# ChEMBL Assays Scraper (`parseforge/chembl-assays-scraper`) Actor

Query the ChEMBL assay catalog by assay ID, target, keyword, type, organism, or confidence score. Records carry assay ID, description, type, category, organism, strain, tissue, target, document, confidence score, BAO label, and relationship type. Useful for drug discovery research.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/chembl-assays-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Education, Automation, Integrations
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $7.50 / 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.
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 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

![ParseForge Banner](https://github.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/blob/ad35ccc13ddd068b9d6cba33f323962e39aed5b2/banner.jpg?raw=true)

## 🔬 ChEMBL Assays Scraper

> 🚀 **Export ChEMBL bioactivity assay records in seconds. Description, type, organism, target, document, confidence score, and cell line.**

> 🕒 **Last updated:** 2026-06-05 · **📊 19 fields** per record · 1.7 million+ assays · EBI ChEMBL public API

The ChEMBL Assays Scraper turns the public `ebi.ac.uk/chembl/api/data/assay` endpoint into a structured dataset. It supports list, target-scoped, search, and exact-ID modes, and exposes every assay filter the API accepts.

| 🎯 Target Audience | 💡 Primary Use Cases |
|---|---|
| 💊 Drug discovery teams | Snapshot assays for a target |
| 🧪 Bioinformaticians | Mirror ChEMBL assays into a warehouse |
| 📊 Computational chemists | Filter by confidence score and assay type |
| 🛡️ Pharma BD | Cross-reference assays with documents |
| 👩‍🔬 Academic researchers | Build assay-to-target matrices |
| 👩‍💻 Developers | Drive an assay browser UI |

### 📋 What the ChEMBL Assays Scraper does

- Calls the public `/data/assay` endpoint with the filters you provide.
- Supports list, target-scoped, free-text, and exact-ID modes.
- Filters by assay type, organism, and minimum confidence score.
- Pushes a clean diagnostic record on upstream errors.
- Exports to every Apify dataset format.

> 💡 **Why it matters:** Assays are the bridge between targets and compounds. Mirroring them lets you build the full target-assay-activity graph in your own warehouse.

### 🎬 Full Demo

_🚧 Coming soon._

### ⚙️ Input

<table>
<tr><th>Field</th><th>Type</th><th>Required</th><th>Description</th></tr>
<tr><td><code>maxItems</code></td><td>integer</td><td>No</td><td>Free 10. Paid up to 1,000,000.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>assayChemblId</code></td><td>string</td><td>No</td><td>Exact lookup such as `CHEMBL1217643`.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>targetChemblId</code></td><td>string</td><td>No</td><td>Filter assays for a specific target.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>search</code></td><td>string</td><td>No</td><td>Free-text search across descriptions.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>assayType</code></td><td>enum</td><td>No</td><td>B, F, A, P, T, U.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>organism</code></td><td>string</td><td>No</td><td>Exact assay organism.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>minConfidenceScore</code></td><td>integer</td><td>No</td><td>0 to 9. Drop assays below this.</td></tr>
</table>

**Example 1. EGFR binding assays.**
```json
{ "targetChemblId": "CHEMBL203", "assayType": "B", "maxItems": 50 }
````

**Example 2. Exact assay lookup.**

```json
{ "assayChemblId": "CHEMBL1217643" }
```

> ⚠️ **Good to Know:** ChEMBL paginates 200 records per page. The actor walks pagination until `maxItems` is hit.

### 📊 Output

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 🆔 `assayChemblId` | string | ChEMBL assay id. |
| 📝 `description` | string | Assay description. |
| 🔬 `assayType` | string | One-letter assay type code. |
| 📝 `assayTypeDescription` | string | Human-readable type. |
| 🧬 `organism` | string | Assay organism. |
| 🧫 `assayTissue` | string | Tissue source. |
| 🧬 `assayStrain` | string | Strain. |
| 🧬 `assaySubcellularFraction` | string | Subcellular fraction. |
| 🎯 `targetChemblId` | string | Linked target id. |
| 📄 `documentChemblId` | string | Linked publication. |
| 🏅 `confidenceScore` | number | 0 to 9 confidence. |
| 📝 `confidenceDescription` | string | Confidence description. |
| 🧫 `cellChemblId` | string | Cell-line id. |
| 🔢 `bao_format` | string | BAO format id. |
| 🔗 `relationshipType` | string | Target relationship type. |
| 📝 `relationshipDescription` | string | Relationship description. |
| 🗂️ `assayCategory` | string | Category. |
| 🕒 `scrapedAt` | string | When this row was fetched. |
| ❌ `error` | string | Set on upstream error. |

```json
{
  "assayChemblId": "CHEMBL1217643",
  "description": "Inhibition of EGFR",
  "assayType": "B",
  "organism": "Homo sapiens",
  "targetChemblId": "CHEMBL203",
  "confidenceScore": 8,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-05T12:00:00.000Z",
  "error": null
}
```

### ✨ Why choose this Actor

| 🆓 | Public EBI ChEMBL endpoint, no key required. |
| 🎯 | Target-scoped pagination in one call. |
| 🏅 | Confidence-score filter at scrape time. |
| 🛟 | Clean diagnostic records on errors. |
| 💾 | Push to dataset for instant export. |

### 📈 How it compares to alternatives

| Approach | Setup | Target filter | Auto export |
|---|---|---|---|
| `chembl_webresource_client` Python | install + script | manual | manual |
| Raw fetch on the REST endpoint | 30 min + | manual | manual |
| **This Actor** | 5 sec | ✅ | ✅ |

### 🚀 How to use

1. Click **Try for free**.
2. Provide a target id, assay id, or other filters.
3. Click **Start** and download the dataset.

