# Product Price Change & Metadata Extractor (`jacksu/fast-product-metadata-extractor`) Actor Extract product prices, availability, images, and Schema.org metadata, then detect verified price or stock changes. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jacksu/fast-product-metadata-extractor.md - **Developed by:** [jack su](https://apify.com/jacksu) (community) - **Categories:** E-commerce, Agents, MCP servers - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.00 / 1,000 product 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/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 ## Product Price Change & Metadata Extractor Extract product title, price, availability, images, brand, SKU, and Schema.org metadata from public product pages, then optionally compare a previous observation to detect verified price, stock, and metadata changes. This Actor is a lightweight product metadata extractor, product price change tracker, availability checker, and first-pass e-commerce product monitor for AI agents and automation workflows. It uses HTTP requests instead of browser rendering or paid proxies, reads Schema.org `Product` JSON-LD and microdata first, then falls back to common product meta tags. It is designed for product research, catalog building, procurement automation, price monitoring pipelines, and competitor-product checks. Use a browser-based scraper only for JavaScript-heavy pages that return a partial result. ### Input ```json { "urls": [ "https://example.com/products/example-product" ], "requestTimeoutSecs": 20 } ```` The first version accepts up to 20 public HTTP or HTTPS URLs per run. To compare current product data with a previous successful observation, provide optional `previousProducts` records matched by requested `url`: ```json { "urls": ["https://example.com/products/example-product"], "previousProducts": [ { "url": "https://example.com/products/example-product", "price": "49.99", "availability": "InStock" } ] } ``` ### Output Each URL produces one dataset item: ```json { "status": "ok", "url": "https://example.com/products/example-product", "finalUrl": "https://example.com/products/example-product", "title": "Example Product", "description": "Product description", "price": "49.99", "priceNumeric": 49.99, "currentPriceNumeric": 49.99, "previousPriceNumeric": null, "priceChanged": false, "priceDeltaNumeric": null, "priceDeltaPercent": null, "priceDirection": null, "currency": "USD", "availability": "InStock", "availabilityChanged": false, "brand": "Example Brand", "sku": "SKU-123", "primaryImage": "https://example.com/images/product.jpg", "images": [ "https://example.com/images/product.jpg" ], "structuredDataFound": true, "changedFields": [], "diagnostics": [] } ``` Failed pages return an uncharged error item so users can understand what went wrong. Successful records also include: - `changeStatus`: `initial`, `changed`, or `unchanged`; - field-level `changes` against a supplied previous record; - API-friendly `priceNumeric`, `highPriceNumeric`, and `primaryImage`; - flat change fields such as `changedFields`, `priceChanged`, `priceDeltaNumeric`, `priceDeltaPercent`, `priceDirection`, and `availabilityChanged`; - `completenessScore` and `missingFields`; - machine-readable `diagnostics` such as `missingPrice`, `noProductJsonLd`, `lowCompletenessInitial`, `comparisonDegraded`, and `noVerifiedChanges`; - source and observation `evidence`. Unchanged comparison results, partial results, and errors are not charged. Missing fields in a new observation are treated as unknown, not as verified removals. Results with very low completeness or a substantial completeness drop are returned as uncharged partial records. ### Pricing This Actor uses Apify pay-per-event pricing: - `apify-actor-start`: `$0.00005` once per run. - `product-result`: `$0.001` per useful successful product result. - `apify-default-dataset-item` is intentionally not configured, so partial and error records are not charged merely because they are written to the dataset. Only useful successful results trigger the paid event: initial observations and observations containing verified changes. The launch price targets a clear niche: standards-based metadata extraction at roughly one sixth of the free-plan per-product price of Apify's full browser and proxy-capable e-commerce scraper. ### MCP and API use After publication, AI agents can run this Actor through Apify's MCP server. The Actor is also callable through the Apify API and integrations. ### Good fits - Product metadata extraction from standards-compliant e-commerce pages. - Price and availability checks for procurement or monitoring workflows. - Catalog enrichment where Schema.org Product data is present. - Comparing a previous product observation with a new observation to detect verified price, stock, image, brand, SKU, or metadata changes. ### Current limitations - JavaScript-only pages may not expose product data in the initial HTML. - Pages protected by login screens, CAPTCHAs, or aggressive bot protection may fail. - The first version does not maintain price history or schedule monitoring. ### Safety