# DCAT / data.json Open-Data Catalog Harvester (`datamule/dcat-datajson-harvester`) Actor Point at ANY DCAT / Project-Open-Data data.json (energy.gov, NASA, CDC & 100s of gov portals) and harvest every dataset's metadata — title, publisher, contact, accessLevel, landing page, downloads + full distribution\[] + raw. Streams even huge feeds. Pay per dataset. - **URL**: https://apify.com/datamule/dcat-datajson-harvester.md - **Developed by:** [Datamule](https://apify.com/datamule) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $0.35 / 1,000 dataset harvesteds This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. 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/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.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/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 ## DCAT / data.json Open-Data Catalog Harvester A **generic "point at any DCAT / Project-Open-Data `data.json` catalog" harvester**. Under the U.S. [Project Open Data](https://resources.data.gov/resources/pods/) mandate, every federal agency (and many state, city and international portals) publishes a machine-readable [DCAT](https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat-2/) catalog at a `…/data.json` URL that lists **every dataset it holds**. They all share the identical envelope (`{"@type": "dcat:Catalog", "dataset": [ … ]}`), so **one actor harvests the whole open-data estate** — no per-portal scraper needed. Give it a `data.json` URL (or several, or pick from the built-in agency registry), optionally filter by a keyword, and it turns each catalog entry into a clean, flat dataset row plus a lossless `raw` copy — **streaming** the file so even a 71 MB catalog is harvested in a few MB of RAM. One actor, every DCAT catalog. ### What it does - **Harvest a catalog** — point `dataUrl` at any `data.json` and it walks the `dataset[]` array, emitting one row per dataset: `title`, `description`, `identifier`, `accessLevel`, `issued` / `modified`, `publisher`, `contactPoint` + `contactEmail`, `landingPage`, `license`, `keyword[]`, `theme[]`, the first `downloadURL` + `format`, the `distributionCount`, the **full `distribution[]` array**, and a lossless **`raw`** copy of the whole dataset object. - **Harvest many at once** — pass a `dataUrls` list, an `agencies` list, or `allAgencies` to sweep several catalogs in one run. The `maxRecords` cap applies across all sources together. - **Keyword filter** — set `keyword` to keep only datasets whose title, description, identifier, `keyword[]` or `theme[]` match (case-insensitive). - **Streams, never loads-all** — the catalog is parsed incrementally, so huge feeds (e.g. NASA's 71 MB `data.json`) are safe and `maxRecords` stops early without downloading the rest. ### Example inputs Harvest the U.S. Department of Energy catalog (small, clean, ~480 datasets): ```json { "dataUrl": "https://www.energy.gov/data.json", "maxRecords": 1000 } ```` Only climate-related datasets from NASA's (large) catalog: ```json { "dataUrl": "https://data.nasa.gov/data.json", "keyword": "climate", "maxRecords": 500 } ``` Sweep several agencies from the built-in registry in one run: ```json { "agencies": ["energy", "cdc", "nsf"], "maxRecords": 2000 } ``` Any DCAT catalog you like — point at your own: ```json { "dataUrls": ["https://data.cdc.gov/data.json", "https://www.justice.gov/data.json"] } ``` ### Input reference - `dataUrl` — a single DCAT / Project-Open-Data `data.json` URL. - `dataUrls` — a list of `data.json` URLs to harvest together. - `agencies` — pick from the built-in US-federal registry: `energy`, `nasa`, `cdc`, `doj`, `nsf`, `opm`, `sba`, `treasury`. - `allAgencies` — harvest every agency in the built-in registry. - `keyword` — optional case-insensitive keyword filter. - `maxRecords` — total dataset cap across all sources (default 1000). Each returned dataset is one billable event. - `bearerToken` / `extraHeaders` — optional, for gated catalogs; never required, never logged. > **Tip:** do **not** use `https://catalog.data.gov/data.json` — that aggregated endpoint 404s > behind Cloudflare. Use the individual agency catalogs (like `https://www.energy.gov/data.json`), > which are the actual Project-Open-Data source of record. ### Output One dataset row per catalog entry, with normalized columns plus: - `distribution` — the full array of distributions (each a `downloadURL` / `accessURL`, `format`, `mediaType`, `title`, …), and `downloadURL` / `format` / `distributionCount` summarizing it. - `publisher` (name) and `publisherObject` (the full nested organization), `contactPoint` + `contactEmail`. - `_sourceUrl` / `_catalogTitle` — which catalog the row came from. - `raw` — the complete, untouched DCAT dataset object. A catalog with no matching datasets returns **0 rows, not an error**. A wrong URL that returns a 404 / Cloudflare / HTML page fails fast with a clear message. ### Pricing **Pay per dataset** — one `dataset` event per row returned. A run that matches nothing costs nothing. ### Notes - Reads the DCAT-US / Project-Open-Data 1.1 `data.json` schema; scope is catalog **metadata** (what datasets exist and where to get them), not the underlying data files. - Streams with an incremental JSON parser, so large catalogs never blow memory. - Not affiliated with or endorsed by any agency or portal. Respect each provider's terms and any per-dataset licensing. # Actor input Schema ## `dataUrl` (type: `string`): The URL of ANY DCAT / Project-Open-Data catalog `data.json`. Every US federal agency (and many state, city and international portals) publishes one. Examples: https://www.energy.gov/data.json, https://data.nasa.gov/data.json, https://data.cdc.gov/data.json. Do NOT use https://catalog.data.gov/data.json — it 404s behind Cloudflare. Leave empty if you use the Agencies picker or a data.json URL list below. ## `dataUrls` (type: `array`): Harvest several catalogs in one run — a list of data.json URLs. Combined with the single URL above and the Agencies picker; duplicates are removed. The Max records cap applies across ALL sources together. ## `agencies` (type: `array`): Convenience shortcut: pick from a small built-in registry of verified US-federal agency catalogs