# LinkedIn Username Checker — Profile or Company (`clovys/linkedin-username-checker`) Actor

Bulk-check LinkedIn vanity slugs for profiles (/in/) or company pages (/company/). Default: user. Residential proxy. One entityType per run.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/clovys/linkedin-username-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [Clovys](https://apify.com/clovys) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.00 / 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

### What does LinkedIn Username Checker do?

**LinkedIn Username Checker** tells you whether a LinkedIn **profile** (`/in/`) or **company** (`/company/`) vanity slug is **available** or **already taken**. Paste a list of slugs (or full URLs), pick one `entityType` per run (default **user**), and download clean JSON / CSV / Excel from the dataset.

Built for **bulk brand / vanity research** (up to **100,000** slugs per run). Large lists are **auto-split** into ~3,000-item child runs on Apify, with **auto-heal** under auth walls. Default path uses **RESIDENTIAL** proxy (LinkedIn often blocks datacenter IPs).

This Actor is **not affiliated with LinkedIn / Microsoft**. Availability is inferred from public HTML and can change if LinkedIn alters their pages.

### Key features

- **Bulk checks** - up to 100,000 slugs per run (invalid / duplicate inputs filtered before work starts)
- **One mode per run** - `user` (profile) or `company` (never both in one paid call)
- **Auto-sharding** - runs above ~3,000 split into child runs; one parent dataset
- **Auto-heal** - on auth walls / proxy failures: backoff, lower concurrency, rotate sticky session once per wave
- **URL-aware input** - bare slug, `/in/...`, or `/company/...` URLs
- **No browser** - HTTP + early-abort HTML (low compute, **256 MB**)
- **Success-only billing** - only conclusive checks charge PPE `result`
- **Export anywhere** - JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML from the Apify dataset

### Why Clovys

Clovys is a nonprofit organization driven by a single mission: to make the internet safer, faster, more reliable, and universally accessible.

We believe that data should not be locked behind exorbitant paywalls or complex technical barriers. By building lightweight, highly optimized Apify Actors, we help developers, researchers, and organizations access the information they need to innovate without friction.

As a nonprofit initiative, **we do not optimize for margins**. Our pricing is kept as low as possible and is strictly calculated to cover the raw infrastructure costs of data extraction - such as Apify compute units and proxy bandwidth.

For LinkedIn specifically, Clovys ships a **residential-ready** vanity checker with sticky sessions, early-abort streaming, and auto-heal so bulk runs stay usable when LinkedIn shows auth walls.

### Use cases

- **Personal / founder branding** - check `/in/` vanity availability
- **Company pages** - screen `/company/` slugs before launch
- **Agency workflows** - bulk-check client vanity ideas
- **Multi-platform suites** - pair with other Clovys username checkers

### How to use

1. Open **LinkedIn Username Checker** in Apify Console
2. Paste slugs in **Slugs / usernames**
3. Leave **entityType** as `user`, or switch to `company` for a separate run
4. Keep defaults (**256 MB**, concurrency **2**, RESIDENTIAL proxy)
5. Click **Start** and download the **Dataset**

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `usernames` | `string[]` | - | Vanity slugs or LinkedIn URLs (required, up to 100,000) |
| `entityType` | `string` | `user` | `user` (`/in/`) or `company` (`/company/`) - single value only |
| `maxConcurrency` | `integer` | `2` | Parallel checks (1-10). Keep low with residential proxy |
| `maxRetries` | `integer` | `1` | Retries on network / ambiguous responses |
| `requestDelayMs` | `integer` | `300` | Pause after each check (`0` = off) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | `object` | RESIDENTIAL | **Recommended on Apify** - datacenter IPs often hit auth walls |

### Output example

You can download the dataset in JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

```json
{
 "platform": "linkedin",
 "entityType": "user",
 "username": "williamhgates",
 "available": false,
 "displayName": "Bill Gates - Chair, Gates Foundation and Founder, Breakthrough Energy",
 "profileUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamhgates",
 "method": "linkedin_public_html",
 "checkedAt": "2026-09-26T01:00:00.000Z",
 "error": null
}
```

Taken **and** available rows are successful results. Auth-wall / failed rows keep `available: null` and `error` set - **they are not billed**.

