# Sitemap URL Extractor: All Pages, Lastmod & Hreflang (`pj_pai/sitemap-url-extractor`) Actor

Extract every URL from any website sitemap: auto-discovers sitemaps via robots.txt, follows nested sitemap indexes, reads .xml.gz files and returns lastmod, changefreq, priority, image counts and hreflang alternates. Filter by regex or modified date. Only $0.05 per 1,000 URLs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pj_pai/sitemap-url-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [Rakesh Pai](https://apify.com/pj_pai) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Developer tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.05 / 1,000 urls

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Sitemap URL Extractor: All Pages, Lastmod & Hreflang

Extract every URL from any website sitemap: auto-discovers sitemaps via robots.txt, follows nested sitemap indexes, reads .xml.gz files and returns lastmod, changefreq, priority, image counts and hreflang alternates. Filter by regex or modified date. Only $0.05 per 1,000 URLs.

**Data source:** each website's own public XML sitemaps, discovered through robots.txt Sitemap lines or the standard /sitemap.xml, /sitemap_index.xml and /wp-sitemap.xml locations. It needs no login, proxy or browser. Results are returned as clean, flat JSON that is ready for spreadsheets, databases, BI tools and AI agents.

### What can you use it for?

- Build a full URL list before crawling or auditing a site
- Track new and updated pages on competitor sites (filter by lastmod)
- Find all product, blog or job URLs with include patterns
- Feed URL lists to other Actors (SEO audits, contact scrapers, RAG crawlers)
- Use it as a tool from AI agents through the Apify MCP server, or schedule it and send new results to Slack, Google Sheets or a webhook

### Input

| Field | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `startUrls` | Websites or sitemap URLs | Homepages (sitemaps auto-discovered) or direct sitemap URLs |
| `includePatterns` | Include URL patterns (regex) | Only URLs matching any of these regexes, e.g. /products/ |
| `excludePatterns` | Exclude URL patterns (regex) | Skip URLs matching any of these regexes |
| `modifiedSince` | Modified since (date) | Only URLs whose lastmod is on or after this date, e.g. 2026-10-01 |
| `maxUrlsPerSite` | Max URLs per site | Stop after this many URLs per website |
| `maxSitemapsPerSite` | Max sitemap files per site | Safety cap on nested sitemaps fetched |
| `concurrency` | Concurrency | Sites in parallel |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.allbirds.com",
    "https://apify.com"
  ],
  "maxUrlsPerSite": 10
}
```

### Output

Each result is one dataset item with these fields: `site`, `url`, `lastmod`, `changefreq`, `priority`, `imageCount`, `alternates`, `newsTitle`, `sitemapUrl`.

#### Example output (real result, long fields shortened)

```json
{
  "site": "https://www.allbirds.com",
  "url": "https://www.allbirds.com/products/mens-wool-runners",
  "lastmod": "2026-11-01T09:42:11-08:00",
  "changefreq": "daily",
  "priority": null,
  "imageCount": 1,
  "alternates": [],
  "newsTitle": "Men's Wool Runner - Natural Grey (Light Grey Sole)",
  "sitemapUrl": "https://www.allbirds.com/sitemap_products_1.xml?from=1878193471557&to=7369944137808"
}
```

Download the results as JSON, CSV, Excel or XML, or read them through the Apify API.

### Pricing

This Actor uses **pay-per-event** pricing. You pay **$5e-05 per URL** returned, plus standard Apify platform usage, which is small because the Actor uses lightweight HTTP requests (no browser). You are never charged for results that are not returned. To cap spending, set a maximum cost per run in the run options.

### Tips

- Start with a small max-results value to check your filters, then scale up.
- Schedule the Actor (for example daily) to monitor changes over time.
- The data comes straight from the source, so its freshness and completeness depend on that publisher.

### Disclaimer

This Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by any website, platform or data publisher named here. Use it in line with the target sites' terms and applicable privacy laws (e.g. GDPR/CAN-SPAM for contact data). Verify critical decisions against the official source.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Homepages (sitemaps auto-discovered) or direct sitemap URLs

## `includePatterns` (type: `array`):

Only URLs matching any of these regexes, e.g. /products/

## `excludePatterns` (type: `array`):

Skip URLs matching any of these regexes

## `modifiedSince` (type: `string`):

Only URLs whose lastmod is on or after this date, e.g. 2026-10-01

## `maxUrlsPerSite` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many URLs per website

## `maxSitemapsPerSite` (type: `integer`):

Safety cap on nested sitemaps fetched

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

Sites in parallel

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.allbirds.com",
    "https://apify.com/sitemap.xml"
  ],
  "maxUrlsPerSite": 5000,
  "maxSitemapsPerSite": 200,
  "concurrency": 3
}
```

# 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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        "https://www.allbirds.com",
        "https://apify.com/sitemap.xml"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pj_pai/sitemap-url-extractor").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 = { "startUrls": [
        "https://www.allbirds.com",
        "https://apify.com/sitemap.xml",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("pj_pai/sitemap-url-extractor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.allbirds.com",
    "https://apify.com/sitemap.xml"
  ]
}' |
apify call pj_pai/sitemap-url-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,pj_pai/sitemap-url-extractor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/fbBfXoFjvIb26X5X7/builds/yHbsauoPhWHvaxBpc/openapi.json