# Municode Records Scraper (`muhammadafzal/municode-records-scraper`) Actor

Search public Municode Library pages for municipal code sections, ordinances, and documents. Return source URLs, titles, sections, excerpts, and optional full text for legal research and compliance workflows.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/muhammadafzal/municode-records-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Muhammad Afzal](https://apify.com/muhammadafzal) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Other
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 municode records

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## Municode Records Scraper

Search the public [Municode Library](https://library.municode.com/search) for code sections, ordinances, and municipal documents, or scrape known public Municode pages. Built for legal researchers, local-government teams, compliance analysts, and data pipelines that need source-attributed municipal records.

### Example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": ["short-term rental"],
  "municipality": "Riverside",
  "state": "CA",
  "maxItems": 10,
  "includeFullText": false
}
```

`startUrls` accepts public `https://library.municode.com/…` pages and can be used without a search query. Each dataset item includes the source URL, municipality/state when inferable, content type, title, section, matched excerpt, and optional visible full text.

### Pricing

| Event | Price | When charged |
|---|---:|---|
| Actor start | $0.01 | Once per run, with platform usage rules applying |
| Municode record | $0.005 | Each unique record successfully written to the dataset |

`maxItems` is a hard result and cost ceiling. For example, `maxItems: 25` allows at most $0.125 in result-event charges, plus the start event and any platform usage passed through by Apify. The run status and `SUMMARY` record report saved versus charged records.

The Actor only accesses public Municode Library pages. It does not bypass authentication, CAPTCHAs, paywalls, robots controls, or access restrictions. Municode pages may contain legal text that is amended or incomplete; verify important conclusions against the municipality and the source page.

### Local development

```bash
npm install
npm test
```

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Keywords, phrases, or section numbers to search in the public Municode Library. Example: short-term rental.

## `municipality` (type: `string`):

Optional municipality name used to narrow search results, for example Riverside. Leave blank to search across the Municode Library.

## `state` (type: `string`):

Optional two-letter US state abbreviation used with the municipality filter, for example CA.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Optional direct public Municode Library URLs, such as https://library.municode.com/ca/riverside/codes/code\_of\_ordinances. These are scraped in addition to search results.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum unique records to save. Start small; each result is one source-attributed record.

## `includeFullText` (type: `boolean`):

When enabled, include the visible text of each linked code or ordinance page. This can make records larger and slower.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "short-term rental"
  ],
  "startUrls": [],
  "maxItems": 25,
  "includeFullText": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `records` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing source-attributed Municode code, ordinance, or document records.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Run diagnostics and counts.

# 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 = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "short-term rental"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("muhammadafzal/municode-records-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searchQueries": ["short-term rental"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("muhammadafzal/municode-records-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 '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "short-term rental"
  ]
}' |
apify call muhammadafzal/municode-records-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,muhammadafzal/municode-records-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 <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/HqaliZhU4HW0Kaoh9/builds/0igaYVP5D53ruF7c1/openapi.json