# 4chan Product Scraper (`fullcirclescrapper/4chan-scraper`) Actor

Extract products, prices, availability and sellers from boards.4chan.org

- **URL**: https://apify.com/fullcirclescrapper/4chan-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Fernando Akio Pucci](https://apify.com/fullcirclescrapper) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 post scrapeds

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

## 4chan Scraper

### What does 4chan Scraper do?

Extracts posts from any 4chan board through the site's **official read-only
JSON API** — no HTML scraping, no breakage when the site changes its layout.
Point it at a board (and optionally specific threads) and get structured
posts: text (HTML cleaned to plain text), timestamps, poster name/tripcode/ID,
country flags where the board has them, and full image metadata with direct
URLs.

- **Whole-board sweeps** — scrapes the catalog in bump order up to your limit
- **Thread mode** — pass specific thread numbers to track discussions
- **API-polite** — respects 4chan's official 1 request/second rule

### Why scrape 4chan?

- **Research** — 4chan is one of the most studied online communities; this
  gives you clean, citable post data.
- **Trend & meme tracking** — catch emerging topics before they spread.
- **Brand & moderation monitoring** — know when your product or platform is
  being discussed.

### How do I use it?

1. Click **Try for free** — the prefilled example (board `/po/`, papercraft)
   works as-is.
2. Set the board code and **Max posts** to control cost.
3. Run and download JSON/CSV — or connect the Apify API / MCP server.

### How much will it cost?

**$1.00 per 1,000 posts** ($0.001 each) plus a $0.005 start fee. A full
catalog sweep of a mid-size board (~3,000 posts) costs about $3.

### ⬇️ Input

```json
{
  "board": "po",
  "maxItems": 500
}
```

### ⬆️ Output (real example)

```json
{
  "source": "boards.4chan.org",
  "board": "po",
  "thread_no": 570368,
  "post_no": 570368,
  "url": "https://boards.4chan.org/po/thread/570368#p570368",
  "is_op": true,
  "posted_at": "2022-08-24T04:03:47+00:00",
  "name": "Anonymous",
  "subject": "Welcome to /po/!",
  "text": "Welcome to /po/! We specialize in origami, papercraft...",
  "image": {
    "filename": "yotsuba_folding.png",
    "url": "https://i.4cdn.org/po/1661328227002590.png",
    "size_bytes": 726434,
    "width": 530,
    "height": 449
  },
  "replies_in_thread": 2,
  "scraped_at": "2026-09-18T01:00:00+00:00"
}
```

### Limitations & fair use

- Deleted/archived threads return an error item (not charged).
- The API updates catalogs at most once per second; this Actor never requests
  faster than that, so very large sweeps take proportional time (~1s/thread).
- **Content warning**: 4chan is anonymous and lightly moderated; many boards
  contain NSFW or offensive content. You choose the boards; the data comes
  as-is. Poster identities are pseudonymous IDs — this Actor collects no
  personal data beyond what posters publish publicly.

### FAQ

#### Is this allowed?

Yes — 4chan publishes an official read-only API for exactly this purpose,
and this Actor follows its rules (rate limit, identifying User-Agent).

#### Can I download the images too?

The dataset includes direct `i.4cdn.org` URLs plus size/dimensions; pipe
them into any downloader. This keeps runs fast and your costs predictable.

#### Something broke

Open an issue in the **Issues tab** — canary-tested daily, fixes ship fast.

### Your feedback

If this Actor saves you time, a review helps other users find it.

# Actor input Schema

## `board` (type: `string`):

Board code without slashes, e.g. 'po', 'g', 'sci', 'biz'.

## `threads` (type: `array`):

Specific thread numbers to scrape. Leave empty to sweep the whole board catalog in bump order.

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

Stop after this many posts (controls your cost).

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

Optional. The official read-only API rarely needs a proxy.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "board": "po",
  "maxItems": 500,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `products` (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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "board": "po"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("fullcirclescrapper/4chan-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 = { "board": "po" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("fullcirclescrapper/4chan-scraper").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 '{
  "board": "po"
}' |
apify call fullcirclescrapper/4chan-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,fullcirclescrapper/4chan-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/BOoCfb0wfwlXp5moS/builds/mMIdkaI8E0th9DKAk/openapi.json