# Carsales Natural Language Car Search (`seemuapps/carsales-ai-search`) Actor

Describe the car you want in plain English and get every matching carsales.com.au listing - price, kms, specs and photos - as a dataset.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/seemuapps/carsales-ai-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Andrew](https://apify.com/seemuapps) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 listing scrapeds

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/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

## Carsales Natural Language Car Search

Type what you want in plain English — "RS3 newer than 2024", "cheapest diesel Hilux 4x4 in Queensland under 150,000 km", "white Tesla Model 3 in Melbourne between 40k and 55k" — and get every matching car listing from carsales.com.au with price, odometer, engine, transmission, seller type and photos.

### What you get

For every matching listing:

- Ad ID, listing URL, title (year make model) and variant
- Year, make, model and condition (new / used / demo)
- Price, price type (drive away or excluding government charges), price excluding government charges, and the carsales price badge (great / good / fair price)
- Body type, transmission, engine, fuel type and odometer in km
- Seller type (private, dealer used, dealer new / demo), seller ID and state
- Whether the listing is a promoted "top spot" result, plus badges such as "Pay through carsales"
- Photo count and image URLs
- The search URL the listing was found under and the scrape timestamp

The key-value store also gets a `SEARCH` record showing how your request was interpreted (make, model, year, price, state, keywords…) and which carsales searches were run, so you can check and refine the wording.

### What the search understands

- Make and model, including nicknames and abbreviations that map to carsales' 145 makes and 1,600+ models
- Variants and badges ("Wildtrak", "quattro", "4x4", "hybrid") — matched against the listing title
- Year ("newer than 2024", "2019 or later", "a 2021", "less than 3 years old")
- Price ("under 30k", "between 40k and 55k", "around 50 grand")
- Odometer ("under 50,000 km", "low kms")
- State or city ("in Melbourne", "Queensland", "Perth")
- Body type, fuel type, transmission and colour
- New vs used, and sort preferences ("cheapest first", "lowest kms", "newest")

### Use cases

- Car shoppers and buyers' agents building shortlists without learning carsales' filters
- Chatbots and voice assistants that need a car-search backend
- Price checks for a specific spec before buying or selling
- Scheduled watchlists in plain language (diff results on `adId`)

### How to use

1. Type your request in **What are you looking for?**
2. Set **Max Items** (0 for everything) and run. Results appear in the **Dataset** tab; the interpretation is in the **Key-value store** under `SEARCH`.

**Large searches.** carsales serves at most 20 pages (about 440 listings) per search. With **Deep collection** on (the default), bigger searches are split automatically into price bands and model years and merged, so "all used Hiluxes in Queensland" comes back complete.

**Proxy.** Apify residential proxy (country AU) is the default and recommended setting; carsales rate-limits each IP after a handful of requests.

### Output format

```json
{
  "adId": "OAG-AD-26117498",
  "url": "https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2025-audi-rs3-auto-quattro-my26/OAG-AD-26117498/",
  "title": "2025 Audi RS3",
  "variant": "Auto quattro MY26",
  "year": 2025,
  "make": "Audi",
  "model": "RS3",
  "condition": "Used",
  "price": 109990,
  "priceType": "Drive away",
  "priceExclGovtCharges": 104900,
  "priceBadge": "GOOD PRICE",
  "bodyType": "Sedan",
  "transmission": "Automatic",
  "engine": "5cyl 2.5L Turbo Petrol",
  "fuelType": "Petrol",
  "odometerKm": 4200,
  "sellerType": "Dealer used",
  "sellerId": "AGC-SELLER-62604",
  "state": "VIC",
  "isPromoted": false,
  "badges": [],
  "imageCount": 23,
  "images": ["https://carsales.pxcrush.net/carsales/car/dealer/....jpg"],
  "searchUrl": "https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/audi/rs3/2025-year/",
  "sortBy": "Featured",
  "totalResultsForSearch": 51,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-03T05:11:24.000Z"
}
```

# Actor input Schema

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

Describe the car in plain English. Make, model, variant, year, price, kms, state or city, body type, fuel, transmission, colour and sort preference are all understood. Examples: "RS3 newer than 2024", "cheapest diesel Hilux 4x4 in Queensland under 150,000 km", "white Tesla Model 3 in Melbourne between 40k and 55k".

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of unique listings to save. Set 0 for no limit.

## `deepCollection` (type: `boolean`):

carsales only serves the first 20 pages (about 440 listings) of any search. When a search is larger, automatically split it into price bands, then model years, and merge the results.

## `model` (type: `string`):

Model used to interpret your request. Each run uses one or two short calls.

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

Apify residential proxy with country AU is recommended. carsales blocks an IP after roughly 10 rapid requests, so a rotating proxy pool is what keeps large runs flowing.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "Audi RS3 newer than 2024 under 120k",
  "maxItems": 200,
  "deepCollection": true,
  "model": "openai/gpt-5.6-luna",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "AU"
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Fields: adId, url, title, variant, year, make, model, condition, price, priceType, priceExclGovtCharges, priceBadge, bodyType, transmission, engine, fuelType, odometerKm, sellerType, state, isPromoted, badges, imageCount, images, searchUrl, sortBy, totalResultsForSearch, scrapedAt.

## `search` (type: `string`):

SEARCH record in the key-value store: how the request was interpreted (make, model, year, price…) and the search URLs that were crawled.

# 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": "Audi RS3 newer than 2024 under 120k",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ],
        "apifyProxyCountry": "AU"
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("seemuapps/carsales-ai-search").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": "Audi RS3 newer than 2024 under 120k",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
        "apifyProxyCountry": "AU",
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("seemuapps/carsales-ai-search").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": "Audi RS3 newer than 2024 under 120k",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "AU"
  }
}' |
apify call seemuapps/carsales-ai-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,seemuapps/carsales-ai-search"
        }
    }
}

```

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/jD5Ct6Har5LJEsKen/builds/yOvcUFhZDNwKKxakJ/openapi.json