The Actor rejects local and private network addresses, limits each HTML response to 3 MB, and follows only redirects that resolve to public addresses. # Actor input Schema ## `urls` (type: `array`): Public HTTP or HTTPS product page URLs. The first version supports up to 20 URLs per run. ## `requestTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`): Maximum time to wait for each page. ## `previousProducts` (type: `array`): Optional prior successful product records. Records are matched by their requested url and used to produce field-level changes. Unchanged comparison results are not charged. ## Actor input object example ```json { "urls": [ "https://webscraper.io/test-sites/e-commerce/static/product/31" ], "requestTimeoutSecs": 20, "previousProducts": [] } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): Product metadata records and any partial or error records 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jacksu/fast-product-metadata-extractor").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 = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jacksu/fast-product-metadata-extractor").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 '{}' | apify call jacksu/fast-product-metadata-extractor --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jacksu/fast-product-metadata-extractor", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Product Price Change & Metadata Extractor", "description": "Extract product prices, availability, images, and Schema.org metadata, then detect verified price or stock changes.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "aC6ysjbibc3OirBkI" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jacksu~fast-product-metadata-extractor/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jacksu-fast-product-metadata-extractor", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jacksu~fast-product-metadata-extractor/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jacksu-fast-product-metadata-extractor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jacksu~fast-product-metadata-extractor/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jacksu-fast-product-metadata-extractor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "required": [ "urls" ], "properties": { "urls": { "title": "Product page URLs", "minItems": 1, "maxItems": 20, "type": "array", "description": "Public HTTP or HTTPS product page URLs. The first version supports up to 20 URLs per run.", "items": { "type": "string" }, "default": [ "https://webscraper.io/test-sites/e-commerce/static/product/31" ] }, "requestTimeoutSecs": { "title": "Request timeout", "minimum": 5, "maximum": 60, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum time to wait for each page.", "default": 20 }, "previousProducts": { "title": "Previous product records", "maxItems": 20, "type": "array", "description": "Optional prior successful product records. Records are matched by their requested url and used to produce field-level changes. Unchanged comparison results are not charged.", "items": { "type": "object", "properties": { "url": { "title": "Requested URL", "description": "The exact requested URL used to match the previous record.", "type": "string", "editor": "textfield" }, "title": { "title": "Previous title", "description": "Optional previous product title.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "price": { "title": "Previous price", "description": "Optional previous product price.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "highPrice": { "title": "Previous high price", "description": "Optional previous aggregate high price.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "currency": { "title": "Previous currency", "description": "Optional previous currency code.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "availability": { "title": "Previous availability", "description": "Optional previous normalized availability.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "brand": { "title": "Previous brand", "description": "Optional previous brand.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "sku": { "title": "Previous SKU", "description": "Optional previous SKU.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "mpn": { "title": "Previous MPN", "description": "Optional previous manufacturer part number.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "gtin": { "title": "Previous GTIN", "description": "Optional previous global trade item number.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "seller": { "title": "Previous seller", "description": "Optional previous seller.", "type": "string", "nullable": true, "editor": "textfield" }, "offerCount": { "title": "Previous offer count", "description": "Optional previous offer count.", "type": "integer", "nullable": true, "editor": "number" }, "images": { "title": "Previous images", "description": "Optional previous product image URLs.", "type": "array", "editor": "stringList", "nullable": true, "items": { "type": "string" } } }, "required": [ "url" ] }, "default": [] } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```