# Stack Exchange Intel: Dev Leads, Tags & Question Monitor (`obsidian937/stackexchange-intel`) Actor

Turn Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network into structured B2B data. Monitor questions by tag or keyword, build developer lead lists from a technology's top answerers, or size technology adoption by tag. Official public API, no proxy, no auth. Delta mode for recurring monitoring.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/obsidian937/stackexchange-intel.md
- **Developed by:** [Obsidian IT Consulting SRL](https://apify.com/obsidian937) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Jobs, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 28.6% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 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.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use 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

## Stack Exchange Intel: Dev Leads, Tags & Question Monitor

Turn Stack Overflow and the wider Stack Exchange network into structured, B2B-ready data. Monitor questions by tag or keyword, build developer lead lists from a technology's proven top answerers, or size technology adoption by tag count. Built on the official public Stack Exchange API: no proxy, no authentication, no login.

### Who uses this

- **Developer-relations and recruiting teams** sourcing proven experts in a specific technology (top answerers of a tag = high-intent technical leads, with public location and website).
- **Support and community teams** watching their product's tag for new questions (an early signal of friction, bugs, and documentation gaps).
- **Developer-tool and SaaS teams** doing competitive intel: who asks about a rival's stack, how active a technology's community is.
- **Market researchers and investors** sizing technology adoption by question volume and growth.

### Modes

#### 1. Monitor questions (tag / keyword)
Search a site for questions matching a tag set (`python;fastapi`), a free-text keyword (`stripe webhook`), or both. Each result carries the title, tags, score, answer count, view count, answered state, creation date, link, and the asker as a compact lead pointer (name, id, reputation, profile). Sort by creation for monitoring, activity, or votes. In delta mode only questions new since the previous run are emitted, so a schedule turns this into a new-question alert feed.

#### 2. Developer leads (experts / top users)
Set a `tag` to list that technology's **top answerers**: proven experts ranked by answer score, then enriched to full profiles with location, website, reputation, and badge counts. These are the highest-intent technical leads, targeted by stack. Leave the tag blank to rank a site's users by reputation or account age instead.

#### 3. Tags (technology market sizing)
Rank a site's tags by popularity (question count, a direct proxy for adoption), recent activity, or name. Optionally filter by a name substring. Use it to size a technology, spot rising ecosystems, or build a tag universe for the other modes.

### Delta / monitor mode

Every mode supports `deltaMode`. State is kept per account between runs and emits only what is new:

- **Questions**: only question ids not seen before.
- **Users**: only user ids not seen before.
- **Tags**: only tag names not seen before.

This makes the actor a recurring monitor rather than a one-shot scrape, the recurring-usage pattern you want behind a schedule and a webhook.

### Example input

```json
{
  "mode": "questions",
  "site": "stackoverflow",
  "tagged": "stripe",
  "questionsSort": "creation",
  "deltaMode": true,
  "maxItems": 50
}
````

```json
{
  "mode": "users",
  "site": "stackoverflow",
  "tag": "swift",
  "period": "all_time",
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

```json
{
  "mode": "tags",
  "site": "stackoverflow",
  "tagsSort": "popular",
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

### Output fields

- **Questions**: `questionId`, `title`, `tags`, `score`, `answerCount`, `viewCount`, `isAnswered`, `creationDate`, `lastActivityDate`, `link`, `ownerName`, `ownerId`, `ownerReputation`, `ownerLink`, `site`.
- **Users**: `userId`, `accountId`, `displayName`, `location`, `websiteUrl`, `reputation`, `goldBadges` / `silverBadges` / `bronzeBadges`, `createdAt`, `lastAccessAt`, `profileUrl`, `site`, plus `answerScore` / `answerPostCount` when sourced from a tag's top answerers.
- **Tags**: `name`, `count`, `hasSynonyms`, `isModeratorOnly`, `isRequired`, `site`, `tagUrl`.

### Part of the B2B data suite

Combine with our other no-proxy intel actors for a full founder / VC / sales / dev dataset:

- **GitHub Intel**: repositories, developer leads, stargazers / contributors.
- **npm Registry Intel**: packages, releases, maintainer leads.
- **PyPI Intel**: Python packages, dependencies, maintainer leads.
- **Hacker News Intel**: Who is Hiring jobs, Show HN launches, keyword monitor.
- **Y Combinator Companies Scraper**: startups by batch and industry.
- **IndieHackers Product Scraper**: products, revenue, founders.
- **SEC EDGAR Intel**: filings, XBRL financials, full-text search.

### Notes

- Data comes from the official public Stack Exchange API (`api.stackexchange.com`). No login is required. An optional free app key (from stackapps.com) lifts the daily request quota from 300 to 10000; it is not authentication and all data stays public.
- Stack Exchange content is licensed CC BY-SA; each row carries the canonical `link` / `profileUrl` for attribution. Use contact and profile data in line with applicable anti-spam and data-protection rules.

# Actor input Schema

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

What to extract: rank technology tags (market sizing), build developer lead lists (experts by tag or top users), or monitor questions by tag/keyword.

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

Stack Exchange site to query, e.g. stackoverflow, serverfault, superuser, dba, security, datascience.

## `tagged` (type: `string`):

Semicolon-separated tags to match, e.g. "python;fastapi". Questions must carry all tags. At least one of Tagged or Keyword is required in questions mode.

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Free-text query for the question title/body, e.g. "stripe webhook". Combine with Tagged or use alone.

