# Medium Posts Search Scraper (`solidcode/medium-search-scraper`) Actor \[💰 $2.5 / 1K] Search Medium for posts by keyword and export article details — title, subtitle, author, publication, claps, responses, reading time, paywall status, and publish dates. Sort by best match or most recent, and filter to free posts only. - **URL**: https://apify.com/solidcode/medium-search-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [SolidCode](https://apify.com/solidcode) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, News - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.50 / 1,000 results 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/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 ## Medium Posts Search Scraper Search Medium by keyword and pull back a clean, structured table of posts — title, subtitle, author, publication, claps, responses, reading time, paywall status, and publish dates, one row per post. Run several keywords in a single pass and every result is tagged with the keyword that found it. Built for content marketers, researchers, and writers who need to track what's being published on a topic across Medium without copying article details by hand, one page at a time. ### Why This Scraper? - **Up to 1,000 posts per keyword** — a documented hard cap you can rely on for predictable runs, or set the limit to 0 to collect everything Medium returns for the term. - **Multiple keywords in one run, each result tagged with its source** — every row carries the exact `keyword` that produced it, so a 5-keyword run lands in one dataset you can group and compare without guessing where a post came from. - **Free-posts-only filter** — flip one switch to exclude members-only (paywalled) articles and build a dataset every row of which you can actually open and read without a Medium membership. - **Best Match or Most Recent ordering** — keep Medium's own relevance ranking, or reorder the collected posts newest-first by publish date to surface the latest writing on an emerging topic. - **Around 20 fields per post** — title, subtitle, canonical URL, reading time in minutes, members-only flag, content visibility, series flag, clap count, and response (comment) count, all in one flat row. - **First-published and last-updated timestamps in ISO 8601** — two precise dates per post (initial publish + latest update) so you can filter by freshness or chart publishing cadence over time. - **Author identity on every row** — display name, @username, and stable profile id, ready to build creator lists or join against your own records. - **Publication context when a post belongs to one** — publication name, subscriber count, and description captured alongside the article, so you can see which outlets dominate a topic and how large their audiences are. - **Full-resolution preview image URL** — the post's lead image at 1200px wide, ready to drop into a content board, newsletter, or dashboard. ### Use Cases **Content Marketing & Strategy** - Track every new post on a topic you publish about and see how crowded the space is - Benchmark your articles' claps and responses against the top results for your keywords - Find the publications that dominate a niche and their subscriber sizes before pitching - Build a swipe file of high-engagement titles and subtitles for headline inspiration **Research & Trend Analysis** - Assemble a dated corpus of posts on an emerging topic using publish timestamps - Measure how publishing volume on a keyword changes month over month - Compare engagement (claps, responses) across competing subtopics - Capture free-to-read posts only when you need a fully readable reference set **Creator & Influencer Discovery** - Surface the most-clapped authors writing about your subject - Build creator shortlists with display name, @username, and profile id - Identify rising voices by sorting recent posts newest-first - Spot which publications a target author writes for **Competitive & Market Intelligence** - Monitor what competitors and thought leaders are posting on shared keywords - Track members-only vs. free coverage of a topic to gauge how it's monetized - Feed Medium coverage into market reports and content dashboards - Watch a product or brand name across Medium for mentions and reviews ### Getting Started #### Search a Single Topic The simplest run — one keyword, default settings: ```json { "keywords": ["productivity"] } ```` #### Track Several Topics, Newest First Search multiple keywords and reorder each set so the latest posts come first: ```json { "keywords": ["machine learning", "prompt engineering", "vector databases"], "maxItems": 100, "sortBy": "recency" } ``` #### Build a Fully Readable, Free-Only Dataset Collect a large set of free-to-read posts for a topic, in relevance order: ```json { "keywords": ["personal finance"], "maxItems": 500, "sortBy": "relevance", "freeOnly": true } ``` ### Input Reference #### Search | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | `keywords` | array | `["productivity"]` | Terms to search Medium for, such as `machine