# BBC News Scraper (`mrdoe/bbc-news-scraper`) Actor BBC News news scraper: latest headlines, summaries, authors, publication times, tags and images by section. Filter by topic and time, get only new articles in monitor mode, and optionally the article text. No login. - **URL**: https://apify.com/mrdoe/bbc-news-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [MrDoe](https://apify.com/mrdoe) (community) - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.00 / 1,000 results 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 ![BBC News Scraper - BBC News headlines with section, author, time and summary](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/kE36venAoVchGsE6b/records/bbc-news-scraper--hero.png) ### What does BBC News Scraper do? BBC News Scraper collects the articles that BBC News lists in its public news feeds. Each row has the headline, a short summary, the author, the publication and update time, the section, topic tags, the lead image and the article link. Choose one or more sections, keep only articles that mention your topic or were published in the last hours, and turn on monitor mode to receive only articles you have not seen before. Optionally the Actor also reads the article text. ### Why use BBC News Scraper? - Follow BBC News coverage of any topic without opening the site. - Filter by section, topic words and how recently an article was published. - Monitor mode returns only new articles, ready for Slack, Discord, Telegram or email alerts. - One clean row per article for research, sentiment analysis, media monitoring and news dashboards. - Runs in seconds because the feeds carry many articles per request. ### What makes this different Articles from several BBC News sections are merged into one deduplicated list, sorted newest first, and monitor mode keeps a baseline between runs so a scheduled run returns only what is new. ### How it works ![BBC News Scraper workflow: your input, collection, output](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/kE36venAoVchGsE6b/records/bbc-news-scraper--how-it-works.png) 1. **Your input** — choose the sections, add optional topic words and a time window. 2. **The Actor collects it** — the Actor reads the current BBC News articles for those sections and keeps the ones that match. 3. **Your output** — you get one clean row per article, newest first, or only new articles in monitor mode. ### What data can you extract? The dataset has 16 fields per row: | Field | Type | Description | | -------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | | `id` | string | Stable article ID, derived from the article address. | | `source` | string | News outlet. | | `section` | string | Section the article was found in. | | `title` | string | Headline. | | `url` | string | Article address. | | `summary` | string | Short summary or standfirst. | | `author` | string | Author or authors; null when not listed. | | `publishedAt` | string | Publication time, ISO 8601 UTC. | | `updatedAt` | string | Last update time, ISO 8601 UTC; null when not listed. | | `imageUrl` | string | Lead image address. | | `tags` | array | Topic tags or categories. | | `text` | string | Article text; only when Include article text is on. | | `wordCount` | integer | Number of words in the article text. | | `language` | string | Language of the article. | | `isNewToWatch` | boolean | True the first time this article appears in this list. | | `scrapedAt` | string | When the record was collected, ISO 8601 UTC. | ### How to use BBC News Scraper ![BBC News Scraper input form](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/kE36venAoVchGsE6b/records/bbc-news-scraper--input.png) 1. Open the Actor and go to the **Input** tab. 2. Choose one or more **Sections**, for example Top stories, and run the Actor. 3. Optionally set filters and a **Max results** limit. 4. Click **Start**. A default run finishes in under a minute. 5. Open the **Output** tab, then download the dataset or connect it to your tools. ### Input Parameters | Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description | | ---------------------- | ------- | -------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | `sections` | array | No | `["top"]` | Which BBC News sections to read. Articles that appear in several sections are returned once. | | `searchTerms` | array | No | — | Keep articles whose headline, summary or tags contain all words of any term, for example "climate" or "interest rates". Leave empty to keep everything. | | `publishedWithinHours` | integer | No | — | Only articles published in the last this-many hours, for example 24. | | `includeFullText` | boolean | No | `false` | Off by default. When on, the Actor also reads the text of each article page, which makes the run slower. Some articles are behind a paywall or subscription and return only the free part. | | `maxItems` | integer | No | `20` | Stop once this many articles have been written to the dataset (newest first). | | `monitorMode` | boolean | No | `false` | When on, the run returns only articles that were not in the previous run of the same list. Turn this on for scheduled runs, and set Max results high enough to cover a full feed. | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | No | `{"useApifyProxy":false}` | Optional. BBC News works without a proxy at normal volumes. | ### Output Data ![BBC News Scraper dataset table](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/kE36venAoVchGsE6b/records/bbc-news-scraper--output.png) `publishedAt` and `updatedAt` are ISO 8601 timestamps in UTC. `section` is the section the article was found in. `isNewToWatch` is true the first time an article appears in a watched list. `text` is only filled when Include article text is on. Fields that do not apply are `null`. ![BBC News Scraper field map of one record](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/kE36venAoVchGsE6b/records/bbc-news-scraper--fields.png) A real dataset item: ```json { "id": "74dbbe9c743a1496", "source": "BBC News", "section": "Top stories", "title": "Nvidia boss rejects AI extinction fears as 'doomsday