# ❓ Zhihu Question Answers Scraper (`ethereal_wool/zhihu-question-answers-scraper`) Actor

Extract Zhihu question answers data — title, author, engagement, and more. Scrape by keyword, URL or ID. Export to JSON, CSV & Excel, use the API, schedule runs and integrate. No code required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ethereal\_wool/zhihu-question-answers-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Jackie Chen](https://apify.com/ethereal_wool) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$3.00 / 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

## Zhihu Question Answers Scraper

![zhihu-question-answers-scraper](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/48FFrfZnw5XqzUC1C/records/zhihu-question-answers-scraper__hero)

Scrape **every answer on a Zhihu (知乎) question** — with the **full answer body**, not
just a snippet. Each answer becomes one structured item: complete HTML content, a plain-text
excerpt, the author's name / handle / follower count, upvotes, comment count, and timestamps.
This is ideal raw material for **LLM training data, Q&A-pair datasets, and content research**.

> **Unofficial.** This Actor is not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by Zhihu
> (知乎 / Zhihu Inc.). It is an independent tool that retrieves publicly available data via a
> third-party API. Use it in compliance with Zhihu's terms and all applicable laws; you are
> responsible for how you use the retrieved data.

### What it does

- **Question answers (primary)** — give one or more Zhihu question IDs; the Actor paginates
  through every answer on each question and emits one item per answer with the full body text.
- **Answer comments (optional)** — give answer IDs to also pull their top-level comments,
  one item per comment.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `questionIds` | string[] | `["19550517"]` | Zhihu question IDs (numeric id from `zhihu.com/question/<id>`). Each is paginated independently. |
| `order` | enum | `default` | `default` (Zhihu ranking) or `updated` (most recently updated). |
| `answerIds` | string[] | `[]` | Optional. Answer IDs to pull top-level comments for. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `50` | Max total items (answers + comments) across all inputs. |
| `maxCommentsPerAnswer` | integer | `50` | Cap on comments fetched per answer ID. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "questionIds": ["19550517", "20278289"],
  "order": "default",
  "maxItems": 200
}
````

### Output

One dataset item per answer:

```json
{
  "answerId": "12202199",
  "type": "answer",
  "url": "https://www.zhihu.com/question/19550517/answer/12202199",
  "questionId": 19550517,
  "questionTitle": "Instagram 有多少用户？",
  "excerpt": "1500 万。今年 3 月份报出来的数字 ...",
  "content": "<p>... full answer body as HTML ...</p>",
  "voteupCount": 2,
  "commentCount": 7,
  "createdTime": 1334057938,
  "updatedTime": 1334057938,
  "authorName": "黄继新",
  "authorUrlToken": "jixin",
  "authorId": "...",
  "authorFollowerCount": 1006585,
  "authorHeadline": "知乎 联合创始人",
  "authorUrl": "https://www.zhihu.com/people/jixin",
  "source": "question:19550517"
}
```

When `answerIds` is supplied, comment items are also emitted with `type: "comment"`,
`commentId`, `answerId`, `content`, `voteupCount`, `childCommentCount`, and author fields.

### Notes

- Data is sourced live; the upstream API occasionally returns a transient retry signal,
  so the Actor retries with exponential backoff and a browser User-Agent.
- Items are de-duplicated by id within a run.

# Actor input Schema

## `questionIds` (type: `array`):

Zhihu question IDs whose answers you want to scrape. The numeric id from a question URL, e.g. 39813913 in https://www.zhihu.com/question/39813913. Each question is paginated independently and every answer becomes one dataset item with full body text.

## `order` (type: `string`):

How to order answers within a question.

## `answerIds` (type: `array`):

Optional. Numeric Zhihu answer IDs to pull top-level comments for. Each comment becomes its own dataset item. Use this to enrich specific answers found via the question scrape.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum total number of items (answers + comments) to scrape across all inputs.

## `maxCommentsPerAnswer` (type: `integer`):

Maximum top-level comments to fetch per answer ID listed in 'Answer IDs (comments mode)'.

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

Optional. Route the upstream API calls through an Apify Proxy to vary the source IP. Usually not needed.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "questionIds": [
    "39813913"
  ],
  "order": "default",
  "answerIds": [],
  "maxItems": 50,
  "maxCommentsPerAnswer": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "questionIds": [
        "39813913"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ethereal_wool/zhihu-question-answers-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "questionIds": ["39813913"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ethereal_wool/zhihu-question-answers-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 '{
  "questionIds": [
    "39813913"
  ]
}' |
apify call ethereal_wool/zhihu-question-answers-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=ethereal_wool/zhihu-question-answers-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "❓ Zhihu Question Answers Scraper",
        "description": "Extract Zhihu question answers data — title, author, engagement, and more. Scrape by keyword, URL or ID. Export to JSON, CSV & Excel, use the API, schedule runs and integrate. No code required.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "Hs8CxCuyPebvndiO2"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/ethereal_wool~zhihu-question-answers-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-ethereal_wool-zhihu-question-answers-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": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/ethereal_wool~zhihu-question-answers-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-ethereal_wool-zhihu-question-answers-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/ethereal_wool~zhihu-question-answers-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-ethereal_wool-zhihu-question-answers-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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",
                "properties": {
                    "questionIds": {
                        "title": "Question IDs",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Zhihu question IDs whose answers you want to scrape. The numeric id from a question URL, e.g. 39813913 in https://www.zhihu.com/question/39813913. Each question is paginated independently and every answer becomes one dataset item with full body text.",
                        "default": [
                            "39813913"
                        ],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "order": {
                        "title": "Answer order",
                        "enum": [
                            "default",
                            "updated"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "How to order answers within a question.",
                        "default": "default"
                    },
                    "answerIds": {
                        "title": "Answer IDs (comments mode)",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Optional. Numeric Zhihu answer IDs to pull top-level comments for. Each comment becomes its own dataset item. Use this to enrich specific answers found via the question scrape.",
                        "default": [],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max items",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 100000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum total number of items (answers + comments) to scrape across all inputs.",
                        "default": 50
                    },
                    "maxCommentsPerAnswer": {
                        "title": "Max comments per answer",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 1000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum top-level comments to fetch per answer ID listed in 'Answer IDs (comments mode)'.",
                        "default": 50
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Optional. Route the upstream API calls through an Apify Proxy to vary the source IP. Usually not needed.",
                        "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
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```