# DuckDuckGo Instant Answer Scraper (`crawlerbros/duckduckgo-scraper`) Actor Scrape DuckDuckGo Instant Answers for any search query. Returns abstracts, definitions, related topics, infoboxes, and answer cards. No API key required. Great for quick factual lookups and knowledge extraction. - **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlerbros/duckduckgo-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Crawler Bros](https://apify.com/crawlerbros) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, SEO tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $3.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. 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 ## DuckDuckGo Instant Answer Scraper Scrape [DuckDuckGo Instant Answers](https://api.duckduckgo.com) for any search query. Returns abstracts, definitions, infoboxes, and answer cards. No API key required. ### Features - Fetch instant answers for any list of queries - Returns **abstract** text with source attribution - Returns **infobox** structured data (key-value pairs) - Returns **answer** cards (calculations, conversions, etc.) - Returns **definitions** for words/terms - Optional **related topics** list - Skip queries with no result to keep dataset clean ### Input | Field | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | `queries` | list | Search queries to look up | | `skipNoResult` | boolean | Skip queries with no instant answer (default: true) | | `includeRelatedTopics` | boolean | Include related topics (default: false) | | `maxItems` | integer | Max records (default: 50) | ### Output | Field | Description | |---|---| | `query` | The search query | | `heading` | Main heading returned | | `abstract` | Short abstract text | | `abstractText` | Full abstract text | | `abstractSource` | Source name (e.g. "Wikipedia") | | `abstractUrl` | Source URL | | `answer` | Direct answer (for calculations, conversions) | | `answerType` | Type of answer | | `definition` | Word/term definition | | `infoboxItems` | List of key-value infobox fields | | `relatedTopics` | Related topic links | | `imageUrl` | Associated image URL | | `sourceUrl` | Primary source URL | | `scrapedAt` | ISO timestamp | | `recordType` | Always `"instant_answer"` | ### FAQ **What queries work best?** Famous people, places, concepts, movies, books, math expressions. **What won't return results?** Very obscure topics, opinion questions, or queries DuckDuckGo hasn't indexed as instant answers. # Actor input Schema ## `queries` (type: `array`): List of queries to look up instant answers for. ## `skipNoResult` (type: `boolean`): If true, only emit records where DuckDuckGo returned an abstract or answer. ## `includeRelatedTopics` (type: `boolean`): Include the list of related topics in the output. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of records to emit. ## Actor input object example ```json { "queries": [ "Python programming language", "Mount Everest", "Albert Einstein" ], "skipNoResult": true, "includeRelatedTopics": false, "maxItems": 50 } ```` # Actor output Schema ## `items` (type: `string`): Dataset containing all scraped records. # 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 = { "queries": [ "Python programming language", "Mount Everest", "Albert Einstein" ], "skipNoResult": true, "includeRelatedTopics": false, "maxItems": 50 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("crawlerbros/duckduckgo-scraper").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 = { "queries": [ "Python programming language", "Mount Everest", "Albert Einstein", ], "skipNoResult": True, "includeRelatedTopics": False, "maxItems": 50, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("crawlerbros/duckduckgo-scraper").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 '{ "queries": [ "Python programming language", "Mount Everest", "Albert Einstein" ], "skipNoResult": true, "includeRelatedTopics": false, "maxItems": 50 }' | apify call crawlerbros/duckduckgo-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=crawlerbros/duckduckgo-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "DuckDuckGo Instant Answer Scraper", "description": "Scrape DuckDuckGo Instant Answers for any search query. Returns abstracts, definitions, related topics, infoboxes, and answer cards. No API key required. Great for quick factual lookups and knowledge extraction.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "h47m2acmbM1LQNMfx" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/crawlerbros~duckduckgo-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-crawlerbros-duckduckgo-scraper", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/crawlerbros~duckduckgo-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-crawlerbros-duckduckgo-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/crawlerbros~duckduckgo-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-crawlerbros-duckduckgo-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": [ "queries" ], "properties": { "queries": { "title": "Search queries", "type": "array", "description": "List of queries to look up instant answers for.", "default": [ "Python programming language" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "skipNoResult": { "title": "Skip queries with no instant answer", "type": "boolean", "description": "If true, only emit records where DuckDuckGo returned an abstract or answer.", "default": true }, "includeRelatedTopics": { "title": "Include related topics", "type": "boolean", "description": "Include the list of related topics in the output.", "default": false }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of records to emit.", "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```