San Francisco Business Licenses Scraper

Overview

Scrapes business license data from San Francisco Open Data (SF Gov) using the Socrata SODA API. Supports filters (Start Date After).

Features

• Search by keywords to find specific results
• Filter results by category or type
• Export data in JSON, CSV, or Excel formats
• Control output volume with configurable result limits

Use Cases

• Track - Track state and local government data and permits
• Monitor - Monitor regulatory filings and public records
• Build - Build databases for civic tech and transparency projects
• Aggregate - Aggregate local government data for community research

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
maxItems	integer	Maximum number of business licenses to scrape. Set to 0 for unlimited.	1000
businessName	string	Search for businesses by name (case-insensitive partial match on DBA name or ...
naicsCode	string	Filter by NAICS industry code (e.g., '7220-7229' for Food Services, '2300-239...
neighborhood	string	Filter by neighborhood name (e.g., 'Mission', 'Marina', 'Financial District/S...
activeOnly	boolean	If enabled, only return businesses without an end date (currently active).	false
startDateAfter	string	Only include businesses that started after this date (format: YYYY-MM-DD).
zipCode	string	Filter by business ZIP code (e.g., '94102').

Output Example

Each result contains structured data like this:

{
  "certificateNumber": "LIC-2025-001",
  "businessName": "San Francisco Business Licenses Sample Item",
  "dbaName": "San Francisco Business Licenses Sample Item",
  "naicsDescription": "Sample naicsDescription",
  "address.street": "Sample address.street",
  "neighborhood": "Sample neighborhood",
  "startDate": "2025-01-15"
}

Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-result pricing:

• $0.001 per result
• $1.00 per 1,000 results

No monthly fees. You only pay for what you scrape. Apify Free plan includes $5/month in platform credits.

How to Run

Apify Console

1. Go to the San Francisco Business Licenses Scraper actor page
2. Configure your input parameters
3. Click Start and wait for the results
4. Download data in JSON, CSV, or Excel format

API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fortuitous_pirate~sf-business-licenses/runs?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"maxItems": 10}'

Python SDK

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("fortuitous_pirate/sf-business-licenses").call(
    run_input={"maxItems": 10}
)

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

Integration

Connect San Francisco Business Licenses Scraper with your existing tools and workflows:

• API access - Programmatic access via Apify API
• Webhooks - Get notified when scraping completes
• Scheduling - Set up recurring runs on any schedule
• Zapier / Make - Connect with 5,000+ apps via Apify integrations
• Python / Node.js SDKs - Native client libraries for easy integration