## `questionsSort` (type: `string`):

Order questions by creation date (newest, best for monitoring), recent activity, or votes.

## `fromDate` (type: `string`):

Only questions created on/after this date. ISO (2026-06-01) or unix epoch. Leave blank for no lower bound.

## `tag` (type: `string`):

If set, list the TOP ANSWERERS of this tag (proven experts in a technology = highest-intent dev leads), enriched with location + website. Leave blank to rank site users instead.

## `period` (type: `string`):

Window for the top-answerers ranking when a Tag is set.

## `usersSort` (type: `string`):

When no Tag is set, rank users by reputation or account creation date.

## `inname` (type: `string`):

Substring filter on tag name (tags mode) or user display name (users mode, no tag).

## `tagsSort` (type: `string`):

Rank tags by popularity (question count = adoption), recent activity, or name.

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional free app key from stackapps.com. NOT authentication: it lifts the daily quota from 300 to 10000 requests. All data stays public. Leave blank to run keyless.

## `deltaMode` (type: `boolean`):

Only emit entries new since the previous run (per-account state): new questions (questions mode), newly appearing users (users mode), or newly surfaced tags (tags mode). Pair with a schedule + webhook for recurring alerts.

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

Cap on records to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "questions",
  "site": "stackoverflow",
  "tagged": "python",
  "keyword": "",
  "questionsSort": "creation",
  "fromDate": "",
  "tag": "",
  "period": "all_time",
  "usersSort": "reputation",
  "inname": "",
  "tagsSort": "popular",
  "deltaMode": false,
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# 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 = {
    "tagged": "python"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("obsidian937/stackexchange-intel").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 = { "tagged": "python" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("obsidian937/stackexchange-intel").call(run_input=run_input)

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "tagged": "python"
}' |
apify call obsidian937/stackexchange-intel --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=obsidian937/stackexchange-intel",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Stack Exchange Intel: Dev Leads, Tags & Question Monitor",
        "description": "Turn Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network into structured B2B data. Monitor questions by tag or keyword, build developer lead lists from a technology's top answerers, or size technology adoption by tag. Official public API, no proxy, no auth. Delta mode for recurring monitoring.",
        "version": "1.0",
        "x-build-id": "aUgPg8k7DhgMFVfxF"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/obsidian937~stackexchange-intel/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-obsidian937-stackexchange-intel",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/obsidian937~stackexchange-intel/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-obsidian937-stackexchange-intel",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/obsidian937~stackexchange-intel/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-obsidian937-stackexchange-intel",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "mode": {
                        "title": "Mode",
                        "enum": [
                            "questions",
                            "users",
                            "tags"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "What to extract: rank technology tags (market sizing), build developer lead lists (experts by tag or top users), or monitor questions by tag/keyword.",
                        "default": "questions"
                    },
                    "site": {
                        "title": "Site",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Stack Exchange site to query, e.g. stackoverflow, serverfault, superuser, dba, security, datascience.",
                        "default": "stackoverflow"
                    },
                    "tagged": {
                        "title": "Tagged (questions mode)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Semicolon-separated tags to match, e.g. \"python;fastapi\". Questions must carry all tags. At least one of Tagged or Keyword is required in questions mode.",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "keyword": {
                        "title": "Keyword (questions mode)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Free-text query for the question title/body, e.g. \"stripe webhook\". Combine with Tagged or use alone.",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "questionsSort": {
                        "title": "Questions sort",
                        "enum": [
                            "creation",
                            "activity",
                            "votes"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Order questions by creation date (newest, best for monitoring), recent activity, or votes.",
                        "default": "creation"
                    },
                    "fromDate": {
                        "title": "From date (questions mode)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Only questions created on/after this date. ISO (2026-06-01) or unix epoch. Leave blank for no lower bound.",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "tag": {
                        "title": "Tag (users mode)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "If set, list the TOP ANSWERERS of this tag (proven experts in a technology = highest-intent dev leads), enriched with location + website. Leave blank to rank site users instead.",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "period": {
                        "title": "Top-answerer period (users mode)",
                        "enum": [
                            "all_time",
                            "month"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Window for the top-answerers ranking when a Tag is set.",
                        "default": "all_time"
                    },
                    "usersSort": {
                        "title": "Users sort (users mode, no tag)",
                        "enum": [
                            "reputation",
                            "creation"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "When no Tag is set, rank users by reputation or account creation date.",
                        "default": "reputation"
                    },
                    "inname": {
                        "title": "Name filter",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Substring filter on tag name (tags mode) or user display name (users mode, no tag).",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "tagsSort": {
                        "title": "Tags sort (tags mode)",
                        "enum": [
                            "popular",
                            "activity",
                            "name"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Rank tags by popularity (question count = adoption), recent activity, or name.",
                        "default": "popular"
                    },
                    "apiKey": {
                        "title": "Stack Exchange API key (optional)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional free app key from stackapps.com. NOT authentication: it lifts the daily quota from 300 to 10000 requests. All data stays public. Leave blank to run keyless."
                    },
                    "deltaMode": {
                        "title": "Delta / monitor mode",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Only emit entries new since the previous run (per-account state): new questions (questions mode), newly appearing users (users mode), or newly surfaced tags (tags mode). Pair with a schedule + webhook for recurring alerts.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max items",
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Cap on records to return.",
                        "default": 50
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```