### 💼 Business use cases

**💊 Assay shortlists.** Build per-target assay catalogs for screening teams.

**🧪 Confidence-aware pipelines.** Only ingest assays with confidence score >= 7.

**🛡️ Competitive landscape.** Cross-reference assay documents against literature trackers.

**📊 Pipeline analytics.** Track new ChEMBL releases.

### 🔌 Automating ChEMBL Assays Scraper

- **Make and Zapier** trigger this actor on a schedule.
- **Cron** keeps your mirror fresh.
- **Webhooks** notify on completion.
- **Pipe to BigQuery, Snowflake, or Postgres** with native integrations.

### 🌟 Beyond business use cases

**🎓 Education.** Teach drug-discovery with live assay data.

**🧪 Personal research.** Explore assays for your favorite target.

**🤝 Non-profit and open data.** Publish an assay dashboard.

**🧰 Tinkering.** Quick assay lookups.

### 🤖 Ask an AI assistant about this scraper

Pop this README into ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI assistant and ask it to map your specific workflow to the actor's inputs.

### ❓ Frequently Asked Questions

**❓ Need an API key?** No.

**❓ Source?** Official EBI ChEMBL REST API.

**❓ Schedule runs?** Yes.

**❓ Rate limits?** Light per-IP throttle.

**❓ API or scraping?** API.

**❓ Schema stability?** Stable.

**❓ Maximum run?** 1,000,000 records on paid plans.

**❓ Confidence filter?** Server-side or client-side via `minConfidenceScore`.

**❓ Target-scoped?** Yes, via `targetChemblId`.

**❓ Download formats?** Any Apify dataset format.

### 🔌 Integrate with any app

Apify ships native integrations with Make, Zapier, Slack, Discord, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Gmail, Airbyte, Keboola, Telegram, GitHub, and any REST API or webhook endpoint.

### 🔗 Recommended Actors

| Actor | What it does |
|---|---|
| [ParseForge ChEMBL Targets Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge) | ChEMBL drug-target metadata. |
| [ParseForge NPI Registry Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge) | U.S. healthcare provider lookup. |
| [ParseForge SPDX Licenses Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge) | License metadata. |
| [ParseForge OurAirports Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/ourairports-scraper) | Global airport database. |

> 💡 **Pro Tip:** browse the complete [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge) for 900+ production-grade scrapers.

***

**Disclaimer.** This actor scrapes only publicly available data. ParseForge is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the European Bioinformatics Institute. Users are responsible for complying with the target site's terms of service and applicable law. [Create a free account w/ $5 credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).

# Actor input Schema

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

Free users: Limited to 10 items (preview). Paid users: Optional, max 1,000,000

## `assayChemblId` (type: `string`):

Exact assay id such as `CHEMBL1217643`. Skips list pagination.

## `targetChemblId` (type: `string`):

Filter by an exact target id such as `CHEMBL203`.

## `search` (type: `string`):

Free-text search across the assay description.

## `assayType` (type: `string`):

ChEMBL assay type code (B Binding, F Functional, A ADMET, P Physicochemical, T Toxicity, U Unassigned).

## `organism` (type: `string`):

Exact organism filter, e.g. `Homo sapiens`.

## `minConfidenceScore` (type: `integer`):

Keep only assays with confidence score >= this value (0 to 9).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "assayType": ""
}
```

# 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 = {
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/chembl-assays-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 = { "maxItems": 10 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/chembl-assays-scraper").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 '{
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/chembl-assays-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "ChEMBL Assays Scraper",
        "description": "Query the ChEMBL assay catalog by assay ID, target, keyword, type, organism, or confidence score. Records carry assay ID, description, type, category, organism, strain, tissue, target, document, confidence score, BAO label, and relationship type. Useful for drug discovery research.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "PQ7dhNWNxaMt3XfEQ"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/parseforge~chembl-assays-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-parseforge-chembl-assays-scraper",
                "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": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/parseforge~chembl-assays-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-parseforge-chembl-assays-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/parseforge~chembl-assays-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-parseforge-chembl-assays-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max Items",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 1000000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Free users: Limited to 10 items (preview). Paid users: Optional, max 1,000,000"
                    },
                    "assayChemblId": {
                        "title": "Assay ChEMBL ID",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Exact assay id such as `CHEMBL1217643`. Skips list pagination."
                    },
                    "targetChemblId": {
                        "title": "Target ChEMBL ID",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Filter by an exact target id such as `CHEMBL203`."
                    },
                    "search": {
                        "title": "Search",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Free-text search across the assay description."
                    },
                    "assayType": {
                        "title": "Assay type",
                        "enum": [
                            "",
                            "B",
                            "F",
                            "A",
                            "P",
                            "T",
                            "U"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "ChEMBL assay type code (B Binding, F Functional, A ADMET, P Physicochemical, T Toxicity, U Unassigned).",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "organism": {
                        "title": "Organism",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Exact organism filter, e.g. `Homo sapiens`."
                    },
                    "minConfidenceScore": {
                        "title": "Minimum confidence score",
                        "minimum": 0,
                        "maximum": 9,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Keep only assays with confidence score >= this value (0 to 9)."
                    }
                }
            },
            "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
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```