# Coles AU Product Search & Specials Scraper (`diopside/coles-au-products`) Actor

Coles Australia products with prices, unit prices, specials, categories and images — by keyword search, category, current specials or product ID. Uses the site's own JSON data routes with self-healing build discovery. Store-agnostic pricing.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/diopside/coles-au-products.md
- **Developed by:** [DIOPSIDE AI](https://apify.com/diopside) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Other, Agents
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 product records

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

## Coles AU Product Search & Specials Scraper

Product data from **coles.com.au** — prices, unit prices, specials, categories, availability and
images — by keyword search, category page, the site-wide specials list, or individual product URL.

- **Reads Coles' own JSON data routes**, not rendered HTML, so fields arrive typed and complete.
- **Self-healing.** The route key (`buildId`) changes on every Coles deploy; it's discovered on
  every run, re-discovered if a route 404s, and the page's embedded data is used as a last fallback.
- **Built to pass bot protection.** Coles fingerprints TLS handshakes *and* scores the IP. This actor
  presents a real browser fingerprint, seeds the site's cookies with a homepage visit, and climbs a
  proxy ladder by itself: Apify datacenter first, a fresh IP next, then Apify `RESIDENTIAL` (country
  `AU`). You don't have to change your input when Coles tightens its defences — the run reports which
  tier it ended on.
- **Deduplicated** across your queries by product id.

### vs other Coles scrapers

The most-used alternative in the store, `coles-au-product-search-specials-stores-unofficial`
(281 monthly users), failed on **33%** of its last 7,234 runs (Apify's public 30-day stats).
A smaller one, `coles-au-scraper`, failed on 29% of its runs. Both read the rendered page; this
actor reads Coles' own JSON routes and climbs a proxy ladder automatically when Incapsula
challenges an IP, reporting which tier each run ended on so a partial block shows up in the
status message instead of a silently thin dataset.

### Input

| field | default | notes |
|---|---|---|
| `searchTerms` | — | `["milk", "weet-bix"]` — one listing per term |
| `categoryUrls` | `[]` | `https://www.coles.com.au/browse/dairy-eggs-fridge/milk` or `dairy-eggs-fridge/milk` |
| `specials` | `false` | the site-wide *On special* list (thousands of items) |
| `productIds` | `[]` | product **URLs or slugs** (`coles-full-cream-milk-3l-8150288`). Coles has no id-only page, so bare numbers can't be resolved |
| `maxItemsPerQuery` | `100` | per term / category / specials list; `0` = all |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Apify proxy | the tier tried first; keep on |
| `residentialFallback` | `true` | auto-retry on Apify `RESIDENTIAL` (AU) when the proxy above is challenged. Residential transfer is billed by the GB on your account (~0.6 MB per search page, ~2 MB for a 2-term canary run); set `false` to stay on your chosen proxy |

Prices are for Coles' default online store context; store-specific pricing can differ slightly.

### Output — one record per product

```json
{
  "id": 8150288,
  "name": "Full Cream Milk", "brand": "Coles", "size": "3L",
  "description": "Coles Full Cream Milk 3L",
  "price": 4.95, "price_was": null, "save_amount": null, "save_statement": null,
  "on_special": false, "promotion_type": null, "online_special": false,
  "unit_price": 1.65, "unit_of_measure": "l", "unit_quantity": 1, "comparable_price": "$1.65/ 1L",
  "is_weighted": false,
  "availability": true, "availability_type": "InStock",
  "category": "Dairy, Eggs & Fridge", "subcategory": "Milk", "aisle": "Full Cream Milk", "category_id": "8881800",
  "merchandise_category": "GROCERY MILK",
  "restrictions": null,
  "image_url": "https://productimages.coles.com.au/productimages/8/8150288.jpg",
  "image_urls": ["https://productimages.coles.com.au/productimages/8/8150288.jpg"],
  "url": "https://www.coles.com.au/product/coles-full-cream-milk-3l-8150288",
  "query": "search:milk",
  "scraped_at": "2026-09-18T10:12:00+00:00"
}
```

Specials carry `price_was`, `save_amount`, `save_statement` and `promotion_type` (e.g. `SPECIAL`).
`query` tells you which input produced the record.

### Typical sizes

A search term returns 50–150 products; a category 100–400; the full specials list ~7,000+.
A 3-term search with default caps runs in ~15 s.

### Use cases

Price monitoring and history, specials alerts, unit-price comparison, catalog enrichment,
grocery-basket cost tracking, feeding dashboards and AI agents.

### Pricing

Pay per product record. See the pricing tab.

### Notes

Public product data only; no login, no personal data. Missing upstream values come back as
`null`; queries that return nothing or get blocked are listed in the run status rather than hidden.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Keywords to search, e.g. milk, weet-bix, tim tam. One listing per term.

## `categoryUrls` (type: `array`):

Coles browse pages, e.g. https://www.coles.com.au/browse/dairy-eggs-fridge/milk (or just dairy-eggs-fridge/milk).

## `specials` (type: `boolean`):

Pull the site-wide 'On special' listing (thousands of items — set maxItemsPerQuery accordingly).

## `productIds` (type: `array`):

Individual products by URL (https://www.coles.com.au/product/coles-full-cream-milk-3l-8150288) or slug (coles-full-cream-milk-3l-8150288). Bare numeric IDs are not resolvable on coles.com.au.

## `maxItemsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Cap per search term / category / specials listing. 0 = no cap.

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

Coles uses bot protection. This is the proxy tried first; if it gets challenged the actor escalates to Apify RESIDENTIAL (country AU) on its own — see 'Residential fallback'.

## `residentialFallback` (type: `boolean`):

When the proxy above gets Coles' bot-protection page, automatically retry on Apify RESIDENTIAL proxies (country AU). Residential traffic is billed by the GB on your account; turn this off to keep a run strictly on the proxy you chose.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "milk",
    "bread"
  ],
  "categoryUrls": [],
  "specials": false,
  "productIds": [],
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 100,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  },
  "residentialFallback": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `products` (type: `string`):

All product records. Append ?format=csv for CSV.

## `datasetUrl` (type: `string`):

The default dataset.

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "milk",
        "bread"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("diopside/coles-au-products").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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "milk",
        "bread",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("diopside/coles-au-products").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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "milk",
    "bread"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call diopside/coles-au-products --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,diopside/coles-au-products"
        }
    }
}
```

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/CRhOWpDHKkqjcq8bc/builds/hNmbIh1NBmbdF6CJU/openapi.json