# City Business License Monitor — New-Opening Leads (`scrapersdelight/city-business-license-monitor`) Actor Monitor city business-license registries for newly-licensed, soon-to-open businesses — a hyperlocal lead feed for merchant services, insurance, CRE & local sales. Covers Chicago, Seattle & San Francisco: name, license type, address, neighborhood, date. Alerts via Slack/email/webhook. $4 per 1,000. - **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapersdelight/city-business-license-monitor.md - **Developed by:** [Scrapers Delight](https://apify.com/scrapersdelight) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Automation, Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $4.00 / 1,000 per record returneds 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/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 ## 🏪 City Business License Monitor — New-Opening Leads **A new city business license = a business opening or expanding. This actor pulls newly-licensed (and soon-to-open) businesses from public city open-data registries — name, license type, address, neighborhood, and date — and runs on a schedule to alert you to NEW ones. A hyperlocal lead feed for merchant services, payments, insurance, commercial real estate, suppliers, and local-services sales.** No login, no anti-bot — every source is a public city Socrata feed. --- ### Why it's a signal A business that just got licensed is **actively standing up operations** — buying POS/payments, insurance, signage, furniture, a lease, suppliers, and software. Catching it at licensing (often *before* it opens) is the earliest commercial-intent moment, in a precise location and category. --- ### Cities & sources (validated) | City | Source | Date signal | |------|--------|-------------| | **Chicago** | data.cityofchicago.org Business Licenses | `date_issued` (true new-issuance, `ISSUE` only) | | **Seattle** | data.seattle.gov Business Licenses | `license_start_date` | | **San Francisco** | data.sfgov.org Registered Business Locations | `location_start_date` (open only) | > More cities are on the roadmap — per-city adapters mean coverage grows without breaking your runs. The window is `lookbackDays` back + `futureDays` ahead, so you catch both **just-licensed** and **opening-soon** businesses (Seattle/SF often carry a future start date). --- ### Output (one record per license) `source` · `business_name` · `legal_name` · `license_type` · `naics` · `address` · `city` · `state` · `zip` · `area` (neighborhood/ward) · `start_date` · `date_type` (issued / business_start) · `status` · `lat` · `lng` · `record_id` · `source_url` · `is_new` · `scraped_at` Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or RSS — or pull via the Apify API into your CRM, Clay, or n8n. --- ### How to use it 1. Click **Try for free**. 2. Pick your **cities** and a **lookback window**. 3. *(Optional)* filter by **license type** (e.g. `Restaurant`) or a **keyword**. 4. Click **Start**, then open the **Dataset** tab. 5. **For a live feed:** turn on **Monitor mode**, add a **Schedule** (e.g. daily), and a **Slack/email/webhook**. #### Quick start — new restaurants ```json { "cities": ["chicago", "seattle", "sf"], "licenseTypeFilter": "Food", "lookbackDays": 60 } ```` #### Daily monitor ```json { "cities": ["chicago"], "monitorMode": true, "alertOnNewBusiness": true, "slackWebhookUrl": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/…" } ``` *** ### Pricing (pay-per-event) | Event | What it covers | Suggested price | |-------|----------------|-----------------| | `lot-scraped` | each business returned | ~$3–4 / 1,000 | | `monitor-run-completed` | each scheduled watch run | ~$0.05 / run | | `new-lot-detected` | each newly-appearing license | ~$0.02 / business | | `alert-delivered` | each Slack/email/webhook alert | ~$0.005 / alert | *(Final prices are set on the actor's pricing page.)* *** ### Notes - **Public city records** (business-level) — no consumer personal data. Review each city's open-data terms; your use is your call. - **SF dataset** is SF tax registrations; a few records have an out-of-city HQ address — filter by `city` if you need strictly in-city. - **No double-counting** — monitor mode remembers seen licenses (per city + filter scope) and emits each once. # Actor input Schema ## `cities` (type: `array`): Which cities' business-license feeds to pull. Supported: chicago, seattle, sf. More cities are being added. ## `dateFrom` (type: `string`): Start of the issue/start-date window. Leave empty to use today minus 'Lookback days'. ## `dateTo` (type: `string`): End of the window. Leave empty for today plus 'Future days' (to catch soon-to-open businesses). ## `lookbackDays` (type: `integer`): Include businesses issued/started within the last N days. ## `futureDays` (type: `integer`): Also include businesses whose start date is up to N days in the future ('opening soon'). Set 0 to exclude future-dated. ## `keyword` (type: `string`): Optional. Keep only records whose business name, license type, or area contains this text. ## `licenseTypeFilter` (type: `string`): Optional. Keep only records whose license type contains this text, e.g. 'Restaurant', 'Retail Food', 'Limousine'. ## `socrataAppToken` (type: `string`): Optional Socrata token to raise rate limits across the city open-data APIs. Works fine without one for normal volumes. ## `maxRecords` (type: `integer`): Hard cap on records per run (0 = no cap). ## `monitorMode` (type: `boolean`): Recurring watcher: diff against the prior run (per city+filter scope) and output/alert ONLY newly-appearing licenses. Pair with an Apify Schedule. ## `alertOnNewBusiness` (type: `boolean`): In monitor mode, send an alert for each new license. ## `webhookUrl` (type: `string`): POST endpoint for new-business alerts. ## `slackWebhookUrl` (type: `string`): Slack incoming-webhook URL. ## `emailRecipients` (type: `array`): Emails for the new-business digest (via apify/send-mail). ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings. Public city open data; datacenter rotation is plenty. ## `diagnose` (type: `boolean`): Dev only. Pulls one city for the window and logs the first parsed record, then exits. ## Actor input object example ```json { "cities": [ "chicago", "seattle", "sf" ], "lookbackDays": 90, "futureDays": 180, "maxRecords": 0, "monitorMode": false, "alertOnNewBusiness": true, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true }, "diagnose": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `businesses` (type: `string`): The dataset of newly-licensed businesses (one item per license). # 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 = { "cities": [ "chicago", "seattle", "sf" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("scrapersdelight/city-business-license-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 = { "cities": [ "chicago", "seattle", "sf", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("scrapersdelight/city-business-license-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 '{ "cities": [ "chicago", "seattle", "sf" ] }' | apify call scrapersdelight/city-business-license-monitor --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapersdelight/city-business-license-monitor", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "City Business License Monitor — New-Opening Leads", "description": "Monitor city business-license registries for newly-licensed, soon-to-open businesses — a hyperlocal lead feed for merchant services, insurance, CRE & local sales. Covers Chicago, Seattle & San Francisco: name, license type, address, neighborhood, date. Alerts via Slack/email/webhook. $4 per 1,000.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "43KRywBWlI1uYzQwQ" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/scrapersdelight~city-business-license-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapersdelight-city-business-license-monitor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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/scrapersdelight~city-business-license-monitor/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapersdelight-city-business-license-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/scrapersdelight~city-business-license-monitor/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-scrapersdelight-city-business-license-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", "properties": { "cities": { "title": "Cities", "type": "array", "description": "Which cities' business-license feeds to pull. Supported: chicago, seattle, sf. More cities are being added.", "default": [ "chicago", "seattle", "sf" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "dateFrom": { "title": "Date from (YYYY-MM-DD)", "type": "string", "description": "Start of the issue/start-date window. Leave empty to use today minus 'Lookback days'." }, "dateTo": { "title": "Date to (YYYY-MM-DD)", "type": "string", "description": "End of the window. Leave empty for today plus 'Future days' (to catch soon-to-open businesses)." }, "lookbackDays": { "title": "Lookback days", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Include businesses issued/started within the last N days.", "default": 90 }, "futureDays": { "title": "Future days (opening soon)", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Also include businesses whose start date is up to N days in the future ('opening soon'). Set 0 to exclude future-dated.", "default": 180 }, "keyword": { "title": "Keyword filter", "type": "string", "description": "Optional. Keep only records whose business name, license type, or area contains this text." }, "licenseTypeFilter": { "title": "License type filter", "type": "string", "description": "Optional. Keep only records whose license type contains this text, e.g. 'Restaurant', 'Retail Food', 'Limousine'." }, "socrataAppToken": { "title": "Socrata app token (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Optional Socrata token to raise rate limits across the city open-data APIs. Works fine without one for normal volumes." }, "maxRecords": { "title": "Max records per run", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Hard cap on records per run (0 = no cap).", "default": 0 }, "monitorMode": { "title": "Monitor mode (new-business watcher)", "type": "boolean", "description": "Recurring watcher: diff against the prior run (per city+filter scope) and output/alert ONLY newly-appearing licenses. Pair with an Apify Schedule.", "default": false }, "alertOnNewBusiness": { "title": "Alert on new businesses", "type": "boolean", "description": "In monitor mode, send an alert for each new license.", "default": true }, "webhookUrl": { "title": "Webhook URL", "type": "string", "description": "POST endpoint for new-business alerts." }, "slackWebhookUrl": { "title": "Slack webhook URL", "type": "string", "description": "Slack incoming-webhook URL." }, "emailRecipients": { "title": "Email recipients", "type": "array", "description": "Emails for the new-business digest (via apify/send-mail).", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy settings. Public city open data; datacenter rotation is plenty.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } }, "diagnose": { "title": "Diagnostic mode (dev)", "type": "boolean", "description": "Dev only. Pulls one city for the window and logs the first parsed record, then exits.", "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```