# ReelShort Scraper — Catalog, Themes, Cast, IMDb & View Counts (`signalbench/reelshort-scraper`) Actor Scrape the ReelShort short-drama catalog: titles, themes & tags, episode counts, cast, IMDb links, view & collect counts. SSR-JSON based (no browser) — fast and cheap. - **URL**: https://apify.com/signalbench/reelshort-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [SignalBench](https://apify.com/signalbench) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, Other - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 1,000 title scrapeds 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.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 ## ReelShort Scraper — Catalog, Themes, Cast, IMDb & View Counts Scrape the **ReelShort** vertical short-drama catalog without the app: **title metadata, theme & trope tags, episode counts, cast with IMDb links, view counts and collect counts** — structured, ready for analysis. API-first (reads the site's own SSR JSON, **no browser**), so runs are fast, cheap, and reliable. Export as **JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML**, or pull straight through the Apify API into your app, agent, notebook, or spreadsheet. This is the missing **ReelShort API / ReelShort data** source: the $11.3B short-drama category has had essentially zero structured-data coverage. If you're a studio, licensor, casting researcher, or analyst asking *"what's charting and what should we greenlight next?"* — this is your dataset. > **No per-datapoint games, never charged for failures.** Flat **$2 per 1,000 > titles** ($0.002 each), billed only per title actually stored. Invalid or > failed pages are never charged. ### What it scrapes | Field | Description | |---|---| | **bookId / title** | Title ID (and transport ID) and name | | **synopsis** | Full description | | **themes / tags** | Card theme tropes plus the full tag list (Sweet Romance, Hidden Identity, Feel-Good, …) | | **readCount / collectCount / score** | Platform-reported views, collects, and popularity score | | **chapterCount** | Number of episodes | | **cast[] + imdbId / imdbUrl** | Cast with photos and IMDb actor links, plus the title's IMDb id — a cast index that exists nowhere else publicly | | **durationSec** | First-episode duration (detail mode) | | **releaseDate** | Release date | | **cover / url** | Cover image and canonical title URL | ### Modes - **Full catalog (crawl)** — seeds from the ReelShort homepage and expands through every featured category. Set **Max results** to cap size and cost. - **By category** — scrapes one category's full list. Two kinds of category are supported, resolved live against the site: **featured homepage shelves** (e.g. `Hidden Identity`, `Tear-jerkers`, `Young Love` — one request each) and **genre/identity/trope tags** from ReelShort's Genre browse (e.g. `Crime Lord`, `Single Dad`, `Comedy`, `Revenge` — paginated, often hundreds of titles). The dropdown lists every shelf plus all identity, trope, genre, theme and mood tags; via JSON/API input you can also pass an actor's name to scrape their filmography, resolved live. - **Specific title URLs** — scrape exactly the ReelShort episode URLs you provide. Turn **Include cast, IMDb & full tags** off for a faster, cheaper run that uses only the listing data (title, themes, episode count, view & collect counts). ### Input example ```json { "mode": "category", "category": "Hidden Identity", "maxItems": 200, "includeDetails": true } ```` ### Output example ```json { "source": "reelshort", "bookId": "68955a832bc50c718b009d8d", "title": "Daisy Tucker and Mr. NYC", "url": "https://www.reelshort.com/episodes/episode-1-daisy-tucker-and-mr-nyc-68955a832bc50c718b009d8d-fxcfjh1dzy", "themes": ["Sweet Romance"], "tags": ["Feel-Good", "Reunited Lovers", "Sweet Romance"], "chapterCount": 77, "readCount": 52286934, "collectCount": 256270, "score": 9183, "durationSec": 168, "imdbId": "tt37855561", "imdbUrl": "https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37855561/", "cast": [{ "actorName": "Richard Sharrah", "imdbUrl": "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5340956/" }], "releaseDate": "2025-08-11T07:00:00.000Z", "scrapedAt": "2026-06-14T03:25:00.000Z" } ``` Export the dataset as **CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML** from the Apify Console, or fetch it via the Apify API / SDK. ### Who uses this - **Vertical-drama studios & producers** — track which themes, tropes, and titles are charting to inform what to greenlight. - **Licensors & distributors** — catalog intelligence across the fast-growing short-drama market. - **Casting & talent researchers** — the `cast` list with IMDb links is a performer index for verticals