WeChat Official Account Scraper — Profiles, Articles & Full Content

Search public WeChat Official Accounts, discover publisher profiles, collect indexed article history, and export clean WeChat / Weixin content — no login, no coding.

This WeChat scraper extracts public WeChat Official Account (微信公众号) articles and publisher profiles from the public Weixin search index — no WeChat login and no coding required. Search with Chinese or English keywords, discover the Official Accounts covering a topic, collect a publisher's indexed article history, or paste known mp.weixin.qq.com links to scrape WeChat article content directly. You get publisher names, titles, authors, publication dates, summaries, full text, cleaned HTML, Markdown, images, outbound links and content statistics in one structured dataset.

Export every result to JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or the API.

Built for China market researchers, brand and competitor monitoring teams, media and content analysts, localization and translation teams, and AI / RAG engineers who need clean Chinese-language WeChat data at scale.

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🔎 Why scrape WeChat Official Accounts?

WeChat Official Accounts are the backbone of Chinese digital publishing. Brands, media outlets, government bodies, and independent creators publish most of their long-form content as Official Account articles rather than on the open web, so the richest signal about Chinese markets, consumer sentiment, campaigns, and competitors lives inside Weixin. There is no convenient public search box inside the app, articles are not indexed by Western search engines, and pages are heavy single-use URLs — making manual collection slow and unrepeatable.

A WeChat scraper turns that scattered content into a clean, structured dataset. Instead of copy-pasting individual articles, you run one search and receive a de-duplicated table of publishers and articles with full text, Markdown, dates, and media — ready for analysis, translation, or an AI pipeline.

Common reasons people scrape WeChat:

• Brand & competitor monitoring — track public articles mentioning a company, product, campaign, or rival over time.
• China market research — study industries, consumer trends, policy, finance, healthcare, or cross-border commerce.
• Media & content intelligence — compare publishers by author, date, article length, image usage, and recurring themes.
• Official Account discovery — find the publishers covering a market, product, or brand and capture their profile and avatar.
• AI, translation & RAG pipelines — feed clean Chinese contentText / contentMarkdown into summarization, classification, embeddings, and retrieval.
• PR & campaign analysis — measure topic coverage and publishing activity around a launch or event.
• Public article archiving — preserve the content, metadata, and image references of known public WeChat links.

✨ What this WeChat scraper does

• ✅ Four collection modes — search Official Account articles by keyword, discover Official Accounts by topic, collect an account's indexed article history by exact display name, or extract pasted article URLs. Leave it on Auto-detect and the actor picks the right mode from your input.
• ✅ Keyword search in Chinese or English — enter topics, brands, industries, or account names (e.g. 人工智能, 新能源汽车, 品牌营销) and sort by relevance or most recent.
• ✅ Automatic pagination across the public Weixin index, returning de-duplicated article or publisher records — scale with multiple keywords and the maxItems limit.
• ✅ Rich article fields — title, author, publishedAt, summary, articleUrl, publisher accountName, cover image, plus biz, mid, idx, sn and an isOriginal (原创) flag for reliable deduplication.
• ✅ Full article content — clean normalized text, cleaned HTML, and Markdown (toggle with includeContent) for NLP, translation, and RAG.
• ✅ Media & links — cover image, inline images, videoIds, outbound links, and their counts.
• ✅ Content statistics — wordCount (CJK-aware), characterCount, imageCount, linkCount, videoCount.
• ✅ Publisher profiles — Official Account discovery returns one de-duplicated row per publisher with accountName, accountId, description, avatar, and its latest matching article.
• ✅ Cost-aware residential networking — residential proxy with automatic session rotation on blocked / unhealthy exit nodes, retries, and byte-capped streaming that stops downloading each heavy article once the body is captured.
• ✅ Export anywhere — JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or the Apify API.

🎯 Use cases

• Brand & reputation teams — monitor public mentions of a brand, product, or executive across Official Accounts.
• Market research & strategy — map the publishers and narratives in a Chinese industry or consumer category.
• Competitive intelligence — follow a competitor's or an industry's publishing cadence and themes.
• Media monitoring & PR — track coverage of a campaign, launch, or topic over time.
• Localization & translation — pull clean source text and Markdown for human or machine translation.
• AI / ML engineers — build Chinese-language corpora, embeddings, and retrieval-augmented generation datasets.
• Researchers & analysts — archive and compare public articles for policy, finance, healthcare, or technology studies.
• Content & SEO teams — study how topics are framed and which Official Accounts dominate a niche.

📥 Input

Configure the run from the Apify Console form or via JSON / API. All fields are optional — the defaults run a keyword search.

