# Stack Overflow Question Tracker by Tag (`m_ctim/stackoverflow-question-tracker`) Actor

Track new Stack Overflow (or any Stack Exchange site) questions by tag. Get title, tags, view/answer counts, and link the moment someone asks about your product, library, or topic.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/m_ctim/stackoverflow-question-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Timothy Kelvin](https://apify.com/m_ctim) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.50 / 1,000 question searches

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Stack Overflow Question Tracker — New Questions by Tag

Track new Stack Overflow (or any Stack Exchange site) questions by tag.
Get the title, tags, view/answer counts, and link the moment someone
asks about your product, library, or topic.

Built for DevRel, support, and product teams who want to know what
people are struggling with in real time, instead of finding out from a
support ticket days later.

### Input

```json
{
  "tags": "rust;async",
  "site": "stackoverflow",
  "unansweredOnly": false,
  "daysBack": 7,
  "maxResults": 25
}
```

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `tags` | string | One or more tags, semicolon-separated for AND logic, e.g. `"rust;async"` (must have both). Exact Stack Exchange tag spelling. |
| `site` | string | Stack Exchange site by subdomain, e.g. `"stackoverflow"`, `"serverfault"`, `"askubuntu"`, `"dba"`. Default `"stackoverflow"`. |
| `unansweredOnly` | boolean | Only return questions with zero answers so far. Default `false`. |
| `daysBack` | number | How many days back from today to search, by question creation date. Default `7`, max `90`. |
| `maxResults` | number | Max questions to return, most recent first. Default `25`, max `100`. |

### Output

One record per question:

```json
{
  "questionId": 79993607,
  "title": "Can Rust optimize out calls to `into()`, for example in constructors?",
  "tags": ["rust", "optimization"],
  "site": "stackoverflow",
  "isAnswered": false,
  "answerCount": 0,
  "viewCount": 126,
  "score": 1,
  "owner": "Quantasm",
  "createdAt": "2026-08-12T20:20:52.000Z",
  "link": "https://stackoverflow.com/questions/79993607/can-rust-optimize-out-calls-to-into-for-example-in-constructors"
}
```

A search with no matching questions returns no items but is still
billed once for the search.

### How it works

Direct calls to the official [Stack Exchange
API](https://api.stackexchange.com/docs) (`api.stackexchange.com`) — no
proxy, no key, no scraping. The anonymous quota (300 requests/day,
shared across all callers from the same IP) is far more than a
scheduled tracker run needs.

### Pricing note

Billed per **search**, not per question returned — one charge whether
the search returns 0 questions or 100.

### Related products

- [New GitHub Repos Finder by Topic & Language](https://apify.com/m_ctim/github-repo-discovery-tracker): find new open-source projects in the same ecosystem you're already tracking questions about

# Actor input Schema

## `tags` (type: `string`):

One or more tags to match, semicolon-separated for AND logic, e.g. "rust;async" (must have both tags). Use exact Stack Exchange tag spelling, e.g. "docker" not "Docker".

## `site` (type: `string`):

Stack Exchange site to search, by subdomain, e.g. "stackoverflow", "serverfault", "askubuntu", "dba", "superuser".

## `unansweredOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only return questions with zero answers so far.

## `daysBack` (type: `integer`):

How many days back from today to search, by question creation date.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of questions to return, most recent first.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "tags": "docker",
  "site": "stackoverflow",
  "unansweredOnly": false,
  "daysBack": 7,
  "maxResults": 25
}
```

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "tags": "docker"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("m_ctim/stackoverflow-question-tracker").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 = { "tags": "docker" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("m_ctim/stackoverflow-question-tracker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "tags": "docker"
}' |
apify call m_ctim/stackoverflow-question-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,m_ctim/stackoverflow-question-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/P89HAbthZgfpEYTla/builds/ciynCDTwl0YW530cb/openapi.json