# npm Package Search Scraper – Quality, Popularity & Maintenance (`ninhothedev/npms-search-scraper`) Actor

$0.5/1K 🔥 npms.io package search scraper! npm packages with quality, popularity & maintenance scores. No key. JSON, CSV, Excel or API in seconds. Discover & vet dependencies ⚡

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ninhothedev/npms-search-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ninhothedev](https://apify.com/ninhothedev) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 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.

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

## npms.io Package Search Scraper

Search the entire npm registry through the public **npms.io** search API and get clean, structured package data — **no API key, no login, no rate-limit headaches.** For every match you get the package name, latest version, description, keywords, author, publisher, npm/homepage/repository links, and the npms quality, popularity and maintenance scores.

Perfect for **package discovery**, **dependency selection**, **dev tooling**, and **open-source research**.

### Why this Actor

- **No API key** — uses the free, public npms.io v2 search endpoint.
- **Real scores** — `quality`, `popularity`, `maintenance` and a combined `final` score for every package, so you can rank alternatives objectively.
- **Batch queries** — pass a list of search terms and get all results in one dataset.
- **Clean, flat schema** — ready for spreadsheets, dashboards, or your own pipeline.
- **Cheap** — roughly **$0.5 per 1,000 packages**.

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `mode` | string | Scraping mode. Currently `search` (queries → packages). |
| `queries` | array | One or more free-text search queries. Prefilled with `["react", "web scraping", "cli"]`. |
| `maxItems` | integer | Max total packages across all queries (1–1000, default 100). |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "queries": ["web scraping", "graphql client", "date parsing"],
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Output

Each dataset item is one package:

```json
{
  "name": "react",
  "version": "18.2.0",
  "description": "React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces.",
  "keywords": ["react"],
  "author": "React Team",
  "publisher": "gnoff",
  "npm_url": "https://www.npmjs.com/package/react",
  "homepage": "https://reactjs.org/",
  "repository": "https://github.com/facebook/react",
  "score_final": 0.93,
  "quality": 0.902,
  "popularity": 0.916,
  "maintenance": 0.967,
  "updated": "2022-06-14T19:46:38.369000+00:00",
  "source": "npms",
  "scraped_at": "2026-07-24T12:00:00+00:00"
}
```

All fields are nullable — missing data on npms.io comes back as `null` rather than failing the run.

### Use cases

- **Package discovery** — find libraries for a task and rank them by real scores.
- **Dependency selection** — compare candidates on quality, popularity and maintenance before you commit.
- **Dev tooling** — feed package metadata into internal dashboards, linters or CI checks.
- **Open-source research** — map an ecosystem, track maintainers, or study package trends.

### Related Actors

- [npm Package Scraper](https://apify.com/ninhothedev/npm-package-scraper)
- [Bundlephobia Scraper](https://apify.com/ninhothedev/bundlephobia-scraper)
- [pkg.go.dev Scraper](https://apify.com/ninhothedev/pkg-go-dev-scraper)
- [GitHub Scraper](https://apify.com/ninhothedev/github-scraper)

### Notes

This Actor uses the public npms.io API and does not require authentication. If `api.npms.io` is unreachable the run fails loudly with a clear message so you never get silent, empty results.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Scraping mode. Currently 'search' maps a list of search queries to matching npm packages.

## `queries` (type: `array`):

One or more free-text search queries sent to the npms.io search API. Each query returns its top-ranked npm packages.

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

Maximum total number of packages to return across all queries. Between 1 and 1000.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "queries": [
    "react",
    "web scraping",
    "cli"
  ],
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# 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 = {
    "queries": [
        "react",
        "web scraping",
        "cli"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ninhothedev/npms-search-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 = { "queries": [
        "react",
        "web scraping",
        "cli",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ninhothedev/npms-search-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 '{
  "queries": [
    "react",
    "web scraping",
    "cli"
  ]
}' |
apify call ninhothedev/npms-search-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ninhothedev/npms-search-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/1gtdWoxLbgOgHOJKA/builds/bTIDXm30w8D9LvRAi/openapi.json