Field	Type	Description
mode	string	auto (default), search, articles, account_search, or account_history. Auto-detect picks the mode from your input.
keywords	array	Topics, brands, industries, or account names in Chinese or English. Prefilled with 人工智能.
articleUrls	array	Public mp.weixin.qq.com article links, one per line (used by the articles / URL-extraction mode).
accounts	array	Topics to discover publishers (account_search), or exact public account display names to collect article history (account_history).
sortBy	string	relevance (default) or recent — prioritize recently indexed articles.
includeContent	boolean	Default false. Off: fast, low-cost discovery (title, account, summary, date, URL, cover). On: open every article for full contentText, contentHtml, and contentMarkdown (slower, far more data).
includeImages	boolean	Default true. Return cover and inline image URLs (no binary downloads).
maxItems	integer	Default 100. Maximum article or account records saved across the whole run (1–1000).
maxConcurrency	integer	Default 8. Parallel article requests (1–12).
proxyConfiguration	object	Apify proxy. Defaults to RESIDENTIAL, recommended for reliable discovery.

Example — search Official Account articles

{
  "mode": "search",
  "keywords": ["人工智能", "新能源汽车"],
  "sortBy": "recent",
  "includeContent": true,
  "maxItems": 100
}

Example — discover Official Accounts by topic

{
  "mode": "account_search",
  "accounts": ["人工智能"],
  "maxItems": 20
}

Example — collect an account's article history

{
  "mode": "account_history",
  "accounts": ["科情智库"],
  "maxItems": 50
}

Example — extract pasted article URLs

{
  "mode": "articles",
  "articleUrls": [
    "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/example-one",
    "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/example-two"
  ],
  "maxItems": 100
}

📤 Output

Each dataset item is one public WeChat Official Account article. In Official Account discovery mode (account_search) each row is instead one de-duplicated publisher profile. Results stream to the dataset as they are collected and can be previewed in the WeChat articles or WeChat accounts table view.

The example below is a full-content article item (includeContent: true). With the default includeContent: false, the actor returns the same identity, date, URL and cover fields but leaves contentText / contentHtml / contentMarkdown, images and links empty for a fast, low-cost discovery pass.

{
  "recordType": "wechatArticle",
  "title": "政策工具视角下的美国人工智能政策演进分析",
  "accountName": "科情智库",
  "accountId": null,
  "accountAvatar": "https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/avatar.jpg",
  "accountDescription": "科技情报研究与战略分析.",
  "author": "季洪帆，王建芳",
  "publishedAt": "2026-11-01T23:30:00.000Z",
  "articleUrl": "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?src=11&timestamp=1793576246&ver=7063&signature=…",
  "sourceUrl": "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?src=11&timestamp=1793576246&ver=7063&signature=…",
  "summary": "当前，人工智能已成为新一轮科技革命与产业变革的核心驱动力……",
  "coverImage": "https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/sz_mmbiz_jpg/QJ56y5z05xu9…/640?wx_fmt=jpeg",
  "contentText": "科情智库 当前，人工智能（Artificial Intelligence，AI）已成为新一轮科技革命与产业变革的核心驱动力……",
  "contentHtml": "<p>当前，人工智能已成为……</p>",
  "contentMarkdown": "![](https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/…/640?wx_fmt=jpeg)\n\n科情智库\n\n当前，人工智能……",
  "wordCount": 7111,
  "characterCount": 10840,
  "images": ["https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/sz_mmbiz_jpg/QJ56y5z05xu9…/640?wx_fmt=jpeg"],
  "imageCount": 6,
  "links": ["https://example.com"],
  "linkCount": 3,
  "videoIds": [],
  "videoCount": 0,
  "isOriginal": false,
  "biz": "MzI1MDI5ODkwMA==",
  "mid": "2247510651",
  "idx": "2",
  "sn": null,
  "searchKeyword": "人工智能",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-11-01T23:35:41.604Z"
}

Field	Description
recordType	wechatArticle for articles, wechatAccount for discovered publishers
title	Article headline
accountName	Official Account display name
accountId	Public WeChat ID — present when the article page exposes it
accountAvatar / accountDescription	Publisher avatar URL and signature — present when exposed
author	Byline — present when exposed
publishedAt	ISO 8601 publication timestamp
articleUrl / sourceUrl	Canonical mp.weixin.qq.com article URL and the fetched source URL
summary	Article summary / description
coverImage	Cover image URL (a sogoucdn thumbnail in discovery, the direct mmbiz.qpic.cn image in full-content mode)
contentText	Clean normalized plain text (when includeContent is on)
contentHtml	Cleaned article HTML (when includeContent is on)
contentMarkdown	Markdown version of the article (when includeContent is on)
wordCount / characterCount	CJK-aware word count and character count
images / imageCount	Inline image URLs and count
links / linkCount	Outbound links and count
videoIds / videoCount	Embedded WeChat video IDs and count
isOriginal	true when the article carries the 原创 (original) marker
biz / mid / idx / sn	WeChat article identifiers — biz / mid / idx are the reliable deduplication keys
searchKeyword	The keyword that surfaced this article
scrapedAt	ISO 8601 timestamp of extraction

Account profile records (account_search mode) contain recordType: "wechatAccount", accountName, accountId, description, avatar, latestArticleTitle, latestArticleUrl, latestPublishedAt, searchKeyword, and scrapedAt.

