# Substack Analytics and Archive API (Benchmarks) (`civicdataforge/newsletter-data`) Actor Any Substack publication's full post archive plus publication-level benchmark analytics - paid/free ratio, posting cadence, average reactions per post. Size a newsletter before a sponsorship, or track competitors. No login, public data, pay per record. - **URL**: https://apify.com/civicdataforge/newsletter-data.md - **Developed by:** [Bryan](https://apify.com/civicdataforge) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, News, MCP servers - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 ## Newsletter Data — Substack Publication Archive + Benchmark Analytics Substack has no usable public API for cross-publication data, and the free scrapers break constantly. This Actor is the reliable one: point it at any **public** Substack publication and get back the full post archive **plus** the publication-level benchmark analytics that competitive-intel teams actually pay for. Public, logged-out, read-only data only — no login, no auth-walled scraping. ### What you get **Per post** (one dataset row each): | field | example | |---|---| | `title` | `Your Book Review: The Origins Of Woke` | | `slug` / `url` | `https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/your-book-review-...` | | `post_date` | `2026-06-18T14:02:11.000Z` | | `is_paid` / `audience` | `false` / `everyone` | | `type` | `newsletter` / `podcast` / `thread` | | `reactions` / `comments` | `265` / `9` | | `wordcount` | `4820` | **Per publication** (the `OUTPUT` record + attached to every row): | metric | meaning | |---|---| | `paid_ratio` | share of recent posts behind the paywall | | `free_posts` / `paid_posts` | counts | | `avg_reactions_per_post` | engagement benchmark | | `total_comments` | discussion volume | | `posts_per_week_est` | publishing cadence | ### Who uses this - **Media analysts & competitive-intel** — benchmark a rival newsletter's cadence, paywall mix, and engagement without a login. - **Ad-buyers & sponsorship teams** — size a publication's output and audience response before committing spend. - **VCs & creator-economy researchers** — track newsletter growth signals and paid-conversion posture across a portfolio. - **AI / research corpora** — clean, structured post metadata for any public Substack. ### Input ```json { "url": "astralcodexten.substack.com", "limit": 50 } ```` `url` accepts a handle (`lennysnewsletter.com`) or a full URL. `limit` caps how many recent posts to pull. ### Output - **Dataset:** one row per post (fields above) with `publication` + `analytics` attached for easy joins. - **Key-value store `OUTPUT`:** the publication summary + benchmark analytics. ### Source & legality Data comes from Substack's own public archive endpoint (`/api/v1/archive`), accessed logged-out. Only public, read-only data is returned — nothing behind a paywall or login. Update cadence follows the publication's own posting. # Actor input Schema ## `url` (type: `string`): A Substack handle or full URL, e.g. 'astralcodexten.substack.com' or 'https://www.lennysnewsletter.com'. ## `limit` (type: `integer`): How many recent posts to pull from the archive. ## Actor input object example ```json { "url": "astralcodexten.substack.com", "limit": 50 } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "url": "astralcodexten.substack.com" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("civicdataforge/newsletter-data").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "url": "astralcodexten.substack.com" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("civicdataforge/newsletter-data").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "url": "astralcodexten.substack.com" }' | apify call civicdataforge/newsletter-data --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=civicdataforge/newsletter-data", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Substack Analytics and Archive API (Benchmarks)", "description": "Any Substack publication's full post archive plus publication-level benchmark analytics - paid/free ratio, posting cadence, average reactions per post. Size a newsletter before a sponsorship, or track competitors. No login, public data, pay per record.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "jrb3zecMI23ebax5L" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/civicdataforge~newsletter-data/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-civicdataforge-newsletter-data", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/civicdataforge~newsletter-data/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-civicdataforge-newsletter-data", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/civicdataforge~newsletter-data/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-civicdataforge-newsletter-data", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "title": "Substack publication", "type": "string", "description": "A Substack handle or full URL, e.g. 'astralcodexten.substack.com' or 'https://www.lennysnewsletter.com'." }, "limit": { "title": "Max posts", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "How many recent posts to pull from the archive.", "default": 50 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```