# Substack Newsletter Scraper (`scrapers-hub/substack-newsletter-scraper`) Actor Substack Newsletter scraper extracts publicly available newsletter posts, titles, authors, publication dates, subscriber-facing content, and metadata 📰📊 Perfect for content research, trend analysis, competitive intelligence, and newsletter monitoring. - **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapers-hub/substack-newsletter-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Scrapers Hub](https://apify.com/scrapers-hub) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools, News, Other - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.99 / 1,000 results 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 ## Substack Newsletter Scraper An [Apify Actor](https://apify.com/actors) that scrapes Substack newsletters — author profile, publication metadata, leaderboard ranking, and posts (optionally with full body text). Built with **requests** + **parsel** + **regex**, with **curl_cffi** (Chrome impersonation) as an automatic fallback whenever a plain request gets blocked. ### Input | Field | Type | Default | Description | |-------|------|---------|-------------| | `newsletterUrls` | array | – | List of newsletter URLs, e.g. `[{ "url": "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com" }]`. Custom domains and `*.substack.com` both work. | | `postScrapingMode` | string | `information_and_content` | `information_only` (metadata only) or `information_and_content` (also fetch full post text). | | `maxPostsPerNewsletter` | integer | `12` | Max posts scraped per newsletter. | | `delayBetweenRequests` | integer | `3000` | Delay between HTTP requests, in milliseconds. | | `maxRetries` | integer | `2` | Retries per request before giving up (falls back to curl_cffi). | ```json { "newsletterUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com" }, { "url": "https://andrewsullivan.substack.com" } ], "postScrapingMode": "information_and_content", "maxPostsPerNewsletter": 12, "delayBetweenRequests": 3000, "maxRetries": 2 } ```` ### Output One dataset item per newsletter: author fields (`author_*`), publication fields (`publication_*`), leaderboard ranking, `all_publications`, and a `posts` array where each post has `url`, `title`, `subtitle`, `date`, `author`, `likes`, `comments_count`, `content_preview`, `content`, and `word_count`. ### How it works 1. Fetch the newsletter homepage and extract the embedded `window._preloads` JSON (regex + `parsel`) → publication object. 2. Fetch the author's public profile (`substack.com/api/v1/user/{handle}/public_profile`) → follower count, socials, leaderboard, all publications. 3. List posts via `/api/v1/archive`, and (in content mode) fetch each post's `body_html` via `/api/v1/posts/{slug}`, then strip it to plain text. ### Run locally ```bash pip install -r requirements.txt ## via the Apify CLI (recommended): apify run ## or drive the scraper directly without the Apify SDK: python _local_test.py ``` # Actor input Schema ## `newsletterUrls` (type: `array`): List of Substack newsletter URLs to scrape. Custom domains (e.g. https://lennysnewsletter.com) and \*.substack.com hosts are both supported. ## `postScrapingMode` (type: `string`): 'information\_only' scrapes just post metadata (fast). 'information\_and\_content' also fetches the full body text of every post. ## `maxPostsPerNewsletter` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of posts to scrape per newsletter. ## `delayBetweenRequests` (type: `integer`): Delay in milliseconds between HTTP requests, to stay polite and avoid rate limiting. ## `maxRetries` (type: `integer`): How many times to retry a failing request (falls back to curl\_cffi browser impersonation when a plain request is blocked). ## Actor input object example ```json { "newsletterUrls": [ "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com", "https://andrewsullivan.substack.com" ], "postScrapingMode": "information_and_content", "maxPostsPerNewsletter": 12, "delayBetweenRequests": 3000, "maxRetries": 2 } ``` # 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 = { "newsletterUrls": [ "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com", "https://andrewsullivan.substack.com" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("scrapers-hub/substack-newsletter-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "newsletterUrls": [ "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com", "https://andrewsullivan.substack.com", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("scrapers-hub/substack-newsletter-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 '{ "newsletterUrls": [ "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com", "https://andrewsullivan.substack.com" ] }' | apify call scrapers-hub/substack-newsletter-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapers-hub/substack-newsletter-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Substack Newsletter Scraper", "description": "Substack Newsletter scraper extracts publicly available newsletter posts, titles, authors, publication dates, subscriber-facing content, and metadata 📰📊 Perfect for content research, trend analysis, competitive intelligence, and newsletter monitoring.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "dnaLT40e69hgp7bbm" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/scrapers-hub~substack-newsletter-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapers-hub-substack-newsletter-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/scrapers-hub~substack-newsletter-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapers-hub-substack-newsletter-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/scrapers-hub~substack-newsletter-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-scrapers-hub-substack-newsletter-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "required": [ "newsletterUrls" ], "properties": { "newsletterUrls": { "title": "Newsletter URLs", "type": "array", "description": "List of Substack newsletter URLs to scrape. Custom domains (e.g. https://lennysnewsletter.com) and *.substack.com hosts are both supported.", "default": [ "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com", "https://andrewsullivan.substack.com" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "postScrapingMode": { "title": "Post scraping mode", "enum": [ "information_only", "information_and_content" ], "type": "string", "description": "'information_only' scrapes just post metadata (fast). 'information_and_content' also fetches the full body text of every post.", "default": "information_and_content" }, "maxPostsPerNewsletter": { "title": "Max posts per newsletter", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of posts to scrape per newsletter.", "default": 12 }, "delayBetweenRequests": { "title": "Delay between requests (ms)", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 60000, "type": "integer", "description": "Delay in milliseconds between HTTP requests, to stay polite and avoid rate limiting.", "default": 3000 }, "maxRetries": { "title": "Max retries", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 10, "type": "integer", "description": "How many times to retry a failing request (falls back to curl_cffi browser impersonation when a plain request is blocked).", "default": 2 } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```