# Instructables DIY Project and Tutorial Scraper (`jungle_synthesizer/instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper`) Actor Scrape Instructables.com project metadata across all craft verticals including electronics, woodworking, sewing, cooking, and 3D printing. Returns title, author, category, difficulty, step count, materials summary, favorites, views, and comments counts per project. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community) - **Categories:** Education, For creators - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN 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. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. 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 ## Instructables DIY Project and Tutorial Scraper Scrapes project metadata from [Instructables.com](https://www.instructables.com/) — the canonical maker-tutorial index covering electronics, woodworking, 3D printing, sewing, cooking, and everything in between. Returns one record per project. No step body text, no downloadable files — just metadata. Title, author, category, difficulty, step count, materials list, favorites, views, comments. The stuff you actually need to analyze or index a project corpus. The site has 370k+ published projects across eight categories. The scraper covers all of them, with an optional category filter and sort order. --- ### What You Get | Field | Type | Notes | |-------|------|-------| | `project_id` | string | URL slug (e.g. `DIY-Wooden-Bookshelf`) | | `title` | string | Project title | | `author_username` | string | Instructables screen name | | `author_url` | string | Author profile URL | | `category` | string | Top-level category (circuits, workshop, craft, cooking, living, outside, design) | | `channel` | string | Sub-category (e.g. arduino, woodworking, knitting-and-crochet) | | `difficulty` | string | Project type (e.g. "Step by Step") | | `step_count` | integer | Number of steps | | `materials_summary` | string[] | Materials/supplies list | | `favorites_count` | integer | Community favorites | | `views_count` | integer | Total views | | `comments_count` | integer | Comment count | | `is_featured` | boolean | Editor-featured project | | `contest_entered` | string | Contest name if the project was entered | | `published_at` | string | Publication date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `thumbnail_url` | string | Cover image URL | | `project_url` | string | Full project URL | --- ### Input | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | `maxItems` | integer | 10 | Maximum projects to return. Leave empty for no limit. | | `category` | string | (all) | Filter by category: `circuits`, `workshop`, `craft`, `cooking`, `living`, `outside`, `design`, `teachers`. | | `sortBy` | string | Newest | Sort order: `Newest`, `Views`, or `Favorites`. | --- ### Usage #### Broad corpus export Leave `category` empty. Set `sortBy: Newest` and a high `maxItems` to pull a recent cross-craft sample. The corpus spans electronics through woodworking to cooking — broad enough for most content intelligence or dataset use cases. #### Focused category pull Set `category: circuits` and `sortBy: Views` to get the most-viewed electronics projects. Same for `workshop`, `craft`, etc. The category filter maps to Instructables' top-level taxonomy. #### Dataset research Run with `maxItems: 5` to preview the field shape before committing to a full corpus pull. The output is consistent across categories. --- ### How It Works The scraper calls Instructables' internal Typesense search API (`/api_proxy/search`) — the same endpoint their front-end uses for project listing pages. For each project, it also calls `/json-api/showInstructableModel` to retrieve step count, materials, and difficulty. No browser required. The Typesense API key is a scoped key embedded in the page context at startup. The scraper fetches it once at run start and reuses it for all listing requests. --- ### Limits and Notes - **Robots.txt crawl delay**: 1 second. The scraper paces itself accordingly. - **Rate limits**: Instructables does not publish official rate limits. The scraper is conservative by default. - **Materials**: Some projects have empty supplies sections — that's the site content, not a scraper issue. `materials_summary` returns an empty array in those cases. - **Copyright**: This scraper returns metadata only. Step-by-step instructional text and downloadable files are creator-owned — they are intentionally excluded. --- ### Pricing Pay-per-result via OrbTop PPE. Standard profile: $0.10/start + $0.001/project at free tier. --- *Built by [OrbTop](https://orbtop.com).* # Actor input Schema ## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`): Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler. ## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`): Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements. ## `sp_contact` (type: `string`): Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of projects to scrape. Leave empty to scrape all available projects. ## `category` (type: `string`): Filter by category slug (e.g. circuits, workshop, craft, cooking, living, outside). Leave empty to scrape all categories. ## `sortBy` (type: `string`): Sort order for results. ## Actor input object example ```json { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "category": "", "sortBy": "Newest" } ```` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "sortBy": "Newest" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper").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 = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "sortBy": "Newest", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper").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 '{ "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "sortBy": "Newest" }' | apify call jungle_synthesizer/instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jungle_synthesizer/instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Instructables DIY Project and Tutorial Scraper", "description": "Scrape Instructables.com project metadata across all craft verticals including electronics, woodworking, sewing, cooking, and 3D printing. Returns title, author, category, difficulty, step count, materials summary, favorites, views, and comments counts per project.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "PYg94UKDreyGXEuCp" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jungle_synthesizer-instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jungle_synthesizer-instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jungle_synthesizer-instructables-diy-project-tutorial-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "properties": { "sp_intended_usage": { "title": "What is the intended usage of this data?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler." }, "sp_improvement_suggestions": { "title": "How can we improve this crawler for you?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements." }, "sp_contact": { "title": "Contact Email", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of projects to scrape. Leave empty to scrape all available projects.", "default": 10 }, "category": { "title": "Category Filter", "enum": [ "", "circuits", "workshop", "craft", "cooking", "living", "outside", "design", "teachers" ], "type": "string", "description": "Filter by category slug (e.g. circuits, workshop, craft, cooking, living, outside). Leave empty to scrape all categories.", "default": "" }, "sortBy": { "title": "Sort By", "enum": [ "Newest", "Views", "Favorites" ], "type": "string", "description": "Sort order for results.", "default": "Newest" } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```