LIHKG Scraper (No API, No Login)

Scrape LIHKG (Hong Kong's largest online forum) — latest thread listings per category, and full thread content with all replies — via the public api_v2 JSON endpoint, output as structured data.

This actor is built for English-speaking researchers, analysts, and engineers who need Hong Kong forum sentiment / social listening data. Note: LIHKG itself is a Cantonese/Traditional-Chinese forum, so scraped title / content fields will be in Chinese — this tool structures and exports that data, it does not translate it.

Output Fields

Thread listing / thread content (ThreadRow)

Field	Type	Description
thread_id	string	Thread ID
title	string | null	Thread title
content	string | null	Thread body (null in listing mode)
author	string | null	Author nickname
category	string | null	Category name
reply_count	number | null	Number of replies
like_count	number | null	Like count
dislike_count	number | null	Dislike ("question mark face") count
created_at	string | null	Post time (ISO 8601)
thread_url	string	Thread URL
source_mode	string	Scrape mode (thread-list / thread)
source_query	string	Query used (category ID or thread ID)
scraped_at	string	Scrape timestamp (ISO 8601)

Replies (ReplyRow)

Field	Type	Description
reply_id	string | null	Reply ID (post_id)
thread_id	string	Parent thread ID
floor	number | null	Floor number (msg_num)
author	string | null	Author nickname
content	string | null	Reply content (HTML tags stripped)
like_count	number | null	Like count
dislike_count	number | null	Dislike count
created_at	string | null	Reply time (ISO 8601)
scraped_at	string	Scrape timestamp (ISO 8601)

Modes

Mode	Input	Output	Billing
thread-list	catIds (category ID list)	Thread listing (ThreadRow)	$0.002/row
thread	threadIds / threadUrls	Thread content ($0.008/thread) + all replies ($0.003/reply)	by volume

Input Fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
mode	enum	thread-list	Mode: thread-list (listing) / thread (full thread)
catIds	array	—	Category IDs, e.g. 1 (Chat), 2 (Sports), 5 (Current Affairs)
threadIds	array	—	List of thread IDs
threadUrls	array	—	Thread URLs; the ID is extracted automatically
bulkInput	textarea	—	Bulk paste, one item per line, auto-merged into the matching field
maxItems	integer	50	Max items to scrape (listing: per category; thread: total threads)
keywords	array	—	Title keyword filter (listing mode only; leave empty for no filtering)
proxyConfiguration	proxy	no proxy	Enable Apify Proxy for heavy scraping

Input Examples

Thread listing

{
  "mode": "thread-list",
  "catIds": ["1", "5"],
  "maxItems": 100
}

Full thread and replies

{
  "mode": "thread",
  "threadIds": ["4126423"],
  "maxItems": 50
}

Bulk thread URLs

{
  "mode": "thread",
  "threadUrls": [
    "https://lihkg.com/thread/4126423/page/1",
    "https://lihkg.com/thread/4000000/page/1"
  ],
  "maxItems": 50
}

Notes

• Only public content is scraped — no account or token required
• Uses the api_v2 JSON endpoint (no browser — fast and low-cost)
• Reply content has HTML tags automatically stripped (<br>, <img>, <span>, etc.)
• Thread mode: maxItems limits the number of threads; all replies within each thread are scraped without limit
• Billed per event: one-time actor-start fee of $0.005, $0.002 per listing row, $0.008 per thread, $0.003 per reply
• Auto-stops after 5 consecutive pages with no new data — no idle burn
• LIHKG's api_v2 may add an X-LI-DEVICE header check or a challenge in the future, and may block datacenter IPs. This is monitored via smoke tests on Apify Cloud (go/no-go); if blocked, the fallback is Apify residential proxy (proxyConfiguration) — not over-engineered in advance

FAQ

Q: Do I need to log in to view this data?

A: No. This actor only scrapes public thread listings and replies — nothing that requires login.

Q: Can I scrape multiple categories at once?

A: Yes. Add multiple IDs to catIds, or paste them one per line via bulkInput.

Q: How is reply HTML handled?

A: Automatically. The content field is plain text — HTML tags are stripped and HTML entities are decoded (& → &, < → <, etc.).

Q: Why is content null in thread-list mode?

A: The listing API doesn't return thread body content, only titles and metadata. Use thread mode if you need the full text.

Disclaimer

This tool is for academic research and lawful business analysis only. Users must comply with LIHKG's Terms of Service and applicable laws. Do not use this tool to invade others' privacy, spread false information, or engage in any other unlawful activity. The author accepts no responsibility for any misuse.

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