksheepx/chrome-web-store-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

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/VSB3sc5QshBN7pccp/builds/cffaD00yHkfP4DHGP/openapi.json