# Competitor Website Change Tracker (`erinle_sam/competitor-website-change-tracker`) Actor Monitor competitor websites and get instant alerts when anything changes — content, pricing, or UI. Combines text diffing with pixel-level visual comparison to give you a complete picture of what changed. - **URL**: https://apify.com/erinle\_sam/competitor-website-change-tracker.md - **Developed by:** [Erinle Samuel](https://apify.com/erinle_sam) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Automation - **Stats:** 11 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.00 / 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/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 ## Screenshot & PDF Generator with Smart Crawling Sophisticated Apify Actor that captures screenshots and PDFs of websites with intelligent crawling for complex web applications. Perfect for documentation, archiving, monitoring, and testing purposes. ### Features ✨ **Flexible Capture Modes** - Screenshots (PNG or JPEG) - PDFs with customizable formats - Both simultaneously 🎯 **Smart Waiting & Scrolling** - Auto-scroll to load lazy elements - Wait for specific CSS selectors - Network idle detection - Custom timeout delays - Perfect for SPAs and dynamic webapps 🕷️ **Intelligent Crawling** - Configurable depth (0-5 levels) - Same-domain restriction - Per-domain page limits - Automatic link discovery 🎨 **Customization Options** - Custom viewport sizes (320x240 to 3840x2160) - Full-page or viewport captures - Element removal (hide cookie banners, chat widgets, etc.) - Custom cookies and headers 📦 **Organized Storage** - Screenshots and PDFs in key-value store - Metadata in dataset with links - Unique file naming with URL hash + timestamp ### Quick Start #### Basic Usage ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://apify.com" } ], "captureMode": "both", "fullPage": true, "waitForNetworkIdle": true } ```` #### Advanced Example ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://example.com" } ], "captureMode": "both", "fullPage": true, "viewportWidth": 1920, "viewportHeight": 1080, "crawlDepth": 1, "maxPagesPerDomain": 10, "waitForNetworkIdle": true, "waitTime": 2000, "removeElements": [ ".cookie-banner", "#chat-widget" ], "screenshotFormat": "png", "pdfFormat": "A4" } ``` ### Input Parameters | Field | Type | Default | Description | |-------|------|---------|-------------| | `startUrls` | array | required | List of URLs to capture | | `captureMode` | string | `"both"` | `"screenshot"`, `"pdf"`, or `"both"` | | `fullPage` | boolean | `true` | Capture entire page or just viewport | | `autoScroll` | boolean | `true` | Scroll page to load lazy elements | | `viewportWidth` | integer | `1920` | Viewport width (320-3840) | | `viewportHeight` | integer | `1080` | Viewport height (240-2160) | | `crawlDepth` | integer | `0` | Crawl depth (0 = start URLs only) | | `maxPagesPerDomain` | integer | `50` | Max pages per domain | | `waitForSelector` | string | `""` | CSS selector to wait for | | `waitForNetworkIdle` | boolean | `true` | Wait for network idle | | `waitTime` | integer | `1000` | Additional wait time (ms) | | `removeElements` | array | `[]` | CSS selectors to hide | | `screenshotFormat` | string | `"png"` | `"png"` or `"jpeg"` | | `screenshotQuality` | integer | `90` | JPEG quality (1-100) | | `pdfFormat` | string | `"A4"` | Paper format | | `maxRequestsPerCrawl` | integer | `100` | Total page limit | ### Output #### Dataset Each page creates an entry with metadata and links to files: ```json { "url": "https://example.com", "title": "Example Page", "timestamp": "2025-12-04T13:00:00.000Z", "screenshotUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/...", "pdfUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/...", "viewport": "1920x1080", "depth": 0 } ``` #### Key-Value Store Binary files in organized collections: - **screenshots**: PNG/JPEG files (prefix: `screenshot-`) - **pdfs**: PDF documents (prefix: `pdf-`) ### Tips for Complex Webapps **Single Page Applications (SPAs)** ```json { "waitForNetworkIdle": true, "waitTime": 2000, "waitForSelector": "#app-loaded" } ``` **Authentication** ```json { "cookies": [ { "name": "session_token", "value": "your-token", "domain": "example.com" } ] } ``` **Remove Distractions** ```json { "removeElements": [ ".cookie-consent", "#intercom-container", ".live-chat-widget" ] } ``` ### Local Development ```bash ## Install dependencies npm install ## Run locally apify run ## Deploy to Apify apify login apify push ``` ### Resources - [Crawlee Documentation](https://crawlee.dev) - [Apify SDK](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/js) - [Playwright](https://playwright.dev) ### License ISC # Actor input Schema ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): List of URLs to capture screenshots and/or PDFs from. ## `captureMode` (type: `string`): What to capture from each page. ## `fullPage` (type: `boolean`): Capture the entire scrollable page instead of just the viewport. ## `autoScroll` (type: `boolean`): Automatically scroll the page to load lazy elements before capturing. ## `viewportWidth` (type: `integer`): Browser viewport width in pixels. ## `viewportHeight` (type: `integer`): Browser viewport height in pixels. ## `crawlDepth` (type: `integer`): How many levels deep to crawl from start URLs (0 = only start URLs, 1 = start URLs + their links, etc.). ## `maxPagesPerDomain` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of pages to capture per domain (0 = unlimited). ## `waitForSelector` (type: `string`): CSS selector to wait for before capturing (useful for dynamic content). Leave empty to skip. ## `waitForNetworkIdle` (type: `boolean`): Wait for network to be idle before capturing (recommended for SPAs and complex webapps). ## `waitTime` (type: `integer`): Additional time to wait in milliseconds before capturing (after other wait conditions). ## `removeElements` (type: `array`): CSS selectors of elements to hide before capturing (e.g., cookie banners, chat widgets). ## `screenshotFormat` (type: `string`): Image format for screenshots. ## `screenshotQuality` (type: `integer`): JPEG quality (1-100, only applies to JPEG format). ## `pdfFormat` (type: `string`): Paper format for PDF generation. ## `pdfPrintBackground` (type: `boolean`): Include background graphics in PDF. ## `cookies` (type: `array`): Cookies to set before navigating to pages (for authentication, etc.). ## `headers` (type: `object`): Custom HTTP headers to send with requests. ## `maxRequestsPerCrawl` (type: `integer`): Maximum total number of pages to process across all domains. