# Pet Specialty Price Tracker (`imagiever_ar/pet-specialty-price-tracker`) Actor

Normalize pet-specialty product prices and stock from multiple stores into one API-ready dataset.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/imagiever\_ar/pet-specialty-price-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Hernan Borgarino](https://apify.com/imagiever_ar) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 normalized results

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

## Pet Specialty Price Tracker — Discontinued

> **Discontinuation notice:** This Actor is being discontinued and will be removed from the Apify Store. It remains available temporarily for existing users during the deprecation period.
>
> You are responsible for ensuring that automated access is permitted and for complying with the terms of use of every site you query.

Track pet-specialty prices and stock from user-supplied store or category URLs. This Actor is built for scripts, agents, and MCP workflows that need a normalized catalog instead of site-specific HTML.

### What you can do

- Read a user-supplied store or category URL and normalize public product observations.
- Use the same generic flow with URLs that contain a `{category}` placeholder.
- Build recurring price and stock snapshots where automated access is permitted.
- Feed a downstream agent a clean JSON catalog with stable field names.

### Output example

```json
{
  "brand": "Example Brand",
  "product": "Adult Salmon Dry Dog Food 24 lb",
  "price": 54.99,
  "currency": "USD",
  "stock": "in_stock",
  "store": "shop.example.com",
  "category": "dog food",
  "date": "2026-09-18T20:00:00.000Z",
  "url": "https://shop.example.com/products/adult-salmon-dry-dog-food",
  "sku": "ABC-123"
}
```

### Designed for agents and APIs

Call the Actor from the Apify API, a scheduled task, an agent, or Apify MCP while it remains available. Input and output schemas are explicit so an agent can discover the required fields without reading this README.

### Pricing

**$0.003 per normalized result ($3 per 1,000 results)** using Apify pay-per-event. Platform usage is intended to be included in the event price once PPE monetization is enabled. The run stops producing paid output when the configured run spending limit is reached.

### Coverage and caveats

The Actor extracts public catalog information from user-supplied URLs and prioritizes structured product metadata (JSON-LD) with an HTML fallback. Sites can change markup or restrict automated access, so individual URLs may occasionally return fewer fields. Price/stock values are observations, not guarantees of checkout availability.

The user is responsible for complying with the terms of use, access rules, and applicable policies of every site queried with this Actor.

### Input configuration

- `stores` — full HTTP(S) store or category URLs. A URL may contain `{category}` as a placeholder.
- `categories` — one or more category/search phrases.
- `maxResults` — total record cap.
- `maxPagesPerStore` — pagination safety limit.
- `includeOutOfStock` — include explicitly unavailable items.

# Actor input Schema

## `stores` (type: `array`):

Full HTTP(S) store or category URLs. A URL may contain {category}, which is replaced for each requested category. You are responsible for ensuring that automated access is permitted and for complying with each site's terms of use.

## `categories` (type: `array`):

Categories or search phrases to track, e.g. dog food, cat litter, flea treatment.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum normalized records for the whole run. The Actor stops when this number or the run spending limit is reached.

## `maxPagesPerStore` (type: `integer`):

Safety limit for pagination per store/category seed.

## `includeOutOfStock` (type: `boolean`):

If false, products explicitly marked out of stock are omitted. Unknown stock state is still included.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "stores": [],
  "categories": [
    "dog food"
  ],
  "maxResults": 10,
  "maxPagesPerStore": 1,
  "includeOutOfStock": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

JSON dataset items produced by this run.

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("imagiever_ar/pet-specialty-price-tracker").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("imagiever_ar/pet-specialty-price-tracker").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 '{}' |
apify call imagiever_ar/pet-specialty-price-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,imagiever_ar/pet-specialty-price-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

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/jAB2Qd2fddqCxALv2/builds/l2maIGJPLCM2EDc6J/openapi.json