# Search by Name (`clearcheck.io/search-by-name`) Actor

Clearcheck Labs name search and aggregation. Enter one full name and get the sources discovered for it - aggregated, normalized and categorized into Wikipedia, news, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X, Reddit and web. For OSINT and due diligence.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/clearcheck.io/search-by-name.md
- **Developed by:** [Clearcheck Labs](https://apify.com/clearcheck.io) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 14 total users, 2 monthly users, 31.6% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 4.85 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

$200.00 / 1,000 completed name searches

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?

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

## Search by Name

**Clearcheck Labs name search and aggregation.**

Give it one person's full name. It runs the Clearcheck Labs discovery pipeline, aggregates what that pipeline finds, normalizes it into a single consistent structure, and returns it categorized by source type - ready for a spreadsheet, a report or an automated workflow.

One run searches one name and returns one result.

### 3 free searches, then a paid Apify plan

Every account gets **3 completed searches free**. They are not charged, and the status message tells you how many you have left.

After that, this Actor runs on the Clearcheck Labs name search service and needs a paid Apify subscription. Once the 3 free searches are used, a run started by a free-plan account stops before any search is performed and is never charged.

A search that completes but finds nothing still uses one of the 3. Invalid input, a service error, a timeout and a retry never do. Each result carries a `billing` field showing whether it was a free-trial or a paid search.

### What you get

For a single name, the Actor returns the sources it discovered, categorized into nine groups:

- **wikipedia** - encyclopedia entries
- **news** - news coverage
- **web** - articles, personal and company sites, directories, academic and professional references, and everything else
- **linkedin**, **facebook**, **twitter**, **instagram**, **reddit** - profiles and posts
- **youtube** - video

Every entry carries its title, url, domain and a text preview, so you can see at a glance what it is and decide whether it is relevant.

Alongside the entries you get a name profile: a relevance and prominence score, and any platform handles and role signals the pipeline associated with the name during discovery.

### What makes it different

The differentiation is the method, not a private database.

- **Proprietary query construction** - Clearcheck Labs builds and expands the search strategy for a name rather than passing the string through unchanged.
- **Multi-source aggregation** - results from many source types are collected and merged in a single pass.
- **Normalization** - every entry is reshaped into one stable schema, so a Wikipedia entry, a LinkedIn profile and a news article all arrive with the same fields and the same types.
- **Categorization and de-duplication** - entries are sorted into consistent source groups, and duplicates and dead entries are removed before delivery.
- **Stable contract** - all nine section keys are always present, empty ones included, so downstream automation never breaks on a missing field.

**No exclusive-data claim.** This Actor does not claim access to private, restricted or exclusive data sources. What Clearcheck Labs provides is the search, aggregation, normalization and discovery methodology, and the consistency of the result it hands you.

### Important: this is name-based discovery

A name is not a unique identifier. Searching a name returns everything associated with that string of characters, which routinely includes:

- the person you are looking for
- **other people who share the same name**
- sources that merely mention the name in passing
- loosely matched or low-relevance entries

This Actor does **not** verify identity, resolve entities or decide which entries belong to which person. It gives you the discovery surface and enough context - title, domain, url, preview text - to make that judgment yourself.

Nothing in the output should be treated as verified information about a specific individual.

### Who it is for

- **OSINT research** - map a person's discoverable footprint
- **Due diligence** - surface what exists under the name of a counterparty, director or beneficial owner
- **Investigative research and journalism** - find sources, coverage and connections
- **Reputation monitoring** - track what is discoverable under a name
- **Identity intelligence** - find which profiles exist under a name

#### Not for screening decisions

This Actor is a research and discovery tool. It is **not** a consumer reporting agency product and must not be used to make decisions about employment, tenancy, credit, insurance or eligibility for any benefit. Do not use it for pre-employment screening, tenant screening or credit decisions. Use the data lawfully and in line with the privacy rules that apply to you.

### Input

One field. One name.

```
{
  "fullName": "Ada Lovelace"
}
```

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| fullName | string | yes | The full name of the person to search for |

Names work in any alphabet, and accented characters, hyphens and apostrophes are all supported. The name is validated before the search runs, so a malformed entry costs you nothing.

### Output

One dataset item per run.

```
{
  "searchName": "Ada Lovelace",
  "source": "irbis_name",
  "status": "success",
  "resultsCount": 20,
  "sectionCounts": {
    "wikipedia": 1, "youtube": 1, "instagram": 0, "linkedin": 3,
    "facebook": 0, "twitter": 0, "reddit": 0, "news": 2, "web": 13
  },
  "profile": {
    "name": "Ada Lovelace",
    "keyword": null,
    "score": 4.32,
    "wikipediaDescription": "English mathematician and writer",
    "linkedinJob": null,
    "linkedinCompany": null,
    "twitterUsername": null,
    "facebookUsername": null,
    "instagramUsername": null,
    "youtubeLabel": null
  },
  "sections": {
    "web": [
      {
        "title": "Example page title",
        "url": "https://example.com/article",
        "domain": "example.com",
        "text": "Preview text from the source ...",
        "imageUrls": [],
        "videoUrls": [],
        "externalUrls": ["https://example.com/article"],
        "publishedAt": null,
        "reactionsCount": null,
        "likeCount": null,
        "commentsCount": null
      }
    ]
  },
  "disclaimer": "Results are discovered by name and may include other people with the same or a similar name. Verify independently before relying on any result.",
  "scannedAt": "2026-01-01T12:00:00Z"
}
```

**About the score.** The profile score is a relevance and prominence signal produced during discovery. It reflects how much is discoverable under the name - it is **not** a confidence score for identity matching, and a high score does not mean the entries belong to one person.

**About publishedAt.** This is the publication timestamp of the source where one is available, and null where it is not. It is often null; that is normal.

### When a run does not produce a result

A run that does not complete a search writes no dataset item and makes no charge. The reason appears in the run's status message. This happens when the name fails validation, the search service cannot be reached or times out, the account is not on a paid Apify plan, or the run's maximum cost is set below the price of one search.

### Pricing

**0.20 USD per completed search.**

You are charged once, when the search completes - including a search that legitimately finds nothing, because a confirmed absence of discoverable presence is itself a result.

You are never charged for:

- polling while the search is running
- a name rejected by validation
- a search that times out
- a search that fails for any reason
- a run blocked because the account is not on a paid plan

Platform usage costs are covered by the developer, so the per-search price is what you pay.

### Integrations

Results are plain structured JSON, so they drop straight into Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets or your own code via the Apify API. Export as JSON, CSV, Excel or XML from the dataset.

### Tips

- Use the most complete form of the name you have. A full first and last name returns a far more focused result set than a surname alone.
- Check the domain and preview text before treating an entry as relevant - especially in the linkedin section, where same-name profiles are common.
- Common names return more noise. Rare names return tighter results.

***

Built and maintained by **Clearcheck Labs**.

# Actor input Schema

## `fullName` (type: `string`):

The full name of the person to search for. One name per run. Works with any alphabet, including accented characters, hyphens and apostrophes.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "fullName": "Ada Lovelace"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "fullName": "Ada Lovelace"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("clearcheck.io/search-by-name").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 = { "fullName": "Ada Lovelace" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("clearcheck.io/search-by-name").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 '{
  "fullName": "Ada Lovelace"
}' |
apify call clearcheck.io/search-by-name --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,clearcheck.io/search-by-name"
        }
    }
}

```

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/lfiuFdRoTAjxdEGms/builds/NfwXRsbiBawdAXSvM/openapi.json