Optional fields are left empty (never invented) when a publisher does not expose an author, avatar, signature, WeChat ID, sn, or originality marker. In a recent verification run, article identity fields — title, accountName, articleUrl, publishedAt, coverImage and searchKeyword — came back 100% populated with summary at 98%, and full-content runs filled contentText / contentHtml / contentMarkdown and biz / mid / idx at 100%.

🔁 Pagination & scale

The actor paginates the public Weixin search index automatically. For each keyword it walks result pages (10 articles per page) until it reaches the maxItems limit or the end of the public index, then resolves each result to its canonical mp.weixin.qq.com URL and de-duplicates by biz / mid / idx (and publishers by accountId / accountName in discovery mode). Because the public index serves a bounded number of pages per query, scale horizontally by passing multiple keywords — the actor sweeps each one and merges the de-duplicated results into a single dataset. A recent broad run of eight topics returned 386 unique articles with 0% duplicates in a single pass. Set maxItems (1–1000) to cap the run and maxConcurrency (default 8) to control how many article pages are fetched in parallel.

⚙️ How to use

1. Open the actor in the Apify Console and go to the Input tab.
2. Pick a mode — article search, Official Account discovery, account history, or pasted URLs (or leave it on Auto-detect).
3. Enter your keywords, accounts, or article URLs.
4. Choose relevance or most recent sorting, toggle Include full article content, and set Maximum results.
5. Click Start, then open the Dataset tab to preview and download.
6. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS — or call the actor via the Apify API, run it on a schedule, and pipe results into Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, a database, a webhook, or a vector store.

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });

const run = await client.actor('haketa/wechat-official-account-scraper').call({
  keywords: ['人工智能'],
  maxItems: 100,
  includeContent: true,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

💡 Tips

• Use specific Chinese keywords rather than broad English topics for the most relevant coverage.
• Keep includeContent off for fast, low-cost discovery of titles, accounts, dates, covers and URLs; turn it on only when you need full text, HTML, or Markdown.
• Use Most recent sorting for recurring monitoring and daily schedules.
• Run unrelated topics separately when you need clean searchKeyword attribution per dataset.
• Use articleUrl or the biz / mid / idx identifiers for downstream deduplication.
• For account history, enter the exact public display name — it gives far more reliable results than a company name or internal ID.
• Keep the default concurrency and residential proxy for the best balance of speed, reliability, and cost.

❓ FAQ

Is scraping WeChat Official Accounts legal?

This actor collects only public Official Account articles and profiles that anyone can view without logging in. As with any scraper, use the data responsibly, respect copyright, and comply with applicable laws and WeChat's terms. It does not access private messages, subscriber lists, or login-gated content.

Do I need a WeChat account or login?

No. Public article and discovery workflows require no WeChat login and no credentials.

How many results can I get and how fast?

Set maxItems from 1 to 1000. A single keyword returns a bounded set from the public index; pass multiple keywords to collect hundreds of de-duplicated articles in one run (a recent eight-keyword run returned 386 unique articles). Speed depends on maxConcurrency (default 8) and whether includeContent is enabled — metadata-only discovery is much faster than full-content extraction, which opens and parses every article page.

Do I need proxies?

Yes — residential proxies are strongly recommended and enabled by default for reliable discovery. The actor rotates the residential session automatically when an exit node is blocked or returns an antispider interstitial, and retries failed requests.

Can I use English keywords?

Yes. Chinese terms usually give broader coverage for China-focused research, but English brand and product names work too.

Does it extract the full article content?

Yes. Enable Include full article content (includeContent) to receive clean plain text, cleaned HTML, and Markdown for every article, with inline image URLs and content statistics.

Can I discover Official Accounts instead of articles?

Yes. Use Search Official Accounts (account_search) to get one de-duplicated publisher per row, including accountName, accountId, description, avatar, and its latest matching article.

Can I collect a specific publisher's article history?

Yes. Use Collect an account's article history (account_history) with the exact public display name. Results reflect articles available through the public index — they are not guaranteed to be a complete lifetime archive.

Is there an API?

Yes. Every run is available through the Apify API and the apify-client SDK, and the actor can be scheduled and connected to Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, webhooks, and databases.

What export formats are available?

JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or direct API access.

How fresh is the data?

Results reflect the Official Account articles currently available in the public Weixin index at run time (the latest verification returned articles published the same day). Schedule the actor and sort by Most recent to keep a monitoring dataset up to date.

Why are some fields empty?

Publishers do not always expose an author, avatar, signature, WeChat ID, sn, or originality marker, and the current WeChat article markup does not always carry a public accountId / sn. Unavailable values are left empty rather than invented. Views, likes, shares, comments, and subscriber counts are not consistently public, so the actor does not report them.

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Ready to collect WeChat Official Account data? Enter a topic or account name, click Start, and export clean articles and publisher profiles to JSON, CSV, Excel, or the API.