# Skim — Clean Web Reader (URL to Markdown) (`jessiejanie/skim-clean-reader`) Actor

Turn any URL into clean, agent-ready Markdown plus structured metadata (title, byline, date, language, excerpt) in about a second. Powered by skim402.com, the canonical x402 clean reader.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/jessiejanie/skim-clean-reader.md
- **Developed by:** [Karilyn Colegrove](https://apify.com/jessiejanie) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Automation, Agents
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 50.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 1,000 page reads

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

## Skim — Clean Web Reader (URL to Markdown)

**Turn any URL into clean, agent-ready Markdown — no ads, no nav, no boilerplate — in about a second.**

This Actor is the official Apify integration for [Skim](https://skim402.com), the canonical [x402](https://x402.org) clean reader API. Give it a list of URLs; it returns each page as clean Markdown plus structured metadata (title, byline, published date, language, excerpt).

> **See it before you wire it:** [try Skim free in your browser](https://freeskims.skim402.com) — 10 free skims a day, no wallet, no signup. Paste a URL, see exactly what you get back.

### Why this Actor

- **Fast.** Skim returns most pages in about a second — it reads and cleans, it doesn't spin up a browser farm. In production tests it ran 2.3x faster than Firecrawl on the same pages ([benchmarks](https://skim402.com/performance)).
- **Clean.** Output is readable Markdown roughly 4x smaller than the raw HTML — ideal for feeding LLMs without paying token costs for junk.
- **Simple.** One URL in, one clean document out. No crawling configuration, no selectors, no proxies to manage.

If you need deep multi-page crawling with browser rendering, a heavyweight crawler is the right tool. If you need *this page, clean, now* — that's Skim.

### Input

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402",
    "https://example.com/article"
  ],
  "includePlainText": false
}
````

- `urls` — up to 500 URLs per run.
- `includePlainText` — also include a plain-text version of each page.

### Output

One dataset item per URL:

```json
{
  "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402",
  "ok": true,
  "markdown": "# HTTP 402\n\n...",
  "metadata": {
    "title": "HTTP 402",
    "byline": null,
    "lang": "en",
    "excerpt": "..."
  },
  "elapsedMs": 1050
}
```

Failed URLs come back with `ok: false` and an `error` message — you are only charged for successful reads.

### Use it from your stack

Call the Actor from anywhere Apify runs — your own code, n8n, Make, Zapier, or LangChain via the Apify integration.

Python:

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("jessiejanie/skim-clean-reader").call(run_input={
    "urls": ["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402"]
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["metadata"]["title"])
    print(item["markdown"][:500])
```

JavaScript:

```js
import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>" });
const run = await client.actor("jessiejanie/skim-clean-reader").call({
  urls: ["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402"],
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0].markdown);
```

### FAQ

**Does it render JavaScript?**
Not in this Actor — it reads server-rendered HTML, which covers most articles, docs, and blog pages, and is why it is fast and cheap. If a page returns nearly empty content, it is likely a client-rendered app.

**Can I feed the output straight to an LLM?**
Yes — that is the point. The Markdown is boilerplate-free and roughly 4x smaller than the raw HTML, so you stop paying token prices for nav bars and cookie banners.

**What happens on a failed page?**
You get the item back with `ok: false` and an `error` message, and you are not charged for it.

**How many URLs per run?**
Up to 500. URLs are processed one at a time, most in about a second each — a 100-page run typically finishes in a couple of minutes.

**Is there a way to try it without paying?**
Yes — [freeskims.skim402.com](https://freeskims.skim402.com) runs the same engine in your browser, 10 free skims a day, no signup.

### Pricing: one flat number, nothing else

**$4.00 per 1,000 successful page reads. That is the entire bill.**

- No per-run start fees.
- No separate compute, memory, or proxy charges — platform usage is included in the price.
- Failed pages are never charged.
- No subscription, no rental, no minimum.

Most tools in this niche look cheap until you read the fine print. Here is what the fine print typically adds:

| Cost | Skim | Typical alternatives in this niche |
|---|---|---|
| Per page read | $4.00 / 1,000 | $3–$50 / 1,000 |
| Per-run start fee | none | $0.0015–$0.09 **every run** |
| Compute / memory billing | included | "free" actors bill raw platform usage — commonly $0.50–$4+ / 1,000 pages, varies with settings |
| Monthly rental | none | some charge a flat monthly fee on top |
| Failed pages | free | often billed like successes |

Start fees are the quiet one: agent workloads are typically many small runs, and a $0.09 start fee makes a 10-page run cost roughly three times what the per-page price suggests. With Skim, a 10-page run costs $0.04 — exactly what the headline says.

### Built on a real API, not just an Actor

Skim is a standalone product with its own infrastructure at [skim402.com](https://skim402.com) — a production clean-reader API serving AI agents directly, with [public docs](https://skim402.com/docs), published benchmarks, an [MCP server](https://skim402.com/docs), and connectors for LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, and Haystack. This Actor is its official Apify integration: the same engine, the same clean output, with normal Apify billing.

You can [try it free in your browser](https://freeskims.skim402.com) before running a single paid read.

Agents that carry their own crypto wallets can also call Skim directly over the x402 protocol — pay per call in USDC, no account: [skim402.com/docs](https://skim402.com/docs). This Actor exists so Apify users get the same reads with no wallet required.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Public web page URLs to convert into clean Markdown. Up to 500 per run.

## `includePlainText` (type: `boolean`):

Also include the plain-text version of each page alongside the Markdown.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402"
  ],
  "includePlainText": 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "urls": [
        "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jessiejanie/skim-clean-reader").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 = { "urls": ["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jessiejanie/skim-clean-reader").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 '{
  "urls": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402"
  ]
}' |
apify call jessiejanie/skim-clean-reader --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jessiejanie/skim-clean-reader",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Skim — Clean Web Reader (URL to Markdown)",
        "description": "Turn any URL into clean, agent-ready Markdown plus structured metadata (title, byline, date, language, excerpt) in about a second. Powered by skim402.com, the canonical x402 clean reader.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "mFu9vPDssjcF07F6W"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/jessiejanie~skim-clean-reader/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jessiejanie-skim-clean-reader",
                "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": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/jessiejanie~skim-clean-reader/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-jessiejanie-skim-clean-reader",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/jessiejanie~skim-clean-reader/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-jessiejanie-skim-clean-reader",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": "URLs to read",
                        "uniqueItems": true,
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Public web page URLs to convert into clean Markdown. Up to 500 per run.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "includePlainText": {
                        "title": "Include plain text",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Also include the plain-text version of each page alongside the Markdown.",
                        "default": 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
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```