Snapcraft Store Scraper: Linux Snap Packages Search

Easily discover and extract Linux snap package details from the Snap Store. Search by keyword, look up specific apps by name, or extract entire categories, then export clean structured datasets in JSON, CSV, or Excel formats.

This tool credits the Snap Store and operates independently without speaking for Canonical.

Use Cases

• Package Search: Quickly locate software across the Snap Store using targeted search terms like python, vlc, or development utilities.
• Detailed App Audits: Pull structured summaries, publishers, and licensing information for specific applications.
• Category Browsing: Gather complete listings for software sections such as games, productivity, or developer tools.
• Fleet & Repository Catalogs: Maintain standardized application inventories across Linux deployments.
• Automated Monitoring: Regularly check application updates while automatically deduplicating identical package records.

Data Extracted

The scraper provides structured outputs depending on your search mode:

• Search Results: Retrieves matching packages with titles, summaries, publisher details, licenses, media assets, and categories.
• App Details: Extracts expanded package profiles including license types, publisher verification statuses, and project summaries.
• Category Listings: Captures software applications belonging to specific store categories.

Rows are deduplicated by package ID within each run. If a request encounters an issue (such as a missing package name), the actor saves an error record with context details instead of failing the run.

Input Options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchQueries	array	["python"]	Keywords to search for, one per line.
snapNames	array	[]	Specific snap package names for direct lookup.
category	string	""	App store category (e.g., games, development).
maxItems	integer	100	Maximum number of rows to save (1–1000).
requestDelaySecs	number	0.5	Delay between request cycles in seconds.
timeoutSecs	integer	300	Overall run execution timeout in seconds.
requestTimeoutSecs	integer	30	Timeout per network request.
proxyConfiguration	object	{ "useApifyProxy": false }	Optional proxy setup if needed.

Example Input

{
  "searchQueries": ["python"],
  "snapNames": ["vlc"],
  "category": "games",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "requestDelaySecs": 0.5,
  "timeoutSecs": 300,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 30,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false }
}

Output Structure

Successful extractions include the following structured fields:

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Package name.
snap	object	Details including title, summary, publisher info, media links, license, and categories.
snap-id	string	Unique package identifier used to filter duplicates.
scraped_at	string	UTC timestamp of the extraction.
mode	string	Execution mode (search, info, or category).

Example Output

{
  "name": "vlc",
  "snap": {
    "title": "VLC",
    "summary": "The ultimate media player",
    "license": "GPL-2.0+",
    "publisher": {
      "display-name": "VideoLAN",
      "username": "videolan",
      "validation": "verified"
    }
  },
  "snap-id": "RT9mcUhVsRYrDLG8qnvGiy26NKvv6Qkd",
  "scraped_at": "2026-10-12T00:00:00+00:00",
  "mode": "search"
}

How It Works

1. Initialization: Reads your input parameters and sets up the request sequence while applying rate-friendly headers.
2. Execution: Processes search queries, app lookup requests, and category selections in order.
3. Data Handling: Cleans raw responses, removes duplicate package IDs, and batches output records smoothly.
4. Resilience: Retries transient errors automatically with exponential backoff and logs invalid inputs clearly without stopping the entire task.

Limits and Best Practices

To ensure reliable runs:

• maxItems defaults to 100 and can be adjusted up to 1000 per run.
• A built-in delay (requestDelaySecs, default 0.5s) keeps requests polite and steady.
• Scheduled runs allow you to keep package catalogs updated over time.

FAQ

Can I export data as CSV or Excel? Yes. You can download the dataset from the Apify platform in JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or HTML table formats.

What happens if a requested snap name does not exist? The scraper logs an informative error row containing the attempted input and error details without crashing the rest of your run.

How fresh is the scraped data? Data is retrieved in real-time during the run. The scraped_at timestamp reflects the precise moment each item was collected.

Trademark Notice

Snapcraft and related names, logos, and marks belong to their respective owners. Reference to them is solely for data identification purposes and does not imply endorsement, affiliation, or partnership.

Disclaimer

This Actor is an independent web scraping tool created by kawsar and is not affiliated with or officially associated with Snapcraft or its parent entities. Users are responsible for ensuring their usage complies with relevant terms, rate guidelines, and licensing conditions.

Is Web Scraping Legal?

This Actor collects publicly available information without bypassing access barriers. While collecting public data is generally legal, consider the following best practices:

• Personal Data: When handling personal details, comply with applicable privacy regulations such as GDPR or CCPA.
• Copyright: Respect copyrighted material such as extended text descriptions or graphics.
• Terms of Service: Always observe source terms, reasonable request frequencies, and usage limits.
• Legal Advice: This overview provides general information and does not constitute legal counsel.

To learn more, read Apify's guide: Is web scraping legal?