# NFL Depth Charts API + Change Alerts (All 32 Teams) (`ichigowa/nfl-depth-charts`) Actor

NFL depth charts for all 32 teams as clean JSON from ESPN's public API, with athlete names resolved. Detects changes between runs (starter changes, order changes, adds/removals) and emits alert rows plus optional webhook. Unofficial, not affiliated with ESPN.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ichigowa/nfl-depth-charts.md
- **Developed by:** [kyle herman](https://apify.com/ichigowa) (community)
- **Categories:** Sports, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## NFL Depth Chart API + Change Alerts (All 32 Teams)

An **NFL depth chart API** that returns **NFL depth charts as JSON** for all 32
teams — scraped live from ESPN's public API with athlete names fully resolved —
plus built-in **fantasy football depth chart alerts**: every run is diffed
against the previous snapshot, and starter changes, depth order changes, and
player adds/removals are emitted as alert rows (with optional webhook delivery).

### What you get

- **One row per (formation, position)** for every team: full ordered player
  list with athlete IDs and resolved names, plus a convenience `starter` field.
- **Change alerts** between runs: `starter_changed`, `order_changed`,
  `player_added`, `player_removed`. First run per team silently seeds the
  snapshot (stored in a named key-value store), so alerts only reflect real
  changes. Schedule the actor (e.g. hourly) to get near-real-time alerts.
- **No API key required.** Clean, stable JSON — great for fantasy football
  tools, betting models, and sports dashboards.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `teams` | array | `[]` | Team abbreviations to fetch (e.g. `["KC","SF"]`). Empty = all 32. |
| `webhook_url` | string | `""` | Optional URL; change alerts are POSTed there as `{"alerts": [...]}`. |
| `include_unchanged` | boolean | `true` | If `false`, depth chart rows are only pushed for teams that changed. |

Default input `{}` fetches everything.

### Example depth chart row

```json
{
  "type": "depthchart-row",
  "team_id": "12",
  "team_abbrev": "KC",
  "team_name": "Kansas City Chiefs",
  "formation": "3WR 1TE",
  "position_key": "qb",
  "position_name": "Quarterback",
  "position_abbrev": "QB",
  "players": [
    {"slot": 1, "athlete_id": "3139477", "name": "Patrick Mahomes"},
    {"slot": 2, "athlete_id": "4362887", "name": "Justin Fields"},
    {"slot": 3, "athlete_id": "4567747", "name": "Garrett Nussmeier"},
    {"slot": 4, "athlete_id": "4044111", "name": "Chris Oladokun"}
  ],
  "starter": "Patrick Mahomes",
  "fetched_at": "2026-09-03T03:25:40Z"
}
```

### Example change alert row

```json
{
  "type": "change-alert",
  "team_id": "22",
  "team_abbrev": "ARI",
  "position_abbrev": "WR",
  "change_kind": "order_changed",
  "old_value": ["Marvin Harrison Jr.", "Michael Wilson", "Zay Jones"],
  "new_value": ["Marvin Harrison Jr.", "Zay Jones", "Michael Wilson"],
  "detected_at": "2026-09-03T03:25:40Z"
}
```

### Pricing (pay per event)

- `depthchart-row`: $0.0002 per position row
- `change-alert`: $0.0005 per detected change

### Notes & disclaimer

- Athlete names are resolved via each team's roster feed; the rare athlete
  missing from the roster is emitted as `id:<espn_athlete_id>`.
- **Unofficial.** This actor uses ESPN's publicly accessible endpoints and is
  not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ESPN or the NFL. Data
  accuracy and availability depend entirely on ESPN.

**Keywords:** nfl depth chart api, nfl depth charts json, fantasy football
depth chart alerts, nfl starter changes, espn depth chart scraper.

# Actor input Schema

## `teams` (type: `array`):

Team abbreviations to fetch (e.g. \['KC','SF']). Empty = all 32 teams.

## `webhook_url` (type: `string`):

Optional URL to POST change alerts to as JSON.

## `include_unchanged` (type: `boolean`):

If true (default), push depth chart rows even when nothing changed since last run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "teams": [],
  "webhook_url": "",
  "include_unchanged": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "teams": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ichigowa/nfl-depth-charts").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 = { "teams": [] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ichigowa/nfl-depth-charts").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 '{
  "teams": []
}' |
apify call ichigowa/nfl-depth-charts --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ichigowa/nfl-depth-charts"
        }
    }
}

```

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/zXNRIJ394JSldxvko/builds/gfzFCPPLzk8g9qZSM/openapi.json