# 4chan Scraper (`goat255/fourchan-scraper`) Actor Scrape 4chan boards and threads without a login. Pull the catalog of a board (every live thread's opening post) or a full thread with all its replies. Comment HTML is stripped to clean plain text, with media URLs, counts, and metadata. - **URL**: https://apify.com/goat255/fourchan-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Goutam Soni](https://apify.com/goat255) (community) - **Categories:** Social media, News, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $0.40 / 1,000 posts This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. 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 ## 4chan Scraper Scrape 4chan boards, threads, posts, and images without a login or API key. Give it a board code or a thread URL and get clean structured data: opening posts, every reply, comment text (HTML stripped to plain text), reply and image counts, image and thumbnail URLs, country flags, poster IDs, and timestamps. ### What it does - **Board catalog scraper.** Give it a board code (for example `g`, `pol`, `v`) and get the opening post of every live thread on that board: subject, comment text, reply count, image count, the OP image, and metadata. - **Full thread scraper.** Give it a thread URL and get the opening post plus every reply, flattened into clean one-post-per-row data. - **Board directory.** Optionally emit a one-row-per-board list of every available board with its title, page count, and worksafe flag. - **Clean text.** Comment HTML is decoded and stripped to readable plain text. Quote references stay readable as `>>123`. - **Rich media fields.** Each post with an attachment carries the full-size image URL, thumbnail URL, original filename, dimensions, file size, and file hash. - **No login required.** No account, no password, no API key, no cookies. Works out of the box. ### Use cases - **Trend and meme monitoring.** Track what is being discussed across boards in near real time for cultural research, brand monitoring, or trend spotting. - **Market and audience research.** Pull large samples of posts on a topic to analyze sentiment, language, and emerging interests. - **Dataset building for AI/ML.** Collect text and image-link corpora for training, fine-tuning, or NLP experiments. - **Academic and OSINT research.** Study discussion dynamics, posting patterns, country distribution, and thread lifecycles at scale. - **Image and media collection.** Harvest image URLs, thumbnails, and file hashes from a board or thread for archival or analysis. ### Input | Field | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | `boards` | array | Board codes to pull the catalog from (the opening post of every live thread). Use the short code with or without slashes, for example `g` or `/g/`. | | `threadUrls` | array | Thread links to fetch in full (opening post plus every reply). A short `g/123456789` form also works. | | `listBoards` | boolean | When on, also emit a one-row-per-board directory of every available board. Default off. | | `maxItemsPerSource` | integer | Cap on items returned per board or thread. Default 1000. | | `includeThreadReplies` | boolean | When off, thread mode returns only the opening post of each thread URL. Default on. | | `concurrency` | integer | How many sources to process in parallel. Default 3. | | `proxyConfig` | object | Optional proxy configuration. The public read endpoints work without a proxy. | #### Example input ```json { "boards": ["g", "pol"], "threadUrls": ["https://boards.4chan.org/g/thread/123456789"], "listBoards": false, "maxItemsPerSource": 1000, "includeThreadReplies": true, "concurrency": 3 } ```` ### Output Each post becomes one clean row. Fields are ordered by importance: identity first, then counts, then content, then author and origin, then media, then metadata. ```json { "type": "post", "board": "g", "postId": 123456789, "threadId": 123456789, "isOp": true, "url": "https://boards.4chan.org/g/thread/123456789", "replyCount": 21, "imageCount": 4, "subject": "An example thread title", "text": "An example post body in plain text.\n>>123456700 quote reference stays readable.", "author": "Anonymous", "tripcode": null, "posterId": "Ab12Cd34", "capcode": null, "country": "DE", "countryName": "Germany", "boardFlag": null, "boardFlagName": null, "image": "https://i.example.com/g/1700000000000.png", "thumbnail": "https://i.example.com/g/1700000000000s.jpg", "filename": "example.png", "fileExt": ".png", "fileSizeBytes": 301273, "imageWidth": 1280, "imageHeight": 720, "md5": "zuZHMJMYYp5WY7vM397nWQ==", "sticky": false, "closed": false, "postedAt": "2026-06-01T12:00:00.000Z", "time": 1748779200, "scrapedAt": "2026-06-18T00:00:00.000Z" } ``` **Key fields** - `postId` / `threadId` / `isOp` identify the post and whether it is the opening post of its thread. - `replyCount` / `imageCount` are populated on opening posts (the values at scrape time); replies carry `null` for these by design. - `text` is the comment body decoded and stripped to plain text. - `country` / `countryName` and `boardFlag` / `boardFlagName` appear only on boards that show flags. - `posterId` appears only on boards that show per-thread poster IDs. - `image` / `thumbnail` / `filename` / `md5` and the size fields appear only on posts that include an attachment. When `listBoards` is on, board rows carry `type` (`board`), `board`, `title`, `url`, `worksafe`, `pages`, `perPage`, and `description`. ### FAQ **Is it free? How is it priced?** The actor runs on a simple pay-per-result model. You pay for the rows you receive plus the platform compute the run uses. There is no subscription and no per-run start fee. **Do I need a login, account, or API key?