learning` or `productivity`. Each keyword is searched separately and its posts are added to the results. | #### Options | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | `maxItems` | integer | `30` | Maximum number of posts to collect for each keyword. Set to 0 to collect as many as Medium returns. Hard cap of 1000 posts per keyword — higher values are treated as 1000. | | `sortBy` | string | `Best Match` | How to order the collected posts for each keyword. **Best Match** keeps Medium's own relevance ranking. **Most Recent** reorders the posts collected for that keyword so the newest are first (this sorts the results that were fetched, not all of Medium). | | `freeOnly` | boolean | `false` | Only include posts that are readable for free. When enabled, members-only (paywalled) posts are skipped. | ### Output Every matching post becomes one flat row. Posts that belong to a publication also carry that publication's name, subscriber count, and description; self-published posts leave those fields empty. ```json { "id": "a1b2c3d4e5f6", "title": "The Productivity System That Finally Stuck", "subtitle": "After trying every app, here's what actually moved the needle.", "url": "https://medium.com/@janedoe/the-productivity-system-that-finally-stuck-a1b2c3d4e5f6", "readingTime": 7.4, "isLocked": false, "visibility": "PUBLIC", "isSeries": false, "responseCount": 38, "clapCount": 1240, "firstPublishedAt": "2024-09-12T14:30:00+00:00", "latestPublishedAt": "2024-09-14T09:05:00+00:00", "previewImage": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1200/1*AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOp.jpeg", "authorId": "9f8e7d6c5b4a", "authorName": "Jane Doe", "authorUsername": "janedoe", "publicationName": "Better Productivity", "publicationSubscriberCount": 84210, "publicationDescription": "Practical guides for working smarter, not harder.", "keyword": "productivity" } ``` #### Post | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `id` | string | Medium post identifier | | `title` | string | Post title | | `subtitle` | string | Post subtitle / preview text | | `url` | string | Canonical post URL | | `readingTime` | number | Estimated reading time in minutes | | `isLocked` | boolean | Members-only (paywalled) post | | `visibility` | string | Content visibility status | | `isSeries` | boolean | Whether the post is part of a series | | `previewImage` | string | Full-resolution preview image URL (1200px wide) | | `keyword` | string | The search keyword that produced this row | #### Engagement & Timing | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `clapCount` | integer | Number of claps the post has received | | `responseCount` | integer | Number of responses (comments) — the count, not the comments themselves | | `firstPublishedAt` | string | Initial publish timestamp (ISO 8601) | | `latestPublishedAt` | string | Latest publish / update timestamp (ISO 8601) | #### Author & Publication | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `authorId` | string | Author profile id | | `authorName` | string | Author display name | | `authorUsername` | string | Author @username | | `publicationName` | string | Publication name (empty if self-published) | | `publicationSubscriberCount` | integer | Publication subscriber count | | `publicationDescription` | string | Publication description | ### Tips for Best Results - **Use specific, multi-word keywords** — `vector databases` returns a tighter, more relevant set than a broad term like `data`, which floods the results with loosely related posts. - **Pair Most Recent with a narrow keyword** to track the latest writing on an emerging topic — the newest posts in the fetched set rise to the top by publish date. - **Enable Free Posts Only** when you need a dataset you can fully read end to end without a Medium membership — every remaining row links to an open article. - **Run related keywords together** rather than in separate runs — they land in one dataset, and the `keyword` field on each row lets you split or compare them afterward. - **Set Max Posts Per Keyword to 0** to sweep everything Medium returns for a term, up to the 1,000-post-per-keyword ceiling. - **Filter on `firstPublishedAt` after the run** to keep only posts from a date window — both publish dates come back in ISO 8601, ready to sort or compare. - **Watch `publicationSubscriberCount`** to rank which outlets carry the most reach on your topic before deciding where to pitch or partner. ### Pricing **From $2.50 per 1,000 results** — well under half the cost of comparable Medium search tools. No compute charges — you only pay per result returned. Bronze, Silver, and Gold subscribers pay progressively less; the table below shows total cost at each discount tier. | Results | No discount | Bronze | Silver | Gold | |---------|-------------|--------|--------|------| | 100 | $0.30 | $0.28 | $0.27 | $0.25 | | 1,000 | $3.00 | $2.80 | $2.65 | $2.50 | | 10,000 | $30.00 | $28.00 | $26.50 | $25.00 | | 100,000 | $300.00 | $280.00 | $265.00 | $250.00 | A result is one post returned to your