instead of typing URLs. Allowed keys: energy, nasa, cdc, doj, nsf, opm, sba, treasury. (The primary way to use this actor is still the data.json URL field — this registry just saves typing for common agencies.) ## `allAgencies` (type: `boolean`): When on, harvest every agency in the built-in registry (energy, nasa, cdc, doj, nsf, opm, sba, treasury). The Max records cap still applies across all of them. Ignored if you provide your own URLs. ## `keyword` (type: `string`): Optional case-insensitive keyword. Only datasets whose title, description, identifier, keyword\[] or theme\[] contain this text are returned. Leave empty to harvest every dataset in the catalog. Example: climate, budget, health. ## `maxRecords` (type: `integer`): Maximum total number of datasets to return across all sources (the actor streams the catalog and stops at this cap — it never loads the whole file into memory, so even the 71 MB NASA feed is safe). Each returned dataset is one billable event. Default 25. ## `bearerToken` (type: `string`): Optional OAuth2 bearer token for a gated catalog. Sent as Authorization: Bearer \*\*\*. NOT required for public government catalogs — leave empty. Never logged. ## `extraHeaders` (type: `object`): Optional extra HTTP headers to send with every request, as a JSON object, e.g. {"Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key": "..."} for a gated deployment. Leave empty for public catalogs. ## Actor input object example ```json { "dataUrl": "https://www.energy.gov/data.json", "agencies": [], "allAgencies": false, "maxRecords": 25 } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "dataUrl": "https://www.energy.gov/data.json", "agencies": [], "maxRecords": 25 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("datamule/dcat-datajson-harvester").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 = { "dataUrl": "https://www.energy.gov/data.json", "agencies": [], "maxRecords": 25, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("datamule/dcat-datajson-harvester").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 '{ "dataUrl": "https://www.energy.gov/data.json", "agencies": [], "maxRecords": 25 }' | apify call datamule/dcat-datajson-harvester --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=datamule/dcat-datajson-harvester", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "DCAT / data.json Open-Data Catalog Harvester", "description": "Point at ANY DCAT / Project-Open-Data data.json (energy.gov, NASA, CDC & 100s of gov portals) and harvest every dataset's metadata — title, publisher, contact, accessLevel, landing page, downloads + full distribution[] + raw. Streams even huge feeds. Pay per dataset.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "tTvOieMJdrY9FrJnm" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/datamule~dcat-datajson-harvester/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-datamule-dcat-datajson-harvester", "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/datamule~dcat-datajson-harvester/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-datamule-dcat-datajson-harvester", "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/datamule~dcat-datajson-harvester/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-datamule-dcat-datajson-harvester", "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", "properties": { "dataUrl": { "title": "data.json URL", "type": "string", "description": "The URL of ANY DCAT / Project-Open-Data catalog `data.json`. Every US federal agency (and many state, city and international portals) publishes one. Examples: https://www.energy.gov/data.json, https://data.nasa.gov/data.json, https://data.cdc.gov/data.json. Do NOT use https://catalog.data.gov/data.json — it 404s behind Cloudflare. Leave empty if you use the Agencies picker or a data.json URL list below." }, "dataUrls": { "title": "data.json URLs (multiple)", "type": "array", "description": "Harvest several catalogs in one run — a list of data.json URLs. Combined with the single URL above and the Agencies picker; duplicates are removed. The Max records cap applies across ALL sources together.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "agencies": { "title": "US federal agencies (built-in registry)", "type": "array", "description": "Convenience shortcut: pick from a small built-in registry of verified US-federal agency catalogs instead of typing URLs. Allowed keys: energy, nasa, cdc, doj, nsf, opm, sba, treasury. (The primary way to use this actor is still the data.json URL field — this registry just saves typing for common agencies.)", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "allAgencies": { "title": "Harvest all built-in agencies", "type": "boolean", "description": "When on, harvest every agency in the built-in registry (energy, nasa, cdc, doj, nsf, opm, sba, treasury). The Max records cap still applies across all of them. Ignored if you provide your own URLs.", "default": false }, "keyword": { "title": "Keyword filter", "type": "string", "description": "Optional case-insensitive keyword. Only datasets whose title, description, identifier, keyword[] or theme[] contain this text are returned. Leave empty to harvest every dataset in the catalog. Example: climate, budget, health." }, "maxRecords": { "title": "Max records (total)", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum total number of datasets to return across all sources (the actor streams the catalog and stops at this cap — it never loads the whole file into memory, so even the 71 MB NASA feed is safe). Each returned dataset is one billable event. Default 25.", "default": 25 }, "bearerToken": { "title": "Bearer token (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Optional OAuth2 bearer token for a gated catalog. Sent as Authorization: Bearer ***. NOT required for public government catalogs — leave empty. Never logged." }, "extraHeaders": { "title": "Extra request headers", "type": "object", "description": "Optional extra HTTP headers to send with every request, as a JSON object, e.g. {\"Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key\": \"...\"} for a gated deployment. Leave empty for public catalogs." } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```