that no public database covers. - **Market & trend analysts** — engagement signals (views, collects, score) per title, theme, and release date. ### How it works ReelShort is a Next.js site that ships full structured data in the page's `__NEXT_DATA__` payload (homepage feed, category lists, and per-title detail). The Actor reads that JSON directly with a browser-grade HTTP fingerprint (via Crawlee) — no headless browser to render or break, which is why runs are fast and cheap. It scrapes only **public catalog metadata** — no video assets, no user data. ### Use it from n8n, Zapier, Make, MCP, and LangChain Every Apify Actor is exposed via API and through Apify's integrations: - **n8n / Zapier / Make** — run on a schedule and pipe title data into sheets, dashboards, or alerts. - **MCP / LangChain** — give an AI agent live short-drama catalog data as a tool. - **Apify API & SDK** — call it from your backend, then export CSV/JSON. ### FAQ **Is there a ReelShort API?** Not a public one. This Actor is the practical, available-today way to get structured ReelShort data. **How much does it cost?** $0.002 per stored title — **$2 per 1,000**. You're never charged for failed or invalid pages. The free Apify plan's $5 monthly credit covers ~2,500 titles. **Are the view/collect counts exact?** They're the platform's own reported numbers. Treat them as platform-reported figures. **Why do view count and score appear in detail mode too?** The detail page omits them, so the Actor merges them in from the listing — you get cast/IMDb/tags *and* engagement counts in one record. **Is scraping this legal?** The Actor extracts publicly available catalog metadata. As always, consult your own counsel for your specific use case. # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): What to scrape. **Full catalog** crawls the homepage and every featured category. **By category** scrapes one category's full list (server-side, one page). **Specific title URLs** scrapes only the ReelShort episode URLs you provide. ## `category` (type: `string`): Which category to scrape, resolved live against ReelShort. The list covers every featured homepage shelf plus ReelShort's Genre-browse tags — character identities, story tropes, genres, themes and moods. **Advanced (JSON/API input):** you can also pass an actor's name to scrape their filmography; the run resolves any value live and fails with a pointer to the full tag list if it doesn't exist. ## `titleUrls` (type: `array`): ReelShort episode URLs, e.g. https://www.reelshort.com/episodes/episode-1-daisy-tucker-and-mr-nyc-68955a832bc50c718b009d8d-fxcfjh1dzy ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of titles to store. This caps your cost — 1 stored title = 1 charge. ## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`): Fetch each title's detail page to add cast, IMDb links and the full tag list. Turn off for a faster, cheaper run that uses only the listing data (title, themes, episode count, view & collect counts). ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Apify Proxy. **Residential is required** — ReelShort's CDN returns 403 to datacenter IPs. The site has no header/TLS anti-bot, so residential IPs alone are enough. ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "catalog", "category": "Hidden Identity", "titleUrls": [], "maxItems": 50, "includeDetails": true, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): All scraped titles in JSON. ## `resultsCsv` (type: `string`): All scraped titles as a CSV export. ## `viewInConsole` (type: `string`): Open the run and its dataset in the Apify Console. # 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 = { "titleUrls": [], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("signalbench/reelshort-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 = { "titleUrls": [], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("signalbench/reelshort-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 '{ "titleUrls": [], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call signalbench/reelshort-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=signalbench/reelshort-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "ReelShort Scraper — Catalog, Themes, Cast, IMDb & View Counts", "description": "Scrape the ReelShort short-drama catalog: titles, themes & tags, episode counts, cast, IMDb links, view & collect counts. SSR-JSON based (no browser) — fast and cheap.