Maven Central Scraper

Maven Central Scraper

Scrape Java and JVM packages from Maven Central by keyword, group ID, or browse all artifacts, up to a million per run. Every package comes with its group ID, artifact ID, latest version, and dependency metadata. No API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Maven Central is the default public repository for Java, Kotlin, Scala, and other JVM language dependencies, hosting millions of artifacts. Finding every package that matches a keyword or belongs to a specific organization is manual and slow through the web search interface. This Actor reads the public search index directly, filters by group ID or free-text query, and returns each matching package in a consistent flat schema so you can analyze the JVM ecosystem at scale.

Who uses it	What they scrape Maven Central for
Software supply chain analysts	Audit which versions of a library are published under a given group ID.
Developer tooling vendors	Build a searchable index of JVM packages for an internal catalog or IDE plugin.
Open source researchers	Measure the growth of the JVM ecosystem by tracking new artifact publications over time.
Security engineers	Identify packages with outdated versions or suspicious naming patterns across the repository.

What it does

This Actor collects Maven Central packages by keyword search or group ID filter and returns each one as a flat row with its coordinates, version, and metadata.

• 🔍 Keyword search: find packages by artifact name, description, or class name, like the Maven Central web search.
• 📦 Group ID filter: restrict results to a single organization or namespace, such as org.springframework or com.google.guava.
• 📊 Flat row output: every package is returned with its Maven coordinates, latest version, and metadata in a consistent schema ready for analysis.

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

What you can do with Maven Central data

📈 Monitor organization releases.

A platform engineering team runs the Actor weekly with a groupId filter to detect new artifact publications from their internal Maven group and update their allowed-dependency list.

🔎 Build a dependency search tool.

A developer tools startup scrapes packages by keyword to populate a fast, offline search index for JVM libraries that their users query inside an IDE plugin.

🛡️ Audit supply chain risk.

A security researcher collects all artifacts matching a suspicious naming pattern, then cross-references the versions against a known-vulnerability database.

📊 Analyze ecosystem trends.

An open source analyst scrapes the full repository by leaving both filters empty and tracks the count of new artifacts per month to measure JVM ecosystem growth.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads the public Maven Central search index with no registration or authentication.
Full Maven coordinates	Returns groupId, artifactId, and latest version for every matching package.
Scalable collection	Collect up to a million packages in a single run for ecosystem-wide analysis.
Fixed schema	Every row has the same fields, so you can merge runs and build time series without cleaning.

How it compares

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

	Maven Central Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When Maven Central 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 from a keyword search, a group ID filter, or both together, and set a maximum number of packages so only the top matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$2.10
1,000 results	$21.00
10,000 results	$210.00

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 Maven Central 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 Maven Central 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/maven-central-scraper"

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

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your searchQuery or groupId is spelled correctly. Maven Central search is exact on group IDs. Try a broader keyword or leave both filters empty to confirm the Actor can reach the index.

Why does the Actor return fewer packages than my maxItems setting?

The Actor stops when it exhausts the search results. If your query is narrow, there may be fewer matching packages than the limit you set. Try broadening your search terms.

Why are some packages missing that I know exist?

The Actor reads the same public search index as the Maven Central website. Very new packages may take a few minutes to appear in the index. If a package is missing from the web search, it will also be missing here.

Why does the run time out or take very long?

Collecting hundreds of thousands of packages requires many paginated requests. Increase the run timeout in your Actor settings, or reduce maxItems to a smaller number for faster completion.

Why do I see duplicate packages in my dataset?

The Maven Central search index can return the same artifact under slightly different entries. Deduplicate your dataset on the groupId and artifactId combination in post-processing.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a Maven Central account or API key?	No. This Actor reads the public search index that the Maven Central website uses, so no registration, API key, or authentication is required.
What data does each package row contain?	Each row includes the Maven coordinates (groupId and artifactId), the latest version string, and additional metadata that the public search index exposes. The exact fields are shown in the sample output on the Actor's page.
Can I scrape all packages on Maven Central?	Yes. Leave both the search query and group ID filter empty, and set maxItems to a high number. The Actor will browse through the public index and return every package it can reach, up to the limit you set.
How do I filter by a specific organization?	Use the groupId input field. Enter a full group ID like 'org.apache.commons' or a prefix like 'com.example' to restrict results to artifacts published under that namespace.
Can I search by artifact name or description?	Yes. The searchQuery field accepts any keyword and matches against artifact IDs, group IDs, and package descriptions, the same way the search box on search.maven.org works.
What export formats are supported?	You can export your dataset in CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML format from the Apify platform, or push it directly to an external service via an API integration.
Does this Actor download JAR files or source code?	No. This Actor scrapes only the package metadata from the search index. It does not download binary artifacts, POM files, or source jars.
How many packages can I collect in one run?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000. The Actor will stop once it has collected that many matching packages or when it exhausts the search results.
Is this Actor suitable for Gradle or Maven dependency resolution?	This Actor is for discovery and analysis of package metadata. For actual dependency resolution in builds, use your build tool's native Maven Central integration.
Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically?	Yes. Apify supports scheduled runs. You can configure the Actor to run daily or weekly to track new package publications over time.

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 Sonatype, Inc. 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.