dataset. Apify platform fees are additional and billed separately. ### Integrations Export data in JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS. Connect to 1,500+ apps via: - **Zapier** / **Make** / **n8n** — Workflow automation - **Google Sheets** — Direct spreadsheet export - **Slack** / **Email** — Notifications on new results - **Webhooks** — Trigger custom workflows on run completion - **Apify API** — Full programmatic access ### Legal & Ethical Use This actor collects publicly available information from Medium search results. Use it responsibly and in line with Medium's terms of service and applicable laws. Collected data — including author names and usernames — may constitute personal data; you are responsible for handling it lawfully, including under GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations. Do not use the data to spam, harass, or otherwise harm content creators. This tool is intended for legitimate research, analytics, and content-strategy purposes. # Actor input Schema ## `keywords` (type: `array`): Terms to search Medium for, such as 'machine learning' or 'productivity'. Each keyword is searched separately and its posts are added to the results. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of posts to collect for each keyword. Set to 0 to collect as many as Medium returns. Hard cap of 1000 posts per keyword — higher values are treated as 1000. ## `sortBy` (type: `string`): How to order the collected posts for each keyword. 'Best Match' keeps Medium's own relevance ranking. 'Most Recent' reorders the posts collected for that keyword so the newest are first (this sorts the results that were fetched, not all of Medium). ## `freeOnly` (type: `boolean`): Only include posts that are readable for free. When enabled, members-only (paywalled) posts are skipped. ## Actor input object example ```json { "keywords": [ "productivity" ], "maxItems": 30, "sortBy": "relevance", "freeOnly": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): Table of matching posts with title, author, claps, responses, reading time, and link. ## `details` (type: `string`): Full post rows including subtitle, publication, paywall status, and publish dates. # 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 = { "keywords": [ "productivity" ], "maxItems": 30, "sortBy": "relevance", "freeOnly": false }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("solidcode/medium-search-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 = { "keywords": ["productivity"], "maxItems": 30, "sortBy": "relevance", "freeOnly": False, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("solidcode/medium-search-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 '{ "keywords": [ "productivity" ], "maxItems": 30, "sortBy": "relevance", "freeOnly": false }' | apify call solidcode/medium-search-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=solidcode/medium-search-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Medium Posts Search Scraper", "description": "[💰 $2.5 / 1K] Search Medium for posts by keyword and export article details — title, subtitle, author, publication, claps, responses, reading time, paywall status, and publish dates. Sort by best match or most recent, and filter to free posts only.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "KptMzru8UbBPgBaJx" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/solidcode~medium-search-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-solidcode-medium-search-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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/solidcode~medium-search-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-solidcode-medium-search-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/solidcode~medium-search-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-solidcode-medium-search-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": { "keywords": { "title": "Search Keywords", "type": "array", "description": "Terms to search Medium for, such as 'machine learning' or 'productivity'. Each keyword is searched separately and its posts are added to the results.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Posts Per Keyword", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of posts to collect for each keyword. Set to 0 to collect as many as Medium returns. Hard cap of 1000 posts per keyword — higher values are treated as 1000.", "default": 30 }, "sortBy": { "title": "Sort Results By", "enum": [ "relevance", "recency" ], "type": "string", "description": "How to order the collected posts for each keyword. 'Best Match' keeps Medium's own relevance ranking. 'Most Recent' reorders the posts collected for that keyword so the newest are first (this sorts the results that were fetched, not all of Medium).", "default": "relevance" }, "freeOnly": { "title": "Free Posts Only", "type": "boolean", "description": "Only include posts that are readable for free. When enabled, members-only (paywalled) posts are skipped.", "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```