# vcpkg Ports Scraper (`parseforge/vcpkg-ports-scraper`) Actor

Scan the vcpkg port catalog filtered by keyword, license, or triplet. Records carry port name, version, description, homepage, license, supports expression, dependencies, features, and maintainers. Useful for C and C++ supply chain audits, package discovery, and licensing reviews.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/vcpkg-ports-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, 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)

## 📦 Vcpkg Ports Scraper

> 🚀 **Export the full vcpkg port catalog in seconds. Name, version, description, dependencies, supported triplets, and license.**

> 🕒 **Last updated:** 2026-06-05 · **📊 11 fields** per record · 2,000+ C and C++ ports · Microsoft vcpkg catalog · No login required

The Vcpkg Ports Scraper turns the public `vcpkg.io/output.json` catalog dump into a structured dataset. It loads the full port index, normalizes verbose vcpkg keys (`Version-string`, `Version-semver`, `Version-date`) to a single `version` field, and lets you filter by substring, license, or supported triplet.

| 🎯 Target Audience | 💡 Primary Use Cases |
|---|---|
| 🏗️ C and C++ build engineers | Audit dependency trees |
| 🛡️ Security teams | Find ports affected by a CVE |
| 📊 Package authors | Track ecosystem coverage |
| 🚀 DevRel | Build vcpkg discovery dashboards |
| 🧪 Researchers | Study C and C++ dependency graphs |
| 👩‍💻 Developers | Find a port for a new dependency |

### 📋 What the Vcpkg Ports Scraper does

- Fetches the canonical `https://vcpkg.io/output.json` catalog.
- Flattens vcpkg's multiple version key variants into a single `version` field.
- Filters by substring search, license, or supported triplet.
- Normalizes the `dependencies` array to plain strings.
- Surfaces upstream errors as a single diagnostic record.
- Exports to every Apify dataset format.

> 💡 **Why it matters:** vcpkg ships with thousands of ports but the catalog is a single 30 MB JSON blob with awkward key variants. This actor reshapes it for SQL and BI tools.

### 🎬 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 name or description.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>license</code></td><td>string</td><td>No</td><td>Substring match against license field.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>supportsTriplet</code></td><td>enum</td><td>No</td><td>Keep only ports supporting the chosen triplet.</td></tr>
</table>

**Example 1. All MIT-licensed ports.**
```json
{ "license": "MIT", "maxItems": 100 }
````

**Example 2. Windows-only OpenSSL family.**

```json
{ "search": "openssl", "supportsTriplet": "windows" }
```

> ⚠️ **Good to Know:** The catalog dump is large. Free users see 10 records; paid users can pull the entire catalog.

### 📊 Output

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 📛 `name` | string | Port name. |
| 🔢 `version` | string | Normalized version string. |
| 📝 `description` | string | Port description. |
| 🔗 `homepage` | string | Upstream project homepage. |
| ⚖️ `license` | string | SPDX-style license string. |
| 🧩 `supports` | string | vcpkg supports expression. |
| 📦 `dependencies` | array | Dependency names. |
| 🛠️ `features` | object | Per-feature configuration. |
| 👥 `maintainers` | array | Port maintainers. |
| 🕒 `scrapedAt` | string | When this row was fetched. |
| ❌ `error` | string | Set on upstream error. |

```json
{
  "name": "zlib",
  "version": "1.3.1",
  "description": "A massively spiffy yet delicately unobtrusive compression library",
  "homepage": "https://zlib.net/",
  "license": "Zlib",
  "supports": null,
  "dependencies": ["vcpkg-cmake"],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-05T12:00:00.000Z",
  "error": null
}
```

### ✨ Why choose this Actor

| 🆓 | Public catalog, no key required. |
| 🧹 | Normalizes vcpkg's three version-key variants into one. |
| 🔎 | Filter by substring, license, or supported triplet. |
| 🛟 | Clean diagnostic records on upstream errors. |
| 💾 | Push to dataset for instant export. |

### 📈 How it compares to alternatives

| Approach | Setup | Normalized | Filters | Auto export |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parse `output.json` manually | 30 min + | manual | manual | manual |
| Clone vcpkg repo and grep | 1 hr + | manual | ❌ | ❌ |
| **This Actor** | 5 sec | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |

### 🚀 How to use

1. Click **Try for free**.
2. Optionally set a search, license, or triplet filter.
3. Click **Start** and download the dataset.

### 💼 Business use cases

**🛡️ CVE audits.** Quickly list every port that depends on a CVE-flagged package.

**🏗️ Build planning.** Spot which triplets a candidate dependency supports.

**📊 Ecosystem analytics.** Track how the vcpkg catalog grows month over month.

**🚀 Tooling integrations.** Drive an internal package picker UI.

### 🔌 Automating Vcpkg Ports 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 package-manager design with real catalog data.

**🧪 Personal research.** Track the C and C++ ecosystem.

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

**🧰 Tinkering.** Discover libraries 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

**❓ Where does data come from?** The official `vcpkg.io/output.json` catalog.

**❓ Need an API key?** No.

**❓ How big is the catalog?** Around 2,000 ports.

**❓ Schedule runs?** Yes.

**❓ API or scraping?** Public endpoint.

**❓ Schema stability?** Stable.

**❓ Rate limits?** None observed.

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

**❓ Triplet filtering?** Substring match against the `supports` field.

**❓ 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) | Canonical license list. |
| [ParseForge Docker Hub Tags Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge) | Tag metadata. |
| [ParseForge CTAN Tex Packages Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge) | TeX 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 Microsoft Corporation. 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 filter against port name or description (case-insensitive).

## `license` (type: `string`):

Optional SPDX-style license filter (substring match).

## `supportsTriplet` (type: `string`):

Keep only ports whose `supports` expression mentions this triplet (e.g. `windows`, `linux`, `osx`).

## Actor input object example

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

# 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/vcpkg-ports-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/vcpkg-ports-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/vcpkg-ports-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "vcpkg Ports Scraper",
        "description": "Scan the vcpkg port catalog filtered by keyword, license, or triplet. Records carry port name, version, description, homepage, license, supports expression, dependencies, features, and maintainers. Useful for C and C++ supply chain audits, package discovery, and licensing reviews.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "ioWT72sxbk7U9f4fg"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/parseforge~vcpkg-ports-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-parseforge-vcpkg-ports-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": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/parseforge~vcpkg-ports-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-parseforge-vcpkg-ports-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/parseforge~vcpkg-ports-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-parseforge-vcpkg-ports-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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 filter against port name or description (case-insensitive)."
                    },
                    "license": {
                        "title": "License filter",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional SPDX-style license filter (substring match)."
                    },
                    "supportsTriplet": {
                        "title": "Supports triplet",
                        "enum": [
                            "",
                            "windows",
                            "linux",
                            "osx",
                            "android",
                            "ios",
                            "uwp",
                            "freebsd"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Keep only ports whose `supports` expression mentions this triplet (e.g. `windows`, `linux`, `osx`).",
                        "default": ""
                    }
                }
            },
            "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
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```