# Website Tech Stack API - Technology Detector & Ecommerce Scan (`captainhandsome/tech-stack-detector`) Actor

Scan a batch of websites in one run to detect CMS, ecommerce platform and payment gateway, plus CDN, analytics and hosting, from 75 technology signatures. A technology detector returning the technologies found - WordPress, Shopify, Stripe - with evidence and HTTP status.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/captainhandsome/tech-stack-detector.md
- **Developed by:** [Joseph McRell](https://apify.com/captainhandsome) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.10 / 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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Website Tech Stack Detector

Detect common CMS, frameworks, analytics, ecommerce, CDN, payment, marketing, and support technologies across a list of public websites. Every site returns one flat record of 73 columns: a named column per technology category, the infrastructure and security headers the server sent, the page's title, description, generator and canonical URL, and the emails, phone numbers and social profiles published on the page. Set `max_items` before each run to keep output and cost predictable.

### What data can I extract?

- Batch URL analysis with one flat 73-column record per site
- A filterable column per technology category: `cms`, `ecommerce_platform`, `framework`, `javascript_libraries`, `ui_libraries`, `analytics`, `advertising`, `marketing`, `payments`, `cdn`, `hosting`, `server_tech`, `programming_language`, `security_tech`, `support_tech`, `privacy_tools`, `monitoring`, `search_tech`, `media_tech`, `forms_tech`, `caching_tech`
- Full technology list, categories, count, and per-technology evidence (header or HTML)
- Infrastructure: `server`, `x_powered_by`, `content_type`, `content_length_bytes`, `cache_control`, `cdn_cache_status`, `cookie_names`, `response_time_ms`
- Security posture: `security_headers`, `hsts`
- Redirects and identity: `final_url`, `domain`, `is_https`, `redirect_count`, `redirect_chain`, HTTP `status`
- Page metadata: `title`, `h1`, `meta_description`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_generator`, `meta_robots`, `language`, `canonical_url`, `favicon_url`, `og_site_name`, `og_image`, `schema_org_types`, `hreflang_count`, `script_count`, `third_party_script_hosts`
- Contact and social: `emails`, `phones`, `linkedin_url`, `twitter_url`, `facebook_url`, `instagram_url`, `youtube_url`, `github_url`, `tiktok_url`, `twitter_handle`
- Optional crawl profile with `include_details`: `robots_txt_found`, `sitemap_url`, `robots_disallow_count`, `contact_page_url`
- Fast HTTP-only execution without a browser

Every result is written to the default dataset and can be downloaded as JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML.

#### All 73 columns

**Identity** — `cookie_names`, `og_site_name`, `title`

**Status** — `cdn_cache_status`, `content_type`, `is_https`, `schema_org_types`, `status`

**Money** — `payments`

**Contact** — `canonical_url`, `contact_page_url`, `emails`, `facebook_url`, `favicon_url`, `final_url`, `github_url`, `instagram_url`, `linkedin_url`, `phones`, `sitemap_url`, `tiktok_url`, `twitter_url`, `url`, `youtube_url`

**Counts and measures** — `count`, `hreflang_count`, `redirect_count`, `robots_disallow_count`, `script_count`

**Other detail** — `advertising`, `analytics`, `cache_control`, `caching_tech`, `categories`, `cdn`, `cms`, `content_length_bytes`, `detail`, `domain`, `ecommerce_platform`, `error`, `forms_tech`, `framework`, `h1`, `hosting`, `hsts`, `javascript_libraries`, `language`, `last_modified`, `marketing`, `media_tech`, `meta_description`, `meta_generator`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_robots`, `monitoring`, `og_image`, `privacy_tools`, `programming_language`, `redirect_chain`, `response_time_ms`, `robots_txt_found`, `search_tech`, `security_headers`, `security_tech`, `server`, `server_tech`, `support_tech`, `technologies`, `third_party_script_hosts`, `twitter_handle`, `ui_libraries`, `x_powered_by`

### Input example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "stripe.com",
    "shopify.com"
  ],
  "max_items": 2,
  "include_details": true
}
```

The default input is deliberately bounded and produces a small, useful Store test. `max_items` is a hard output ceiling.

### Output example