** No. It reads public content only, with no account, password, cookies, or API key required. **How many results can I get?** A board catalog returns the opening post of every live thread (often 150 or more per board). A full thread can return several hundred posts. Use `maxItemsPerSource` to cap how many items come back per board or thread, and pass multiple boards or thread URLs to scale up. **How fast is it?** Runs are quick. The actor processes sources in parallel (controlled by `concurrency`) and spaces requests politely. A typical board catalog completes in seconds. **Does it get replies, or just the first post?** Board catalog mode returns the opening post of each thread. To get every reply, pass the thread URL in `threadUrls` with `includeThreadReplies` on (the default). **Can I get the images?** Yes. Each post with an attachment includes the full-size image URL, a thumbnail URL, the original filename, dimensions, file size, and the file hash. ### Notes - Counts (replies, images) reflect the values at scrape time. - This actor reads public content only. # Actor input Schema ## `boards` (type: `array`): Board codes to pull the catalog from (the opening post of every live thread). Use the short board code with or without slashes. Example: g, /g/, pol. ## `threadUrls` (type: `array`): Specific thread links to fetch in full (the opening post plus every reply). Example: https://boards.4chan.org/g/thread/123456789. A short g/123456789 form also works. ## `listBoards` (type: `boolean`): When on, also emit a one-row-per-board directory of every available board with its title and page count. ## `maxItemsPerSource` (type: `integer`): Cap on items returned per board or thread. A board catalog holds up to about 150 threads; a thread can hold several hundred posts. Default 1000. ## `includeThreadReplies` (type: `boolean`): When on, thread mode returns the full thread. When off, only the opening post of each thread URL is returned. ## `concurrency` (type: `integer`): How many sources to process in parallel. Kept modest to stay polite to the source. ## `proxyConfig` (type: `object`): Optional proxy. The public read endpoints do not require a proxy, but you may route through one if you wish. ## Actor input object example ```json { "boards": [ "g" ], "threadUrls": [], "listBoards": false, "maxItemsPerSource": 1000, "includeThreadReplies": true, "concurrency": 3, "proxyConfig": { "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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "boards": [ "g" ], "threadUrls": [] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("goat255/fourchan-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "boards": ["g"], "threadUrls": [], } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("goat255/fourchan-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 '{ "boards": [ "g" ], "threadUrls": [] }' | apify call goat255/fourchan-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=goat255/fourchan-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "4chan Scraper", "description": "Scrape 4chan boards and threads without a login. Pull the catalog of a board (every live thread's opening post) or a full thread with all its replies. Comment HTML is stripped to clean plain text, with media URLs, counts, and metadata.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "p80dnpfQOsL3D8Goh" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/goat255~fourchan-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-goat255-fourchan-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/goat255~fourchan-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-goat255-fourchan-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/goat255~fourchan-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-goat255-fourchan-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "boards": { "title": "Boards (catalog mode)", "type": "array", "description": "Board codes to pull the catalog from (the opening post of every live thread). Use the short board code with or without slashes. Example: g, /g/, pol.", "default": [ "g" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "threadUrls": { "title": "Thread URLs (thread mode)", "type": "array", "description": "Specific thread links to fetch in full (the opening post plus every reply). Example: https://boards.4chan.org/g/thread/123456789. A short g/123456789 form also works.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "listBoards": { "title": "List all boards", "type": "boolean", "description": "When on, also emit a one-row-per-board directory of every available board with its title and page count.", "default": false }, "maxItemsPerSource": { "title": "Max items per source", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 50000, "type": "integer", "description": "Cap on items returned per board or thread. A board catalog holds up to about 150 threads; a thread can hold several hundred posts. Default 1000.", "default": 1000 }, "includeThreadReplies": { "title": "Include thread replies", "type": "boolean", "description": "When on, thread mode returns the full thread. When off, only the opening post of each thread URL is returned.", "default": true }, "concurrency": { "title": "Concurrency", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 10, "type": "integer", "description": "How many sources to process in parallel. Kept modest to stay polite to the source.", "default": 3 }, "proxyConfig": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Optional proxy. The public read endpoints do not require a proxy, but you may route through one if you wish.", "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```