VS Code Extensions Scraper

Extract comprehensive extension data from the VS Code Marketplace. Get extension metadata, download counts, ratings, dependencies, publisher verification, and more — perfect for competitive intelligence, market research, and extension analytics.

Why Use This Actor?

The VS Code ecosystem has over 30,000 extensions, but finding reliable data on extension performance, trends, and competitive positioning is challenging. This Actor provides a complete solution for extracting extension intelligence from Microsoft's official Marketplace API.

Key Features

• Extension Metadata: Extract complete extension information including name, version, publisher, description, and categories
• Download Counts: Get accurate install counts with trending metrics (weekly and monthly trends)
• Rating & Review Data: Extract average ratings, total review counts, and weighted ratings
• Dependencies & Extension Packs: Identify extension dependencies and bundled extension packs
• Publisher Verification: Check publisher verification status and domain ownership
• Version History: Optionally extract complete version history with changelog URLs
• Tag & Category Extraction: Get all assigned tags and categories for filtering and analysis
• Repository Links: Extract GitHub repository, homepage, and bug tracker URLs
• Icon & Asset URLs: Get extension icons, banners, and screenshot URLs
• License Information: Extract license type from extension metadata

Use Cases

Extension Market Research

Analyze the VS Code extension ecosystem to identify trending categories, popular publishers, and market gaps. Track extension growth over time with install count and rating data.

Competitive Intelligence

Monitor competing extensions with detailed metrics including download counts, ratings, update frequency, and feature comparisons. Understand what makes successful extensions stand out.

Publisher Analytics

Extension developers can track their own extensions' performance alongside competitors. Monitor rating trends, download velocity, and user engagement metrics.

Extension Discovery

Build tools to help users discover extensions by extracting comprehensive tag and category data. Create filtered search experiences based on publisher verification, pricing, or compatibility.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
searchQuery	string	No	""	Search term (e.g., "python", "react", "theme")
publisher	string	No	""	Filter by publisher (e.g., "ms-python")
category	string	No	""	Filter by category (e.g., "Programming Languages")
maxResults	integer	Yes	50	Maximum extensions to extract (1-1000)
includeVersions	boolean	No	false	Include complete version history
sortBy	string	No	"installCount"	Sort order: "relevance", "installCount", "rating", "name"
proxyConfiguration	object	No	auto	Proxy settings (Apify proxy enabled by default)

Output Example

{
  "extensionId": "f1f59ae4-9318-4f3c-a9b5-81b2eaa5f8a5",
  "extensionName": "python",
  "displayName": "Python",
  "publisher": {
    "publisherId": "998b010b-e2af-44a5-a6cd-0b5fd3b9b6f8",
    "publisherName": "ms-python",
    "displayName": "Microsoft",
    "flags": "verified",
    "domain": "https://microsoft.com",
    "isDomainVerified": true
  },
  "shortDescription": "Python language support with IntelliSense, debugging, linting, and more.",
  "version": "2026.5.2026032701",
  "flags": "validated, public",
  "installCount": 94500000,
  "averageRating": 4.2,
  "ratingCount": 2847,
  "trendingWeekly": 125000,
  "trendingMonthly": 485000,
  "lastUpdated": "2026-03-27T10:54:36.6+00:00",
  "publishedDate": "2016-01-19T15:03:11.337+00:00",
  "releaseDate": "2016-01-19T15:03:11.337+00:00",
  "categories": ["Programming Languages", "Debuggers", "Formatters"],
  "tags": ["python", "debugging", "intellisense", "linting"],
  "pricing": "Free",
  "preview": false,
  "license": "MIT",
  "homepage": "https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-python",
  "repository": "https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-python",
  "bugs": "https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-python/issues",
  "icon": "https://ms-python.gallerycdn.vsassets.io/...",
  "changelogUrl": "https://ms-python.gallerycdn.vsassets.io/...",
  "dependencies": ["ms-python.debugpy", "ms-python.vscode-pylance"],
  "extensionPack": [],
  "engines": { "vscode": "^1.85.0" },
  "isPreReleaseVersion": false,
  "hasPreReleaseVersion": true,
  "statistics": {
    "install": 94500000,
    "averageRating": 4.2,
    "ratingCount": 2847,
    "trendingWeekly": 125000,
    "trendingMonthly": 485000,
    "updateCount": 152847,
    "weightedRating": 4.18
  },
  "extractedAt": "2026-03-28T08:55:00.000Z"
}

Pricing

This Actor uses Pay Per Event pricing:

Event	Price
Extension Extracted	$0.001

Example costs:

• 100 extensions = $0.10
• 500 extensions = $0.50
• 1000 extensions = $1.00

No proxy costs required — uses Microsoft's public API directly.

FAQ

Q: Does this work with all VS Code extensions? A: Yes, this Actor can extract any public extension from the VS Code Marketplace, including extensions from all verified and unverified publishers.

Q: Can I extract extension source code? A: No, this Actor extracts metadata only. Extension source code must be downloaded separately from the provided download links.

Q: How often is the data updated? A: Data is fetched in real-time from Microsoft's official Marketplace API, ensuring you always get current install counts, ratings, and metadata.

Q: Are there any rate limits? A: The Actor includes built-in rate limiting (1 second between requests) to respect Microsoft's API. This allows extraction of up to 1000 extensions per run.

Q: Can I filter by extension pricing (free vs paid)? A: The pricing field is extracted, but filtering by pricing tier must be done post-extraction on the results dataset.

Limitations

• Maximum 1000 extensions per run (API pagination limits)
• Version history extraction is optional and increases run time
• Some fields (like detailed changelogs) require separate downloads
• Publisher email addresses are not available through the public API
• Extension README content is not extracted (only metadata)

Support

Open an issue on this Actor's Apify page for questions, feature requests, or bug reports.

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Extract VS Code extension intelligence at scale. Perfect for market research, competitive analysis, and extension discovery tools.