# UK Companies House Filing and Control Watch (`nexgenwatch/uk-companies-house-watch`) Actor

Companies House filing history AND persons with significant control for the companies you name, in one cell: a new filing appearing, and a PSC being added,…

- **URL**: https://apify.com/nexgenwatch/uk-companies-house-watch.md
- **Developed by:** [NexGen Watch](https://apify.com/nexgenwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, News
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $33.50 / 1,000 company deltas

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/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

## UK Companies House Filing and Control Watch

```
    Companies House filing history AND persons with significant control for the companies you name, in one cell: a new filing appearing, and a PSC being added, removed or having their nature of control change. PER-COMPANY SCOPE: the public service serves one company at a time, so this watches your list — it is not a whole-register feed. Filing documents are not opened or parsed.

    ## Source
    Companies House public company information service (public, logged-out)
    - https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/{number}/filing-history
```

- https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/{number}/persons-with-significant-control

  ```
    Public, logged-out only — no API key, login, cookie or CAPTCHA.

    ## Pricing
    | Event | Price (FREE tier) |
    |---|---|
    | Actor start (`apify-actor-start`) | $0.02 one-time |
    | Source check (`source-check`) | $0.10 |
  ```

| **Per delta (`company-delta`)** | **$0.05** |

```
    `source-check` ladder, GOLD-floored: **$0.10 / $0.09 / $0.08 / $0.067**, charged
    once per run after enumeration terminates — seed and genuine-zero runs included.
    The per-delta value event (`company-delta`) is the **primary** event and is priced at **$0.05 per delta** at the FREE tier. Ladder, GOLD-floored: **$0.05 / $0.045 / $0.04 / $0.0335** (FREE / BRONZE / SILVER / GOLD-PLATINUM-DIAMOND). `source-check` still charges; it is no longer the headline event. Billed deltas are capped at 500 per run and any overflow is reported as a withholding rather than charged.

    ## Snapshot mode is a PREVIEW
    `watch_mode: false` returns at most **25 records**, hard-capped in code regardless
    of `max_items`, labeled `output_mode: "preview"`. This cell sells change detection,
    not bulk record export.

    ## Watch semantics
    First watch run stores a private baseline and emits **zero** deltas. Later runs emit
    `NEW` / `CHANGED` / `REMOVED` keyed on the source-native id with `before` / `after`
    and `changed_fields`. A build whose signature shape changes RE-SEEDS rather than
    emitting a storm of deltas nobody caused.

    ## Source cadence
    Companies House publishes filings on business days. A newly accepted filing appears in the history immediately but its DOCUMENT can take days to process, which the cell handles explicitly — see the README note on filing keys.

    ## A note on filing keys you should know about
```

A filing appears in the history the moment Companies House accepts it, but its DOCUMENT
can take days to process — the service says so on the row itself. During that window the
row carries no transaction id. Measured live: 24 of 25 rows had an id and the one that
did not was the newest filing.

Rather than drop it, this cell gives such a row a deterministic key built from its date,
type and description, so a brand-new filing is reported immediately. When the document
later lands, that filing's key becomes the official transaction id — which surfaces as a
key change, not a silent substitution. If you reconcile on `transaction_id`, use
`document_available` to tell the two states apart.

PSC entries carry no official identifier on the public page at all, so they are keyed on
company number + normalised name + notified-on date. That is the strongest identity the
public service offers, and a PSC renaming themselves will read as a removal plus an
addition.

```
    ## Terminal states
    `NORMAL` · `SUCCEEDED-0: GENUINE_EMPTY` · `SUCCEEDED-0` (no change) · `PARTIAL` · `BLOCKED`.
    A zero with no evidence FAILS loud rather than exiting 0 quietly.
```

# Actor input Schema

## `company_numbers` (type: `array`):

Companies House numbers to watch, e.g. '00445790'. Required — the source is per-company.

## `watch_filings` (type: `boolean`):

Include filing-history records.

## `watch_control` (type: `boolean`):

Include PSC records.

## `filing_pages` (type: `integer`):

Pages of filing history to read per company (25 rows per page).

## `filing_types` (type: `array`):

Optional filing type codes to keep, e.g. 'AA', 'SH06'.

## `watch_mode` (type: `boolean`):

First run seeds a private baseline and emits ZERO deltas.

## `baseline_id` (type: `string`):

Names the private baseline.

## `max_items` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on records processed.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "company_numbers": [
    "00445790",
    "03977902"
  ],
  "watch_filings": true,
  "watch_control": true,
  "filing_pages": 1,
  "filing_types": [],
  "watch_mode": true,
  "baseline_id": "default",
  "max_items": 60
}
```

# 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 = {
    "company_numbers": [
        "00445790",
        "03977902"
    ],
    "watch_filings": true,
    "watch_control": true,
    "filing_pages": 1,
    "filing_types": [],
    "watch_mode": false,
    "baseline_id": "default",
    "max_items": 60
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("nexgenwatch/uk-companies-house-watch").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 = {
    "company_numbers": [
        "00445790",
        "03977902",
    ],
    "watch_filings": True,
    "watch_control": True,
    "filing_pages": 1,
    "filing_types": [],
    "watch_mode": False,
    "baseline_id": "default",
    "max_items": 60,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("nexgenwatch/uk-companies-house-watch").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 '{
  "company_numbers": [
    "00445790",
    "03977902"
  ],
  "watch_filings": true,
  "watch_control": true,
  "filing_pages": 1,
  "filing_types": [],
  "watch_mode": false,
  "baseline_id": "default",
  "max_items": 60
}' |
apify call nexgenwatch/uk-companies-house-watch --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,nexgenwatch/uk-companies-house-watch"
        }
    }
}

```

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/BOwZrWSfQzqAaVJ9I/builds/LUHyI71pRbMuX7Xe1/openapi.json