# Weibo Hot Search Scraper: 微博热搜 Trending Topics & Posts (`serenido/weibo-hot-search`) Actor

Weibo hot search (微博热搜) as clean rows: rank, keyword, heat and label for every trending topic, plus what changed since your last run (new topics, rank and heat moves) and optional top posts per topic. Sina Weibo (新浪微博), no login.

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

## Pricing

from $1.40 / 1,000 row saveds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

> ⭐ If this tool saves you time, please leave a quick review on this page. It helps other people find it. Found a problem? Open an issue in the Issues tab and we'll fix it fast.

### What does Weibo Hot Search Scraper do?

It gets the **live Weibo hot search list (微博热搜)** as clean rows: rank, keyword, heat and label for every trending topic on Sina Weibo (新浪微博). No login, no cookies.

Three things make it more than a list:

- **What changed since your last run:** each topic is marked **new** or not, with its **previous rank**, **rank change** (+5 = moved up 5 places) and **heat change**. Schedule it every hour and you have a trend tracker.
- **Why it is trending:** optionally get the **top posts behind each hot topic**: text, author, followers, likes, reposts, comments, images and video.
- **Clean data:** paid placements in the list are skipped and never charged.

Built for China market researchers, brand and PR teams, journalists, traders watching Chinese sentiment, and AI agents that need to know what China is talking about right now.

### What data do I get?

**Hot search list** (one row per topic, about 50 per run):

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| rank | Position in the list. 0 = pinned by Weibo above the list |
| keyword | The trending topic, as shown on Weibo |
| heat | Weibo's heat number for the topic |
| label | hot (热), new (新), boiling (沸), exploding (爆), or pinned |
| isNew | true if the topic was not in the list at your previous run |
| previousRank, rankChange | Rank at your previous run, and how many places it moved up (negative = down) |
| heatChange | Heat now minus heat at your previous run |
| searchUrl | Link to the topic on Weibo |

**Top posts per topic** (optional): post link, text, author, author followers, verified status, posted time, likes, reposts, comments, topics, images, video link and plays, sponsored flag.

### Example

Real run, 21 October 2026 (second run, about 30 seconds after the first):

```json
{
  "type": "hotSearch",
  "rank": 3,
  "keyword": "APEC在湾区",
  "heat": 1012641,
  "label": "new",
  "isNew": false,
  "previousRank": 3,
  "rankChange": 0,
  "heatChange": -54444,
  "searchUrl": "https://s.weibo.com/weibo?q=%23APEC%E5%9C%A8%E6%B9%BE%E5%8C%BA%23"
}
```

### How to use it

1. Click **Start**. The default run saves the whole hot search list (about 50 topics) in a few seconds.
2. To track changes, keep **Show what changed since my last run** on and **schedule** the scraper (Schedules in Apify Console, for example every hour). The first run has nothing to compare with; every next run fills isNew, rankChange and heatChange.
3. To see why topics trend, turn on **Also get the top posts of each topic** and choose how many topics and posts.

Input example (list + top 5 posts for the top 10 topics):

```json
{ "includeTopPosts": true, "topicsWithPosts": 10, "postsPerTopic": 5 }
```

### How much does it cost?

You pay only for rows saved: one row per topic, one row per post. A full hot search list is about 50 rows. Paid placements, blocked requests and empty results are never charged.

### Use it from AI agents and code

Run it from the Apify API, Python or JavaScript, Make, Zapier, n8n, or any MCP client (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) through Apify's MCP server: `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=serenido/weibo-hot-search`.

### FAQ

**Do I need a Weibo account?** No. The scraper only reads what Weibo shows to logged-out visitors.

**Where is the history of changes stored?** In a key-value store named `weibo-hot-search-history` in your own Apify account. Delete it to start fresh.

**How many posts per topic?** Up to 20. Weibo shows logged-out visitors a limited number of top posts, and some topics have fewer (in a test run, 5 topics with 10 asked each gave 35 posts).

**Is the list in Chinese?** Yes, topics are shown exactly as on Weibo (Chinese).

**Need more than the hot search?** Our [Weibo Scraper](https://apify.com/serenido/weibo-scraper) does keyword search, comments, creator profiles and the popular feed.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxTopics` (type: `integer`):

Weibo's hot search list has about 50 topics. Paid placements are skipped and never charged.

## `includePinned` (type: `boolean`):

Topics Weibo pins above the list (rank 0, no heat number).

## `compareWithLastRun` (type: `boolean`):

Adds isNew, previousRank, rankChange (+5 = moved up 5 places) and heatChange. Schedule the scraper (for example every hour) to track the list over time. The first run has nothing to compare with.

## `includeTopPosts` (type: `boolean`):

For the top topics, saves the posts Weibo shows first: text, author, followers, likes, reposts, comments, images, video.

## `topicsWithPosts` (type: `integer`):

Starting from #1 of the list.

## `postsPerTopic` (type: `integer`):

Up to 20. Some topics have fewer top posts for logged-out visitors.

## `fullText` (type: `boolean`):

Long posts are cut in lists; one extra request gets the whole text.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Used when reading top posts for several topics.

## `proxy` (type: `object`):

Not needed: the scraper falls back to Apify Proxy on its own if Weibo slows it down.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxTopics": 50,
  "includePinned": true,
  "compareWithLastRun": true,
  "includeTopPosts": false,
  "topicsWithPosts": 10,
  "postsPerTopic": 10,
  "fullText": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 4
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `hot` (type: `string`):

No description

## `posts` (type: `string`):

No description

## `all` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("serenido/weibo-hot-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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("serenido/weibo-hot-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 '{}' |
apify call serenido/weibo-hot-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,serenido/weibo-hot-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/Uq3lkzT23f7UUGgYr/builds/kBxJzn4G1j5FgBx0j/openapi.json