# UK Companies House Change Monitor (official API) (`plotbench/companies-house-change-monitor`) Actor Watch UK companies for changes — name, status, registered office, SIC codes, officer count, new filings, accounts due dates — via the official Companies House API (free key). Schedule it and pipe change events to email/Slack/webhooks. - **URL**: https://apify.com/plotbench/companies-house-change-monitor.md - **Developed by:** [Plotbench Studio](https://apify.com/plotbench) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 75.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $10.00 / 1,000 change detecteds This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. 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/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.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/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 ## UK Companies House Change Monitor (official API) Watch any list of UK companies and get a **change event** every time something moves: company name, status (active → liquidation…), registered office, SIC codes, active-officer count, accounts / confirmation-statement due dates, and **new filings**. Powered by the **official Companies House REST API** (free key). Schedule it daily or weekly and pipe change events to email, Slack or a webhook. Built for people who monitor companies for a living: - **Credit control & finance teams** — know the day a customer files for liquidation or changes its registered office, not the month after. - **Suppliers & procurement** — counterparty watch across your vendor list. - **Accountants & company secretaries** — accounts and confirmation-statement due dates across the whole client book, plus proof of filing the moment it lands. - **B2B sales & PE/M&A researchers** — name changes, new filings and officer movements as signals. ### How it works Each run snapshots every company (profile + officers + latest filing = 3 API calls, rate-limit safe), diffs against the previous run's snapshot stored in a named key-value store in your account (`companies-house-monitor-state`, so it persists across scheduled runs), and pushes **one dataset row per detected change**: ```json { "companyNumber": "07654321", "companyName": "SAMPLE GROUP HOLDINGS PLC", "event": "companyStatus-changed", "field": "companyStatus", "before": "active", "after": "liquidation", "detectedAt": "2026-07-05T01:24:31.201Z" } ```` First run per company emits a `baseline-created` row; changes flow from the second run. Event types: `companyName-changed`, `companyStatus-changed`, `companyType-changed`, `sicCodes-changed`, `registeredOffice-changed`, `accountsNextDue-changed`, `confirmationStatementNextDue-changed`, `officersActiveCount-changed`, `new-filing`. ### Setup (2 minutes) 1. Get a **free** API key: [developer.company-information.service.gov.uk](https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk) → register an application → REST API key. 2. Paste it into the `apiKey` input field (stored as an Apify secret). 3. Add your company numbers and create a Schedule (daily 07:00 works well). No key yet? Run with `"mockMode": true` to see the change-detection engine work on bundled example fixtures. ### Input ```json { "companyNumbers": ["01234567", "SC123456"], "apiKey": "YOUR_FREE_CH_KEY", "emitSnapshots": false } ``` ### Pricing (pay per event) | Event | Price | |---|---| | Actor start | $0.02 per run | | Company checked | $0.005 per company per run | | Change detected | $0.01 per change | Watching 100 companies daily costs about **$0.52/day** plus a penny per actual change — cheaper than one missed insolvency. ### Fair use & data sources Uses the **official Companies House REST API** under your own free API key, within the published rate limit (600 requests / 5 minutes — the actor self-throttles to stay inside it). Companies House data is Crown copyright public data, free to use including commercially under the Companies House usage terms. No scraping. ### Limitations (told straight) - Officer-level detail: v1 tracks the **active-officer count**, not per-officer appointments/resignations (that's the natural v2 — tell me if you want it). - Change detection is per-run: schedule cadence = detection latency. Companies House also offers a streaming API; this actor deliberately uses the simpler REST polling model for reliability. - PSC (persons with significant control) changes are not yet watched (v2 candidate). # Actor input Schema ## `companyNumbers` (type: `array`): Companies House company numbers to monitor (8 characters, e.g. 01234567 or SC123456). ## `apiKey` (type: `string`): FREE REST API key from https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk (register an application). Required for live monitoring. ## `mockMode` (type: `boolean`): Run the change-detection engine on bundled example fixtures — no API key, no live calls. Untick and supply your API key for live monitoring. ## `emitSnapshots` (type: `boolean`): Push the full per-company snapshot to the dataset on every run, in addition to change events. ## Actor input object example ```json { "companyNumbers": [ "00000006" ], "mockMode": true, "emitSnapshots": false } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "companyNumbers": [ "00000006" ], "mockMode": true }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("plotbench/companies-house-change-monitor").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "companyNumbers": ["00000006"], "mockMode": True, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("plotbench/companies-house-change-monitor").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 '{ "companyNumbers": [ "00000006" ], "mockMode": true }' | apify call plotbench/companies-house-change-monitor --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=plotbench/companies-house-change-monitor", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "UK Companies House Change Monitor (official API)", "description": "Watch UK companies for changes — name, status, registered office, SIC codes, officer count, new filings, accounts due dates — via the official Companies House API (free key). Schedule it and pipe change events to email/Slack/webhooks.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "JRTvsbzaL0O1ZqzHl" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/plotbench~companies-house-change-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-plotbench-companies-house-change-monitor", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/plotbench~companies-house-change-monitor/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-plotbench-companies-house-change-monitor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/plotbench~companies-house-change-monitor/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-plotbench-companies-house-change-monitor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "required": [ "companyNumbers" ], "properties": { "companyNumbers": { "title": "Company numbers", "type": "array", "description": "Companies House company numbers to monitor (8 characters, e.g. 01234567 or SC123456).", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "apiKey": { "title": "Companies House API key", "type": "string", "description": "FREE REST API key from https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk (register an application). Required for live monitoring." }, "mockMode": { "title": "Mock mode (demo without an API key)", "type": "boolean", "description": "Run the change-detection engine on bundled example fixtures — no API key, no live calls. Untick and supply your API key for live monitoring.", "default": false }, "emitSnapshots": { "title": "Also emit full snapshots", "type": "boolean", "description": "Push the full per-company snapshot to the dataset on every run, in addition to change events.", "default": false } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```