# Craigslist Listing Monitor — New Posts Alerts, No Login, $10/1k (`outstanding_vegetable/craigslist-listing-monitor`) Actor

Watch Craigslist searches (housing, cars, jobs, gigs, for sale) across cities and get only NEW listings since the last run, with price, location, coordinates, images and optional full details. Schedule it every 30 minutes. No login. MCP-ready. $10 per 1,000 alerts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/outstanding\_vegetable/craigslist-listing-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Peter Skotte](https://apify.com/outstanding_vegetable) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 new listings

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/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

## Craigslist New Listing Monitor

Run it on a schedule and get **only the listings that are new since the last run** for any number of saved Craigslist searches: apartments, rooms, cars, motorcycles, jobs, gigs, for-sale items, any city and category, with keyword and price filters. It remembers every posting it has already reported, so a run that finds nothing new returns nothing, and a run that finds three new posts returns exactly three. New listings can be POSTed to a webhook (Slack, Zapier, Make, your own API).

Built for people who need to be first: apartment hunters and investors, car and equipment resellers, recruiters watching job and gig boards, dealers and flippers watching for-sale categories.

### How it works

1. Every run fetches the newest ~360 matches of each saved search (Craigslist's search page is a single page sorted newest first).
2. Postings whose ID is already in the monitor's state store are skipped.
3. The rest are emitted as `changeType: "new"` (up to `maxNewPerSearch` per search and `maxItems` per run) and recorded as seen.
4. Optionally each new posting is opened for the full body, attributes, images, address, coordinates and posted time (`includeDetails`).
5. A JSON summary with the new listings is POSTed to `webhookUrl`, if set.

State lives in a named key-value store `craigslist-monitor-<hash of monitorId>` under your account, so it survives between runs and each `monitorId` is an independent watchlist. Up to 50,000 posting IDs are kept per monitor; the oldest are dropped beyond that.

### Scheduling

Create an Apify **Schedule** for this actor:

- Hot markets (SF Bay, NYC, LA rentals; popular car models): every 15-30 minutes.
- Most searches: hourly.
- Jobs and gigs: every 2-4 hours.

Each run costs the start fee plus $0.01 per new listing, so a 30-minute schedule that finds nothing costs only the start fee.

### First run

- `firstRunMode: "emitAll"` (default): the first run emits the newest current listings up to the caps and records everything else on the page as seen, so the second run reports only what is new since. This is also what you get when you press Run with no input.
- `firstRunMode: "baseline"`: the first run records every current listing silently and emits nothing. Use it when you only want alerts for postings created after you set the monitor up.

To reset a monitor, delete the `STATE` record from its key-value store or pick a new `monitorId`.

### Input

```json
{
    "searches": [
        { "city": "sfbay", "category": "apa", "minPrice": 1500, "maxPrice": 3500, "postedToday": true, "label": "SF rentals under 3500" },
        { "city": "austin", "category": "cta", "query": "toyota tacoma", "maxPrice": 25000 },
        { "city": "newyork", "category": "jjj", "query": "registered nurse" },
        { "city": "seattle", "category": "roo", "filters": { "min_bedrooms": 1, "hasPic": 1 } }
    ],
    "maxNewPerSearch": 5,
    "maxItems": 10,
    "includeDetails": false,
    "firstRunMode": "emitAll",
    "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/...",
    "monitorId": "default"
}
```

Each search object:

| Field | Meaning |
|-------|---------|
| `city` | Craigslist area code, the subdomain in the URL: `sfbay`, `newyork`, `losangeles`, `chicago`, `houston`, `dallas`, `austin`, `seattle`, `portland`, `denver`, `phoenix`, `miami`, `atlanta`, `boston`, `washingtondc`, `philadelphia`, `minneapolis`, `sandiego`, `toronto`, `vancouver`, `london`… |
| `category` | Category code: `apa` apartments, `hhh` all housing, `roo` rooms and shares, `sub` sublets, `rea` real estate for sale, `cta` cars and trucks, `mca` motorcycles, `boo` boats, `rva` RVs, `sss` all for sale, `fua` furniture, `ela` electronics, `bia` bikes, `tla` tools, `hva` heavy equipment, `bfa` business for sale, `jjj` all jobs, `sof` software jobs, `ggg` gigs, `bbb` services, `ccc` community, `pet` pets |
| `query` | Optional keyword search inside the category |
| `minPrice`, `maxPrice` | Optional price bounds |
| `postedToday` | `true` = only postings from today |
| `label` | Optional name shown in `searchLabel` (defaults to `city/category "query"`) |
| `filters` | Optional extra Craigslist URL parameters, e.g. `{"min_bedrooms": 2, "hasPic": 1, "auto_transmission": 2, "condition": 40}`. Copy them from the URL after filtering on craigslist.org. |

Other inputs: `maxNewPerSearch` (default 5), `maxItems` (default 10), `includeDetails` (default false), `firstRunMode`, `webhookUrl`, `monitorId`, `proxyConfiguration` (residential US by default).

