Crates.io Scraper - Rust Package Registry Data

Extract metadata, download statistics, dependencies, and health scores from crates.io, the official Rust package registry.

What is this?

This actor scrapes the crates.io API to retrieve detailed information about Rust crates (packages/libraries). Use it to discover Rust libraries, analyze dependencies, assess package health, or monitor the Rust ecosystem.

Who is this for?

• Security teams — Audit Rust dependencies for supply chain risk assessment
• DevOps engineers — Monitor dependencies for maintenance status and updates
• Software architects — Evaluate libraries before adding them to projects
• VC analysts & researchers — Track trends in the Rust ecosystem
• Recruiters — Find active Rust developers through package ownership
• Developers — Discover well-maintained libraries for your next project

Features

• 🔍 Search by keyword — Find crates matching terms like "web framework" or "database"
• 📦 Lookup specific packages — Get data for known crate names
• 📊 Health scoring — Customizable scoring based on downloads, maintenance, and trust signals
• 🔗 Dependency analysis — See what each crate depends on
• ↩️ Reverse dependencies — See which crates depend on each package
• 📜 Version history — Get all published versions with release dates
• 🎛️ Flexible filters — Filter by license, update recency, minimum downloads

Input Parameters

Search Mode (provide one)

Parameter	Type	Description
packageNames	array	List of specific crate names to fetch
keyword	string	Search term to find matching crates

Filters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
maxResults	integer	50	Maximum crates to return (1-500)
minDownloads	integer	0	Minimum total downloads required
licenseFilter	string	any	Filter by license: any, mit_apache, no_gpl
updatedWithin	string	any	Recency filter: any, 6months, 1year
sortBy	string	healthScore	Sort by: healthScore, downloads, recentDownloads, recentlyUpdated

Data Enrichment

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
includeDependencies	boolean	true	Fetch direct dependencies
includeReverseDependencies	boolean	false	Fetch crates that depend on this one
includeVersionHistory	boolean	false	Fetch all published versions

Health Score Weights (0-10)

Customize how the health score is calculated based on what matters to you:

Parameter	Default	What it measures
downloadsWeight	6	Total adoption/usage
recentActivityWeight	4	Current momentum and trend
maintenanceWeight	5	How recently the crate was updated
reverseDepsWeight	5	Trust signal from other crates

Output

Each crate returns:

{
    "name": "serde",
    "description": "A generic serialization/deserialization framework",
    "version": "1.0.193",
    "license": "MIT OR Apache-2.0",
    "totalDownloads": 250000000,
    "recentDownloads": 15000000,
    "createdAt": "2015-03-03T03:17:05Z",
    "updatedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "daysSinceUpdate": 5,
    "repository": "https://github.com/serde-rs/serde",
    "homepage": "https://serde.rs",
    "documentation": "https://docs.rs/serde",
    "cratesUrl": "https://crates.io/crates/serde",
    "keywords": ["serde", "serialization"],
    "categories": ["encoding"],
    "yanked": false,
    "healthScore": {
        "score": 89,
        "breakdown": {
            "downloads": {"raw": 100, "weight": 6},
            "recentActivity": {"raw": 60, "weight": 4},
            "maintenance": {"raw": 100, "weight": 5},
            "reverseDependencies": {"raw": 100, "weight": 5}
        }
    },
    "dependencies": {
        "count": 2,
        "direct": [
            {"name": "serde_derive", "requirement": "^1.0", "optional": true, "kind": "normal"}
        ]
    },
    "reverseDependencies": {
        "count": 45000,
        "top_dependents": ["tokio", "reqwest", "actix-web"]
    }
}

Health Score Explained

The health score (0-100) helps you quickly assess crate quality. Each factor is scored 0-100, then combined using your weights.

Downloads Score

Downloads	Score
10M+	100
1M+	85
100K+	70
10K+	55
1K+	40
100+	25
<100	10

Maintenance Score

Last Updated	Score
< 30 days	100
< 90 days	80
< 6 months	60
< 1 year	40
< 2 years	20
> 2 years	5

Recent Activity Score

Based on ratio of recent downloads (90 days) to total downloads. Higher ratio = growing adoption.

Reverse Dependencies Score

Dependents	Score
100+	100
50+	80
20+	60
5+	40
1+	20
0	0

Example Use Cases

Find well-maintained web frameworks

• Keyword: web framework
• Updated within: Last 6 months
• Maintenance weight: 10
• Sort by: Health Score

Audit specific dependencies

• Package names: serde, tokio, reqwest, hyper
• Include reverse dependencies: true
• Include version history: true

Discover trending libraries

• Keyword: async
• Recent activity weight: 10
• Sort by: Recent Downloads

Rate Limiting

This actor respects the crates.io crawler policy:

• Maximum 1 request per second
• Proper User-Agent identification

Processing time depends on options enabled:

• Basic search: ~1 second per crate
• With dependencies: ~2 seconds per crate
• With reverse deps: ~3 seconds per crate
• All options: ~4 seconds per crate

Data Source

All data comes from the official crates.io API. This actor does not scrape HTML — it uses the documented JSON API endpoints.

Related Keywords

Rust packages, Rust libraries, cargo crates, Rust dependency analysis, supply chain