### Data fields

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `platform` | Always `linkedin` |
| `entityType` | `user` or `company` |
| `username` | Normalized vanity slug |
| `available` | `true` = free, `false` = taken, `null` = inconclusive |
| `displayName` | Public title when taken |
| `profileUrl` | Canonical LinkedIn URL |
| `method` | Always `linkedin_public_html` |
| `checkedAt` | ISO timestamp |
| `error` | Error message if the check failed |

### Pricing

Pay-per-event pricing (platform usage is billed separately by Apify):

| Event | When charged | Price |
|---|---|---|
| **result** | Each conclusive check (`available` true **or** false) | **$0.004** (**$4 / 1,000**) |
| **Actor Start** | Once when the run starts (scaled by memory GB) | **$0.001** |

Example: **1,000 conclusive checks** ~ **$4.00** in PPE `result` (+ Actor Start + Apify platform / proxy usage).

Only conclusive results are charged as `result`. Failed / auth-wall rows are free on the PPE event. Checking both `user` and `company` means **two runs**.

### Recommended settings

| Goal | Settings |
|---|---|
| Production / Store | **256 MB**, concurrency **2**, RESIDENTIAL proxy, delay **300 ms** |
| Gentler on walls | concurrency **1**, delay **400-600 ms**, `maxRetries: 2` |
| Huge lists | up to **100,000** slugs - auto-shard handles the rest |

### FAQ

**How many usernames per run?** Up to **100,000**. Lists above ~3,000 are auto-split into child runs; invalid / duplicate inputs are dropped **before** sharding.

**Is "taken" billed?** Yes. Both `available: false` (taken) and `available: true` (free) are conclusive `result` events. Only `error` / inconclusive rows are free.

**Can I check profiles and companies in one run?** No. `entityType` is a **single** value. Run once for `user`, once for `company` (separate billing).

**Do I need expensive proxies?** **Yes, recommended** - use **RESIDENTIAL** (default). Datacenter IPs often return auth walls and inconclusive results.

**What if a check fails?** It is stored with `error` and `available: null`. Other slugs continue. Failed items are **not** billed as `result`. Auto-heal may slow down and rotate the sticky proxy session.

**Is this official LinkedIn data?** No. This Actor is independent and unaffiliated. LinkedIn can change page behavior at any time.

### Support

Questions, bugs, or feature requests: use the Actor **Issues** tab on Apify, or contact Clovys through the Store profile.

# Actor input Schema

## `usernames` (type: `array`):

LinkedIn vanity slugs (with or without /in/ or /company/ URL). Up to 100 000 per run (auto-split into ~3k chunks on Apify).

## `entityType` (type: `string`):

user = linkedin.com/in/{slug}. company = linkedin.com/company/{slug}. Default user. Separate runs to check both.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel checks.

## `maxRetries` (type: `integer`):

Retries on network / ambiguous responses.

## `requestDelayMs` (type: `integer`):

Pause after each check (ms). 0 = off.

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

Use Apify RESIDENTIAL proxy. LinkedIn often blocks datacenter IPs.

## `_shard` (type: `boolean`):

Internal self-shard marker. Do not set manually.

## `_parentDatasetId` (type: `string`):

Internal parent dataset id for self-shard children. Do not set manually.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "bill-gates"
  ],
  "entityType": "user",
  "maxConcurrency": 2,
  "maxRetries": 1,
  "requestDelayMs": 300,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  },
  "_shard": false
}
```

# 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 = {
    "usernames": [
        "bill-gates"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("clovys/linkedin-username-checker").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 = { "usernames": ["bill-gates"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("clovys/linkedin-username-checker").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 '{
  "usernames": [
    "bill-gates"
  ]
}' |
apify call clovys/linkedin-username-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,clovys/linkedin-username-checker"
        }
    }
}
```

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/94Js8fL4uJKkKpwzK/builds/JwJZNOBefBJbld633/openapi.json