# CTAN TeX Packages Scraper (`parseforge/ctan-tex-packages-scraper`) Actor

Scan the CTAN catalog of TeX packages with optional keyword filter and detail hydration. Records carry key, name, caption, license, version, version date, authors, copyright, descriptions, topics, install info, homepage, and documentation. Useful for TeX research and writing tooling.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/ctan-tex-packages-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Education, Automation
- **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)

## 📚 CTAN TeX Packages Scraper

> 🚀 **Export the full CTAN catalog of TeX and LaTeX packages in seconds. Caption, authors, license, version, topics, and install paths.**

> 🕒 **Last updated:** 2026-06-05 · **📊 15 fields** per record · 6,000+ TeX packages · No login required

The CTAN TeX Packages Scraper turns the public `ctan.org/json/2.0/packages` index into a structured dataset. It lists every package and optionally hydrates each entry with the per-package detail endpoint so you get authors, license, version, and topic metadata in one shot.

| 🎯 Target Audience | 💡 Primary Use Cases |
|---|---|
| 🎓 Academic publishers | Audit which packages typesetters use |
| 📚 Documentation teams | Find a package for a given task |
| 🛡️ Compliance | License audits across TeX distributions |
| 📊 Researchers | Study TeX ecosystem trends |
| 👩‍💻 Maintainers | Mirror CTAN metadata into your tools |
| 🧪 Curious users | Browse the LaTeX universe |

### 📋 What the CTAN TeX Packages Scraper does

- Fetches the canonical `https://ctan.org/json/2.0/packages` index.
- Optionally hydrates each package with `/json/2.0/pkg/{key}` for full details.
- Flattens author records to display-name strings.
- Filters by substring search against key, name, or caption.
- Surfaces upstream errors as a single diagnostic record.
- Exports to every Apify dataset format.

> 💡 **Why it matters:** CTAN is the canonical TeX archive but its detail endpoint is one-request-per-package. This actor pipelines those calls so you get a SQL-ready table out the other side.

### 🎬 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>search</code></td><td>string</td><td>No</td><td>Substring match against key, name, or caption.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>hydrate</code></td><td>boolean</td><td>No</td><td>If true, fetch the detail JSON for each package. Default true.</td></tr>
</table>

**Example 1. TikZ family packages.**
```json
{ "search": "tikz", "maxItems": 25 }
````

**Example 2. Fast index-only run.**

```json
{ "hydrate": false, "maxItems": 1000 }
```

> ⚠️ **Good to Know:** Hydration costs one HTTP request per package. Disable it for fast catalog snapshots.

### 📊 Output

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 🆔 `key` | string | CTAN package key. |
| 📛 `name` | string | Display name. |
| 📝 `caption` | string | Short description. |
| ⚖️ `license` | string | License identifier. |
| 🔢 `version` | string | Latest version number. |
| 📅 `versionDate` | string | Latest version date. |
| 👥 `authors` | array | Author display names. |
| ©️ `copyright` | object | Copyright record. |
| 📝 `descriptions` | array | Localized descriptions. |
| 🏷️ `topics` | array | Topic keys. |
| 🔗 `ctan` | string | CTAN package page URL. |
| 📂 `install` | string | Install path. |
| 🏠 `home` | string | Upstream homepage. |
| 📖 `documentation` | array | Documentation links. |
| 🕒 `scrapedAt` | string | When this row was fetched. |
| ❌ `error` | string | Set on upstream error. |

```json
{
  "key": "tikz",
  "name": "TikZ",
  "caption": "Create PostScript and PDF graphics in TeX",
  "license": "lppl",
  "version": "3.1.10",
  "authors": ["Till Tantau"],
  "ctan": "https://ctan.org/pkg/tikz",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-05T12:00:00.000Z",
  "error": null
}
```

### ✨ Why choose this Actor

| 🆓 | Public CTAN endpoint, no key required. |
| 🔎 | Substring search across multiple fields. |
| 📚 | Optional detail hydration in a single run. |
| 🛟 | Clean diagnostic records on errors. |
| 💾 | Push to dataset for instant export. |

### 📈 How it compares to alternatives

| Approach | Setup | Detail hydration | Auto export |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browse ctan.org | manual | manual | ❌ |
| Roll your own fetch | 30 min + | manual | manual |
| **This Actor** | 5 sec | ✅ | ✅ |

### 🚀 How to use

1. Click **Try for free**.
2. Optionally set a search filter.
3. Toggle `hydrate` for full detail.
4. Click **Start** and download the dataset.

### 💼 Business use cases

**🎓 Curriculum planning.** Snapshot every package a course depends on.

**📚 Publisher audits.** Track license obligations across a manuscript pipeline.

**📊 Ecosystem analytics.** Study TeX adoption.

**🚀 Distribution tooling.** Drive an internal CTAN mirror.

### 🔌 Automating CTAN TeX Packages 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.** Show students how the TeX ecosystem is organized.

**🧪 Personal research.** Track your favorite typesetting topic.

**🤝 Non-profit and open data.** Publish a CTAN dashboard.

**🧰 Tinkering.** Find a TeX package fast.

### 🤖 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 CTAN public JSON API.

**❓ Schedule runs?** Yes.

**❓ Hydration?** Optional.

**❓ API or scraping?** API.

**❓ Schema stability?** Stable.

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

**❓ Author shape?** Display-name string per author.

**❓ Topic shape?** Array of topic keys.

**❓ 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 SPDX Licenses Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge) | License metadata. |
| [ParseForge Vcpkg Ports Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge) | C and C++ ports. |
| [ParseForge Swift Package Index Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge) | Swift packages catalog. |
| [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 CTAN. 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

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

Substring match against package key, name, or caption (case-insensitive).

## `hydrate` (type: `boolean`):

If true, the actor fetches each package's detail JSON (slower, more requests).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "hydrate": true
}
```

# 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/ctan-tex-packages-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/ctan-tex-packages-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/ctan-tex-packages-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "CTAN TeX Packages Scraper",
        "description": "Scan the CTAN catalog of TeX packages with optional keyword filter and detail hydration. Records carry key, name, caption, license, version, version date, authors, copyright, descriptions, topics, install info, homepage, and documentation. Useful for TeX research and writing tooling.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "R2PKVeAsasu4wG0nb"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/parseforge~ctan-tex-packages-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-parseforge-ctan-tex-packages-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": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/parseforge~ctan-tex-packages-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-parseforge-ctan-tex-packages-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/parseforge~ctan-tex-packages-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-parseforge-ctan-tex-packages-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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"
                    },
                    "search": {
                        "title": "Search",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Substring match against package key, name, or caption (case-insensitive)."
                    },
                    "hydrate": {
                        "title": "Hydrate package details",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "If true, the actor fetches each package's detail JSON (slower, more requests).",
                        "default": true
                    }
                }
            },
            "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
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```