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings for bypassing restrictions. ## Actor input object example ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://apify.com" } ], "captureMode": "both", "fullPage": true, "autoScroll": true, "viewportWidth": 1920, "viewportHeight": 1080, "crawlDepth": 0, "maxPagesPerDomain": 50, "waitForNetworkIdle": true, "waitTime": 1000, "removeElements": [], "screenshotFormat": "png", "screenshotQuality": 90, "pdfFormat": "A4", "pdfPrintBackground": true, "cookies": [], "headers": {}, "maxRequestsPerCrawl": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `dataset` (type: `string`): No description ## `screenshots` (type: `string`): No description ## `pdfs` (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 = { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://apify.com" } ], "removeElements": [], "cookies": [], "headers": {} }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("erinle_sam/competitor-website-change-tracker").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 = { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://apify.com" }], "removeElements": [], "cookies": [], "headers": {}, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("erinle_sam/competitor-website-change-tracker").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 '{ "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://apify.com" } ], "removeElements": [], "cookies": [], "headers": {} }' | apify call erinle_sam/competitor-website-change-tracker --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=erinle_sam/competitor-website-change-tracker", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Competitor Website Change Tracker", "description": "Monitor competitor websites and get instant alerts when anything changes — content, pricing, or UI. Combines text diffing with pixel-level visual comparison to give you a complete picture of what changed.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "OGzlvLFcJ0ZROdMfF" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/erinle_sam~competitor-website-change-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-erinle_sam-competitor-website-change-tracker", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/erinle_sam~competitor-website-change-tracker/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-erinle_sam-competitor-website-change-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/erinle_sam~competitor-website-change-tracker/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-erinle_sam-competitor-website-change-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": [ "startUrls" ], "properties": { "startUrls": { "title": "Start URLs", "type": "array", "description": "List of URLs to capture screenshots and/or PDFs from.", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "type": "string", "title": "URL of a web page", "format": "uri" } } } }, "captureMode": { "title": "Capture Mode", "enum": [ "screenshot", "pdf", "both" ], "type": "string", "description": "What to capture from each page.", "default": "both" }, "fullPage": { "title": "Full Page Capture", "type": "boolean", "description": "Capture the entire scrollable page instead of just the viewport.", "default": true }, "autoScroll": { "title": "Auto Scroll", "type": "boolean", "description": "Automatically scroll the page to load lazy elements before capturing.", "default": true }, "viewportWidth": { "title": "Viewport Width", "minimum": 320, "maximum": 3840, "type": "integer", "description": "Browser viewport width in pixels.", "default": 1920 }, "viewportHeight": { "title": "Viewport Height", "minimum": 240, "maximum": 2160, "type": "integer", "description": "Browser viewport height in pixels.", "default": 1080 }, "crawlDepth": { "title": "Crawl Depth", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 5, "type": "integer", "description": "How many levels deep to crawl from start URLs (0 = only start URLs, 1 = start URLs + their links, etc.).", "default": 0 }, "maxPagesPerDomain": { "title": "Max Pages Per Domain", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of pages to capture per domain (0 = unlimited).", "default": 50 }, "waitForSelector": { "title": "Wait for Selector", "type": "string", "description": "CSS selector to wait for before capturing (useful for dynamic content). Leave empty to skip." }, "waitForNetworkIdle": { "title": "Wait for Network Idle", "type": "boolean", "description": "Wait for network to be idle before capturing (recommended for SPAs and complex webapps).", "default": true }, "waitTime": { "title": "Additional Wait Time (ms)", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 30000, "type": "integer", "description": "Additional time to wait in milliseconds before capturing (after other wait conditions).", "default": 1000 }, "removeElements": { "title": "Remove Elements", "type": "array", "description": "CSS selectors of elements to hide before capturing (e.g., cookie banners, chat widgets).", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "screenshotFormat": { "title": "Screenshot Format", "enum": [ "png", "jpeg" ], "type": "string", "description": "Image format for screenshots.", "default": "png" }, "screenshotQuality": { "title": "Screenshot Quality", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100, "type": "integer", "description": "JPEG quality (1-100, only applies to JPEG format).", "default": 90 }, "pdfFormat": { "title": "PDF Format", "enum": [ "Letter", "Legal", "Tabloid", "Ledger", "A0", "A1", "A2", "A3", "A4", "A5", "A6" ], "type": "string", "description": "Paper format for PDF generation.", "default": "A4" }, "pdfPrintBackground": { "title": "PDF Print Background", "type": "boolean", "description": "Include background graphics in PDF.", "default": true }, "cookies": { "title": "Cookies", "type": "array", "description": "Cookies to set before navigating to pages (for authentication, etc.).", "default": [] }, "headers": { "title": "Custom Headers", "type": "object", "description": "Custom HTTP headers to send with requests.", "default": {} }, "maxRequestsPerCrawl": { "title": "Max Requests Per Crawl", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum total number of pages to process across all domains.", "default": 100 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy settings for bypassing restrictions.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": false } } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```