```json
{
  "url": "https://stripe.com",
  "final_url": "https://stripe.com",
  "status": 200,
  "domain": "shopify.com",
  "is_https": true,
  "redirect_count": 1,
  "redirect_chain": "https://shopify.com -> https://www.shopify.com/",
  "response_time_ms": 146,
  "technologies": [
    "Fastly",
    "Next.js"
  ],
  "detail": [
    {
      "name": "Cloudflare",
      "category": "cdn",
      "evidence": "header"
    },
    {
      "name": "Shopify",
      "category": "ecommerce",
      "evidence": "html"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tailwind CSS",
      "category": "ui",
      "evidence": "html"
    }
  ],
  "count": 2,
  "categories": [
    "cdn",
    "framework"
  ],
  "cms": "WordPress",
  "ecommerce_platform": "Shopify",
  "framework": "Next.js",
  "javascript_libraries": "jQuery",
  "ui_libraries": "Google Fonts",
  "analytics": "Google Tag Manager",
  "advertising": "Facebook Pixel",
  "marketing": "HubSpot, Klaviyo",
  "payments": "PayPal",
  "cdn": "Cloudflare",
  "hosting": "Netlify",
  "server_tech": "Nginx",
  "programming_language": "PHP",
  "security_tech": "reCAPTCHA",
  "support_tech": "Zendesk",
  "privacy_tools": "OneTrust"
}
```

44 further columns are omitted here for length — the full list is above, and every column appears in the export whether or not the source populated it.

### Common use cases

- B2B lead qualification and segmentation
- Competitive technology research
- Migration and integration prospecting
- Portfolio and vendor inventory

### Use with AI agents and MCP

Apify's MCP server can discover and call this Actor from an AI workflow. Example intent:

> Identify the public web technologies detected on stripe.com and shopify.com.

Use the JSON from **Input example** as the tool arguments. The strict input schema rejects unsupported parameters, and the documented dataset schema tells the agent how to interpret each returned field.

### Pricing and cost control

Output is billed per result at **$0.003 per result** (about $3.00 per 1,000 results), plus a $0.0005 Actor-start charge billed once per gigabyte of memory at run start. Use `max_items` to cap both output volume and charges. The price shown on the Apify Store listing is authoritative.

`max_items` limits both output volume and result-based charges. Start with 10 records, inspect them, and then scale deliberately. `include_details` adds up to two extra requests per site, so leave it off on long lists and turn it on when you want the sitemap and contact-page columns.

### Reliability

The Actor validates input, bounds pagination, retries transient upstream failures, writes structured records, and fails explicitly when the source cannot produce usable output. A production default-input canary is monitored by the fleet.

### Limitations and responsible use

- Detection is evidence of presence, not proof of absence.
- The signature database covers common technologies, not every product.
- Only the requested page is fetched and JavaScript is not executed.
- Version numbers and technologies visible only after interaction may be missed.
- Emails come from `mailto:` links plus plain-text addresses on the site's own domain, so an address printed only as an image, or only on a third-party domain, is not returned.
- Contact details belong to their owners. Use them in line with applicable marketing and privacy law.

Use the data lawfully, respect source terms, and independently validate records before making consequential decisions.

### FAQ

#### Does it need my own API key?

No, the default workflow does not require a customer-supplied API key.

#### Can I export the results?

Yes. Download the default dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML, or retrieve it through the Apify API.

#### How do I control cost?

Set `max_items` to the most records you want returned. Begin with the bounded default input.

#### Can an AI agent call it?

Yes. The Actor has strict input and semantic output schemas and can be called through Apify's MCP tooling.

#### What does `include_details` do?

It fetches `/robots.txt` and one contact or about page per site, which fills `robots_txt_found`, `sitemap_url`, `robots_disallow_count` and `contact_page_url`, and usually adds emails and phone numbers the homepage does not print. It costs up to two extra requests per site and is off by default.

#### What happens when a source field is missing?

The relevant field is returned as null or an empty normalized value rather than being merged into another field.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Domains or URLs to analyse, e.g. stripe.com

## `max_items` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on records emitted. Also caps your spend.

## `include_details` (type: `boolean`):

Adds up to two extra requests per site: /robots.txt for the sitemap URL and crawl rules, and a contact or about page on the same host for the email addresses and phone numbers the homepage leaves out. Off by default because it multiplies run time on long lists.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "stripe.com",
    "shopify.com"
  ],
  "max_items": 2,
  "include_details": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Structured records from the default dataset.

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        "stripe.com",
        "shopify.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("captainhandsome/tech-stack-detector").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 = { "urls": [
        "stripe.com",
        "shopify.com",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("captainhandsome/tech-stack-detector").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 '{
  "urls": [
    "stripe.com",
    "shopify.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call captainhandsome/tech-stack-detector --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,captainhandsome/tech-stack-detector"
        }
    }
}

```

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/B0CLxoX4Xe167oHhK/builds/xTEfXEZicchys4xd2/openapi.json