### Output

One record per new listing:

```json
{
    "postingId": "4bqxN1argTtJ5fYd1Vn5JM",
    "title": "Must-See 1 BR Retreat W/ Pool & Balconies! Pet Friendly Living",
    "price": 2445,
    "priceText": "$2,445",
    "location": "fremont / union city / newark",
    "locality": "Fremont",
    "region": "CA",
    "address": "4140 Irvington Ave",
    "latitude": 37.530963,
    "longitude": -121.960526,
    "postedAt": "2026-09-28T11:45:03-0700",
    "url": "https://www.craigslist.org/view/d/fremont-must-see-br-retreat-pool/4bqxN1argTtJ5fYd1Vn5JM",
    "imageUrl": "https://images.craigslist.org/00202_5SgH78wRbBi_08g0co_600x450.jpg",
    "images": ["..."],
    "category": "apa",
    "city": "sfbay",
    "attributes": { "bedrooms": 1, "bathrooms": 1, "sqft": 730, "rent period": "monthly", "features": ["cats are OK - purrr", "apartment", "dogs are OK - wooof", "laundry on site"] },
    "body": "Free parking! Welcome to Oak Pointe ...",
    "searchLabel": "SF rentals under 3500",
    "changeType": "new",
    "firstSeenAt": "2026-09-28T19:20:11.000Z",
    "monitorId": "default"
}
```

Without `includeDetails`, `address`, `postedAt` and `body` are `null` and `attributes` holds only what the search page exposes (bedrooms and bathrooms for housing). Coordinates, locality and images come from the search page for most categories.

### Webhook payload

```json
{
    "monitorId": "default",
    "runAt": "2026-09-28T19:20:11.000Z",
    "newCount": 3,
    "baselined": 0,
    "seenTotal": 812,
    "firstRun": false,
    "baseline": false,
    "searches": [{ "label": "SF rentals under 3500", "url": "...", "listingsOnPage": 359, "newCount": 3 }],
    "listings": [ ...up to 50 records as above... ]
}
```

The same summary (without `listings`) is stored as `SUMMARY` in the run's default key-value store.

### Notes

- Craigslist's search page is limited to its ~360 newest matches. A search that gets more than that between two runs will miss the overflow, so schedule busy searches more often or split them (by price band, neighborhood or keyword).
- Reposted listings get a new posting ID on Craigslist and are reported as new.
- Runs use Apify residential proxies by default; Craigslist blocks most shared datacenter ranges after a few requests.

# Actor input Schema

## `searches` (type: `array`):

One object per saved search: city (Craigslist area code from the URL: sfbay, newyork, losangeles, chicago, austin, seattle…), category (apa apartments, hhh all housing, roo rooms, cta cars & trucks, mca motorcycles, sss all for sale, fua furniture, ela electronics, jjj all jobs, ggg gigs, bbb services…), optional query, minPrice, maxPrice, postedToday (true = only today's posts), label (name used in searchLabel) and filters (extra Craigslist URL params such as {"min\_bedrooms": 2, "hasPic": 1, "auto\_transmission": 2}).

## `maxNewPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Stop emitting after this many new listings for one search. Listings beyond the cap stay unseen and are emitted on the next run (except on the very first run, where the rest is recorded as seen).

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

Total cap across all searches for one run.

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Open each new posting for the full body text, attributes (bedrooms, sqft, make, model, condition…), all images, street address, map coordinates and the posted time. One extra request per new listing.

## `firstRunMode` (type: `string`):

What to do when the monitor has no saved state yet. emitAll: emit the newest current listings (up to the caps) and record the rest as seen. baseline: silently record every current listing as seen and emit nothing, so the next scheduled run reports only what is new since.

## `webhookUrl` (type: `string`):

Optional. After each run a JSON summary {monitorId, runAt, newCount, searches\[], listings\[first 50]} is POSTed here (Slack/Zapier/Make/your API), also when newCount is 0 so you get a heartbeat per run.

## `monitorId` (type: `string`):

Name of this watchlist. Each monitor ID keeps its own seen-state in a key-value store named craigslist-monitor-<hash>, so you can run several profiles side by side.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Residential US proxy recommended; Craigslist blocks most shared datacenter ranges after a few requests.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searches": [
    {
      "city": "sfbay",
      "category": "apa",
      "query": "",
      "minPrice": 1500,
      "maxPrice": 3500,
      "postedToday": true
    },
    {
      "city": "austin",
      "category": "cta",
      "query": "toyota tacoma"
    }
  ],
  "maxNewPerSearch": 5,
  "maxItems": 10,
  "includeDetails": false,
  "firstRunMode": "emitAll",
  "webhookUrl": "",
  "monitorId": "default",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "US"
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset of new Craigslist listings found in this run (JSON).

# 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 = {
    "searches": [
        {
            "city": "sfbay",
            "category": "apa",
            "query": "",
            "minPrice": 1500,
            "maxPrice": 3500,
            "postedToday": true
        },
        {
            "city": "austin",
            "category": "cta",
            "query": "toyota tacoma"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("outstanding_vegetable/craigslist-listing-monitor").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 = { "searches": [
        {
            "city": "sfbay",
            "category": "apa",
            "query": "",
            "minPrice": 1500,
            "maxPrice": 3500,
            "postedToday": True,
        },
        {
            "city": "austin",
            "category": "cta",
            "query": "toyota tacoma",
        },
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("outstanding_vegetable/craigslist-listing-monitor").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 '{
  "searches": [
    {
      "city": "sfbay",
      "category": "apa",
      "query": "",
      "minPrice": 1500,
      "maxPrice": 3500,
      "postedToday": true
    },
    {
      "city": "austin",
      "category": "cta",
      "query": "toyota tacoma"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call outstanding_vegetable/craigslist-listing-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,outstanding_vegetable/craigslist-listing-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

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/uDEIcO4TiHofchhoX/builds/vemfJvjkdoEUNjEuN/openapi.json