# 4chan Scraper — Boards, Threads & Monitoring (`brick_joey_yto/4chan-scraper`) Actor

Scrape any 4chan board — catalogs, full threads, post history, keyword watchlists — via the official public JSON API. No login. /pol/, /biz/, /g/, /b/ and all 77 boards. From $1/1,000 results.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/brick\_joey\_yto/4chan-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [William Billings](https://apify.com/brick_joey_yto) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 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

## 4chan Scraper — Boards, Threads & Keyword Monitoring

Extract data from **any 4chan board** via the official public JSON API — no login, no captcha, no rate-limit games. Full catalogs, complete thread histories, image links, country flags, and multi-board keyword monitoring for OSINT, crypto research, and trend detection.

### Why 4chan data?

4chan is where narratives form first — /biz/ memecoins pump before Twitter notices, /pol/ drives news cycles, /g/ and /x/ leak everything. Analysts, journalists, and intelligence researchers need this data, and until now there was **no working scraper on Apify**.

### Modes

| Mode | Output | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| `catalog` | All live threads on a board — subject, replies, images, timestamps | Board surveillance, hot-topic discovery |
| `thread` | Complete post history of a thread — every reply with image/flag metadata | Archive discussions, quote tracing |
| `boards` | All 77 boards with titles and worksafe flags | Directory / discovery |
| `watch` | Multi-board keyword scan — e.g. monitor /biz/+/pol/ for "bitcoin" | Scheduled alerts, narrative tracking |

### Input examples

**Everything live on /biz/ right now:**

```json
{ "mode": "catalog", "board": "biz", "minReplies": 10 }
```

**Full thread archive:**

```json
{ "mode": "thread", "board": "biz", "threadId": 62745847 }
```

**Cross-board keyword alert (schedule every 15 min):**

```json
{ "mode": "watch", "boardsToScan": ["biz", "pol", "g"], "keywords": ["ethereum", "etf", "hack"] }
```

### Output fields

`recordType` (`board`/`thread`/`post`), `board`, `threadId`, `postId`, `subject`, `text` (HTML-stripped), `authorName` (null for Anonymous, real for namefags/tripfags), `date` (ISO), `replies`, `images`, `isOP`, `sticky`, `closed`, `capcode` (mod/admin/dev), `country` (flag on /pol/ etc.), `imageUrl`, `imageName`, `imageSizeBytes`, `url`

### Limits & caveats

- Threads 404 (die) — 4chan prunes aggressively; `thread` mode errors cleanly on archived threads
- Catalog shows threads, `thread` shows posts — combine them: catalog → pick hot threads → thread for full history
- Country flags only on /pol/, /int/, /sp/, /biz/ and a few others
- No search API exists on 4chan natively — `watch` mode is the keyword-search substitute

### Pricing

**$1.00 per 1,000 results** (pay-per-event). A /biz/ catalog scan (~150 threads) costs ~$0.15.

### More from this developer

**Alt-social & OSINT:** Gab · BitChute · Truth Social · Telegram Monitor · Bitcointalk · Rumble
**Intel:** Crypto Token Monitor · Federal Register · FDA Compliance

***

*Not affiliated with 4chan. Uses the official public JSON API. Post content reflects anonymous users — use responsibly.*

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

catalog = all live threads on a board (with replies/images counts). thread = full post history of one thread. boards = list all 77 boards. watch = catalog posts matching keywords (scheduled monitoring).

## `board` (type: `string`):

Board slug — e.g. 'pol' (Politically Incorrect), 'biz' (Business & Finance), 'g' (Technology), 'b' (Random). Required for catalog/watch/thread.

## `threadId` (type: `integer`):

thread mode: the thread number — e.g. 503281217 (from a catalog row's threadId or the URL).

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

watch/catalog modes: only threads whose subject or comment contains any keyword (case-insensitive).

## `minReplies` (type: `integer`):

catalog/watch: only threads with at least this many replies — surfaces active discussions.

## `boardsToScan` (type: `array`):

watch mode: scan multiple boards at once — e.g. \['pol','biz','g']. Overrides single board.

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

Global cap on rows returned.

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

Optional Apify proxy — the public JSON API rarely needs it.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "catalog",
  "maxResults": 200
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset containing board, thread, or post records

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("brick_joey_yto/4chan-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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("brick_joey_yto/4chan-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 '{}' |
apify call brick_joey_yto/4chan-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,brick_joey_yto/4chan-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/jjLtOOqWiT8xRflTI/builds/3CfgWh23aZd2zd6t5/openapi.json