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "VCFYTNA3xbESGcdxa" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/signalbench~reelshort-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-signalbench-reelshort-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/signalbench~reelshort-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-signalbench-reelshort-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/signalbench~reelshort-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-signalbench-reelshort-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "properties": { "mode": { "title": "Mode", "enum": [ "catalog", "category", "urls" ], "type": "string", "description": "What to scrape. **Full catalog** crawls the homepage and every featured category. **By category** scrapes one category's full list (server-side, one page). **Specific title URLs** scrapes only the ReelShort episode URLs you provide.", "default": "catalog" }, "category": { "title": "Category (for \"By category\" mode)", "enum": [ "Actor/Actress", "Adventure", "Affair", "Age Gap", "All-Too-Late", "Alpha", "Amnesia", "Animation", "Artist", "Asian Stories", "Assistant", "Athlete", "Back in Time", "BDSM", "Billionaire", "Blind Date", "Body Swap", "Bodyguard", "Business", "Business Owner", "Campus", "Campus Lovers", "Campus Romance", "Celebrity", "CEO", "Chef", "Childhood Sweetheart", "Christmas", "Comeback Story", "Comedy", "Coming-of-Age", "Contemporary", "Contract Lovers", "Cowboy", "Crime Lord", "Cultural Communication", "Damsel", "Dancer", "Dark Romance", "Designer", "Doctor", "Doctor/Surgeon", "Dragon", "Drama", "Enemies to Lovers", "Erotica", "Fake Pregnancy", "Fake Relationship", "Family", "Family Drama", "Fantasy", "Fated Lovers", "Feel-Good", "Female", "First Love", "Flash Marriage", "Forbidden", "Friends to Lovers", "Friendship", "Genius Babies", "Gold Digger", "Group Favorite", "Happy-Go-Lucky", "Harem", "Healer", "Heartfelt", "Heiress", "Heiress/Socialite", "Hidden Feelings", "Hidden Identity", "Horror", "Hot Daddy/DILF", "Housewife", "Immortal", "Independent Woman", "Innocent Damsel", "Intense Sexual Tension", "Janitor", "Jock", "Karma", "Laborer", "LGBT", "Lost Child", "Love After Divorce", "Love After Marriage", "Love at First Sight", "Love Triangle", "Love-Hate", "Loyal", "Luna", "Mafia", "Magic & Mates", "Male", "Marshal/General", "Medical Drama", "Mistaken Identity", "Modern", "Morals & Ethics", "Multiple Identities", "Multiple Identity", "Musical", "Mystery", "Neighbors", "New Release", "Office Romance", "Office Worker", "One Night Stand", "Original Japanese", "Original Spanish", "Period Drama", "Playboy", "Playing Dumb", "Podcast", "Police", "Possessive", "Pregnancy", "Pregnancy & Babies", "Presidential Politics & Royal", "Prison", "Protective Husband", "Rags to Riches", "Reality Show", "Rebirth", "Redemption", "ReelShort Interactives", "Reeltalk", "Reincarnation", "Reunion", "Revenge", "Reverse Harem", "Rom-Com", "Romance", "Royalty/Nobility", "Rugged CEO", "Saintly Parent", "Second Chance", "Secret", "Self-growth", "Servant", "Server", "Single Dad", "Single Mom", "Soldier", "Son-in-Law", "Steamy", "Step-Siblings", "Strong Heroine", "Strong-Willed", "Student", "Super Power", "Super Warrior", "Surgeon", "Surrogate Bride", "Survival", "Suspense", "Sweet", "Sweet Romance", "Taboo", "Teacher", "Tear-Jerker", "Tear-jerkers", "The Chosen One", "The Hero Returns", "Thriller", "Time Travel", "Toxic", "Toxic Love", "Twisted Lover", "Vampire", "Wallflower", "Werewolf", "Young Adult", "Young Love" ], "type": "string", "description": "Which category to scrape, resolved live against ReelShort. The list covers every featured homepage shelf plus ReelShort's Genre-browse tags — character identities, story tropes, genres, themes and moods. **Advanced (JSON/API input):** you can also pass an actor's name to scrape their filmography; the run resolves any value live and fails with a pointer to the full tag list if it doesn't exist.", "default": "Hidden Identity" }, "titleUrls": { "title": "Title URLs (for \"Specific title URLs\" mode)", "type": "array", "description": "ReelShort episode URLs, e.g. https://www.reelshort.com/episodes/episode-1-daisy-tucker-and-mr-nyc-68955a832bc50c718b009d8d-fxcfjh1dzy", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of titles to store. This caps your cost — 1 stored title = 1 charge.", "default": 50 }, "includeDetails": { "title": "Include cast, IMDb & full tags", "type": "boolean", "description": "Fetch each title's detail page to add cast, IMDb links and the full tag list. Turn off for a faster, cheaper run that uses only the listing data (title, themes, episode count, view & collect counts).", "default": true }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Apify Proxy. **Residential is required** — ReelShort's CDN returns 403 to datacenter IPs. The site has no header/TLS anti-bot, so residential IPs alone are enough.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```