# DuckDuckGo Instant Answers Scraper (`searchapi/duckduckgo-instant-answers-scraper`) Actor

Extracts instant answers from DuckDuckGo's ZeroClick API — definitions, calculations, Wikipedia summaries, infoboxes, and related topics for any query.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/searchapi/duckduckgo-instant-answers-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Search API](https://apify.com/searchapi) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.99 / 1,000 search 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## DuckDuckGo Instant Answers Scraper

Extracts instant answers from DuckDuckGo's ZeroClick API — definitions, calculations, Wikipedia summaries, infoboxes, and related topics for any query.

### What this Actor collects

The Actor requests DuckDuckGo's ZeroClick JSON API directly and converts responses into clean records for abstracts, direct answers, definitions, and related topics, with source links, infobox data, locale, and retrieval provenance when available.

- Uses the input limits and filters below to control the crawl.
- Stores source-backed fields defined by the 35-field dataset schema.
- Omits optional fields when the source does not expose a value instead of writing nulls or fabricated placeholders.

### Use cases

- Instant-answer and entity research
- Definition and reference enrichment
- Related-topic discovery

### Input

Provide input in JSON. Fields marked required must be supplied. The Default / example column shows a schema default when one exists; otherwise it shows a documented prefill or fixture value.

| Field | Type | Required | Default / example | Description |
| --- | --- | :---: | --- | --- |
| `query` | string | Yes | `"population of france"` | The search query to get instant answers for. |
| `maxResults` | integer | No | `10` | Maximum number of instant answer results to push. |
| `region` | string | No | `"us-en"` | Region code (e.g. 'us-en', 'uk-en', 'de-de'). |
| `maxRequestRetries` | integer | No | `2` | Retries for transient rate limits and server failures. |
| `requestTimeoutSecs` | integer | No | `30` | Maximum time in seconds for each Instant Answer API request. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | No | `{"useApifyProxy":false}` | Optional proxy settings for the API request. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "query": "population of france",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  },
  "maxResults": 10,
  "region": "us-en",
  "maxRequestRetries": 2,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 30
}
```

### Output

The default dataset contains one item per extracted abstract, direct answer, definition, or related topic. The fields present depend on the ZeroClick result type.

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `position` | integer | Position |
| `type` | string | Record Type |
| `answerType` | string | Answer Type |
| `title` | string | Title |
| `description` | string | Description |
| `abstractSource` | string | Abstract Source |
| `sourceDomain` | string | Source Domain |
| `sourceUrl` | string | Source URL |
| `query` | string | Query |
| `region` | string | Region |
| `scrapedAt` | string | Scraped At |
| `url` | string | Topic or Result URL |
| `searchQuery` | string | Search Query |
| `resultType` | string | Result Type |
| `heading` | string | Heading |
| `abstractText` | string | Abstract Text |

<details>
<summary>All 35 declared dataset fields</summary>

`type`, `resultType`, `position`, `title`, `description`, `answerType`, `heading`, `abstractText`, `abstractSource`, `abstractUrl`
`answer`, `definition`, `definitionSource`, `definitionUrl`, `image`, `imageHeight`, `imageWidth`, `imageIsLogo`, `infobox`, `relatedTopics`
`entity`, `redirect`, `text`, `url`, `group`, `sourceUrl`, `sourceDomain`, `query`, `searchQuery`, `region`
`country`, `language`, `apiUrl`, `searchUrl`, `scrapedAt`

</details>

#### Example dataset item

This compact example is taken from local Actor storage. Long text and nested collections are shortened for documentation only.

```json
{
  "position": 1,
  "type": "abstract",
  "answerType": "article",
  "title": "Demographics of France",
  "description": "The demography of France is monitored by the Institut national d'études démographiques and the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. As of 1 January 2026,…",
  "abstractSource": "Wikipedia",
  "sourceDomain": "en.wikipedia.org",
  "sourceUrl": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_France",
  "query": "population of france",
  "region": "us-en",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-23T16:49:20.412Z",
  "searchQuery": "population of france"
}
```

### Related Actors

- [Duck.ai Guest Answers Scraper](https://apify.com/searchapi/duckduckgo-ai-answers-scraper)
- [DuckDuckGo Autocomplete Scraper](https://apify.com/searchapi/duckduckgo-autocomplete-scraper)
- [DuckDuckGo Bangs Directory Scraper](https://apify.com/searchapi/duckduckgo-bangs-directory-scraper)

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

The search query to get instant answers for.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of instant answer results to push.

## `region` (type: `string`):

Region code (e.g. 'us-en', 'uk-en', 'de-de').

## `maxRequestRetries` (type: `integer`):

Retries for transient rate limits and server failures.

## `requestTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Maximum time in seconds for each Instant Answer API request.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings for the scraper.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "population of france",
  "maxResults": 10,
  "region": "us-en",
  "maxRequestRetries": 2,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 30,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Structured abstracts, direct answers, definitions, results, and related topics from DuckDuckGo's Instant Answer API.

# 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 = {
    "query": "population of france",
    "maxResults": 10,
    "region": "us-en",
    "maxRequestRetries": 2,
    "requestTimeoutSecs": 30,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("searchapi/duckduckgo-instant-answers-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "query": "population of france",
    "maxResults": 10,
    "region": "us-en",
    "maxRequestRetries": 2,
    "requestTimeoutSecs": 30,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("searchapi/duckduckgo-instant-answers-scraper").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 '{
  "query": "population of france",
  "maxResults": 10,
  "region": "us-en",
  "maxRequestRetries": 2,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 30,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call searchapi/duckduckgo-instant-answers-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,searchapi/duckduckgo-instant-answers-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

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/1wRmYENK0iBbKWLmk/builds/h7UeeGfbKnv7A2PiH/openapi.json