narratives'", "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5ye7p13jg7o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss", "summary": "Jensen Huang's comments come after warnings from AI researchers that the technology could lead to human extinction.", "author": null, "publishedAt": "2026-09-21T06:25:43.000Z", "updatedAt": null, "imageUrl": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/ba1f/live/38ae4b30-b54a-11f1-a718-f1288d239f82.jpg", "tags": [], "text": null, "wordCount": null, "language": "en", "isNewToWatch": true, "scrapedAt": "2026-09-21T06:53:26.691Z" } ``` ### Usage Examples #### Latest headlines ```json { "sections": ["top"], "maxItems": 20 } ``` #### Articles about "election" in the last 24 hours ```json { "sections": ["top", "world", "politics"], "searchTerms": ["election"], "publishedWithinHours": 24 } ``` #### Articles with their text ```json { "sections": ["top"], "includeFullText": true, "maxItems": 10 } ``` #### Alert for new articles ```json { "sections": ["top"], "monitorMode": true, "maxItems": 100 } ``` ### Tips for Best Results - Use Published within the last hours together with a topic word for a daily briefing. - Schedule monitor mode every 15 to 60 minutes and send new rows to Slack or Discord. - Keep the same sections and filters between scheduled runs - the baseline is kept per list. - Select several sections to build a wider feed; duplicates are removed. ### Known Limitations - Only the articles that BBC News currently lists in its public feeds are returned, so very old articles are not available. - The number of articles per section depends on what the outlet publishes, often 10 to 100. - Paywalled or subscriber-only articles return only their free part when article text is on. - Article text is the text of the page; captions, embedded posts and video are not included. - Monitor mode remembers the articles of each run, so keep the same sections and filters between scheduled runs. ### Integrations Run it from the Apify API, on a schedule, or from a webhook. Send results straight to Google Sheets, Make, Zapier, Slack or your own database with Apify's built-in integrations. ### Export Formats Download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, HTML table or RSS from the **Output** tab or the API. ### Frequently Asked Questions #### How do I get the latest BBC News headlines? Choose the sections and run the Actor. Each article is returned with its headline, summary, author and publication time. #### Can I get an alert when a new article is published? Turn on Monitor mode and schedule the run. Each run returns only articles that were not in the previous run. #### Can I search for a topic? Yes. Add words to Only articles about. An article is kept when its headline, summary or tags contain all words of any entry. #### Does it get the article text? Yes, optionally. Turn on Include article text. Paywalled articles return only their free part. #### How many articles can I get? The default is 20 per run and you can raise it to 500 with Max results. The number available depends on what the outlet lists. #### How fresh is the data? Articles are read live on every run. #### Do I need an account or login? No. The Actor reads public BBC News pages and needs no account, cookies or API key. #### Am I charged for failed runs or empty results? You are only charged for results that are actually written to the dataset. #### Can I run it on a schedule? Yes. Create a Task with your input and add a schedule in Apify Console. With monitor mode on, each scheduled run returns only what changed since the previous one. ### Support Questions or a missing field? Open an issue from the **Issues** tab on this Actor's page and it will be looked at. ### Legal / Responsible Use You are responsible for using the collected articles in line with BBC News's terms and applicable copyright law. The Actor reads public headlines and summaries and, when switched on, the public text of articles; it does not bypass paywalls or logins. Articles are copyrighted by their publisher, so link to them and do not republish full text. The Actor is not affiliated with BBC News. # Actor input Schema ## `sections` (type: `array`): Which BBC News sections to read. Articles that appear in several sections are returned once. ## `searchTerms` (type: `array`): Keep articles whose headline, summary or tags contain all words of any term, for example "climate" or "interest rates". Leave empty to keep everything. ## `publishedWithinHours` (type: `integer`): Only articles published in the last this-many hours, for example 24. ## `includeFullText` (type: `boolean`): Off by default. When on, the Actor also reads the text of each article page, which makes the run slower. Some articles are behind a paywall or subscription and return only the free part. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Stop once this many articles have been written to the dataset (newest first). ## `monitorMode` (type: `boolean`): When on, the run returns only articles that were not in the previous run of the same list. Turn this on for scheduled runs, and set Max results high enough to cover a full feed. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Optional. BBC News works without a proxy at normal volumes. ## Actor input object example ```json { "sections": [ "top" ], "includeFullText": false, "maxItems": 20, "monitorMode": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # 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 = { "sections": [ "top" ], "maxItems": 20 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("mrdoe/bbc-news-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 = { "sections": ["top"], "maxItems": 20, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("mrdoe/bbc-news-scraper").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 '{ "sections": [ "top" ], "maxItems": 20 }' | apify call mrdoe/bbc-news-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,mrdoe/bbc-news-scraper" } } } ``` 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 ` 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/1gfvQbhxl3nKJ5Ajf/builds/Wa4aTcnzzhZTfc3Vh/openapi.json