cdnjs Libraries Catalog Scraper

cdnjs Libraries Catalog Scraper

Scrape the complete cdnjs library catalogue, search by keyword, or pull a single library with every version, file path, and SRI hash. Each record returns the library name, description, latest version, homepage, repository, license, author, and keywords. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The cdnjs API is built for CDN lookups, not bulk data mining. This Actor reads the public library catalogue directly, letting you browse every hosted library, filter by keyword, or drill into a specific library for its full version history and file manifest. No API key, no rate-limit headaches.

Who uses it	What they scrape cdnjs for
Front-end developers	Audit which libraries and versions a project depends on before an upgrade.
Security engineers	Pull SRI hashes for every file in a library's latest release to lock down third-party assets.
Open-source researchers	Map the most popular licenses, authors, and repository hosts across the entire cdnjs catalogue.
DevOps teams	Build an internal mirror of cdnjs by scraping the full file list and version history for a set of libraries.

What it does

This Actor collects library metadata from the cdnjs catalogue and returns each library or file entry as a flat row.

• 📚 Catalogue mode: browse every library hosted on cdnjs, up to a million per run, with selectable output fields.
• 🔍 Search mode: filter the catalogue by keyword to find libraries matching a term like 'react', 'chart', or 'tailwind'.
• 📦 Library mode: load a single library by its slug and get every version, the full file list for the latest release, and SRI integrity hashes.
• 🧩 Field selection: pick exactly which metadata fields to return, from name and description to license, author, and repository URL.
• 📁 File sampling: cap how many file paths are surfaced per library in library mode, or set it to 0 for the complete file manifest.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with cdnjs data

🔒 Lock down third-party scripts.

A security engineer runs library mode on 'bootstrap' with maxFileSamples set to 0, then copies the SRI hashes into their CSP headers to prevent supply-chain attacks.

📊 Audit open-source license compliance.

An open-source program office scrapes the full catalogue, filters for the 'license' field, and groups libraries by license type to flag copyleft risks before a product release.

🧪 Research front-end ecosystem trends.

A developer advocate runs search mode for 'chart' and 'visualization', then aggregates the results by repository host and author to spot which charting libraries are gaining traction.

🏗️ Build an offline CDN mirror.

A DevOps engineer scrapes a curated list of library slugs in library mode, collects every file path, and feeds the URLs into a download script to populate an air-gapped mirror.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
Full catalogue access	Browse every library cdnjs hosts without pagination or API keys.
SRI hash retrieval	Get the integrity hash for every file in a library's latest release.
Version history	Pull the complete list of versions for any library in one call.
Flexible output	Choose which metadata fields to include and limit file samples per library.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets cdnjs the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	cdnjs Libraries Catalog Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When cdnjs changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor by picking a run mode (catalogue, search, or library), then set a keyword or library slug and cap the total libraries returned. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.036 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$3.60
1,000 results	$36.00
10,000 results	$360.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the cdnjs Libraries Catalog Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to cdnjs through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/cdnjs-libraries-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results in search mode?

Check that you entered a keyword in the 'Library name or keyword' field. Search mode requires a query string. Also verify that the mode dropdown is set to 'Search' and not 'Catalogue' or 'Library'.

Why does library mode return an error?

Library mode requires an exact library slug in the 'Library Name' field. Slugs are case-sensitive. Try running catalogue mode first to find the correct slug, or check the cdnjs website for the exact name used in the URL.

Why are some fields empty in my output?

Not every library on cdnjs has a homepage, repository, author, or keywords field populated. Empty fields mean the library maintainer did not provide that metadata. This is expected for some older or less-maintained libraries.

Why is my run slow when I set maxFileSamples to 0?

Setting maxFileSamples to 0 fetches every file path from the latest release. Some libraries have thousands of files. Reduce maxFileSamples to a smaller number if you only need a representative sample, or increase the Actor's timeout in the run settings.

Why do I get fewer results than maxItems?

The Actor stops when it has exhausted the available data. If you are in search mode, the keyword may match fewer libraries than your maxItems value. In catalogue mode, the total number of libraries on cdnjs is the hard upper limit.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is cdnjs?	cdnjs is a free, open-source content delivery network that hosts JavaScript libraries, CSS frameworks, fonts, and other web assets. It is maintained by the community and serves billions of requests per month.
Do I need an API key to scrape cdnjs?	No. This Actor reads the public cdnjs catalogue endpoints directly. No registration, API key, or authentication is required.
What is an SRI hash and why would I scrape it?	SRI (Subresource Integrity) is a browser security feature that lets you pin a specific cryptographic hash to a script or stylesheet tag. If the file is ever modified, the hash will not match and the browser will refuse to load it, protecting against compromised CDN assets.
How do I get the full file list for a library?	Set the mode to 'library', enter the library slug (e.g. 'jquery'), and set maxFileSamples to 0. The Actor will return every file path from the latest release.
Can I filter libraries by license or author?	The search mode filters by keyword across the library name and description fields. For filtering by license or author, scrape the full catalogue and apply your own filters to the resulting dataset.
What is a library slug?	A slug is the unique identifier cdnjs uses in its URL for a library. For example, 'jquery', 'bootstrap', 'three.js', and 'tailwindcss' are all slugs. You can find them by browsing the cdnjs website or running catalogue mode.
How many libraries can I scrape in one run?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000. The cdnjs catalogue contains several thousand libraries, so a single run can capture the entire catalogue.
Does this Actor handle pagination?	Yes. The Actor automatically follows pagination when browsing the catalogue or search results, so you get a continuous stream of records without managing offsets.
What output formats are supported?	You can export your dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML directly from the Apify platform.
Can I schedule this Actor to run daily?	Yes. Use Apify's scheduler to run the Actor on a cron schedule, so you always have a fresh snapshot of the cdnjs catalogue or specific libraries.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by cdnjs. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.