NetShort Search Scraper – Short Drama API & Export

What does NetShort Search Scraper – Short Drama API & Export do?

NetShort Search Scraper is a keyword-based NetShort scraper and short drama API for discovering titles in the NetShort app catalog. Search one or many phrases, collect matching short dramas or posts, and export structured results through Apify as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or an API response.

This Actor focuses on NetShort search and discovery results. It is not a full-catalog crawler, video downloader, or account-data extractor. Every successful match becomes one Dataset row with useful fields plus the original decrypted result object.

Why scrape NetShort short drama search results?

• Content research: discover short dramas by trope, title, theme, actor, or phrase.
• Catalog intelligence: collect NetShort IDs, titles, covers, descriptions, and labels for analysis.
• Trend monitoring: schedule repeated keyword searches and compare changing discovery results.
• Editorial workflows: build watchlists, research queues, and coverage plans from NetShort data.
• Automation: send results to Google Sheets, databases, webhooks, n8n, Make, Zapier, or AI agents.

The Actor accepts up to 1,000 keywords per run, removes duplicate keywords, paginates automatically, and preserves input order. Residential proxy rotation, run monitoring, API access, schedules, and integrations are handled through Apify.

What NetShort data can the scraper extract?

Field	Type	Description
keyword	string	Search phrase that produced the result
search_type	string	1 for all results or 2 for posts
result_id	string or null	NetShort short-play, post, content, or result ID
title	string or null	Short-drama or post title
cover_url	string or null	NetShort cover image URL
description	string or null	Synopsis or result description
labels	array	Genres, themes, tropes, or other NetShort labels
result	object	Complete decrypted NetShort result object

Only successful matches are written to the Dataset. Per-keyword page counts, fetched counts, saved counts, errors, and charge-budget stops are available in the SEARCH_SUMMARY output.

How to search NetShort and export short dramas

1. Open the Actor Input tab.
2. Add one or more terms to keywords, such as love, CEO, or revenge.
3. Set max_results, which controls when the Actor stops requesting additional pages.
4. Choose all results or posts with search_type.
5. Click Start and download the Dataset, or call the Actor through the Apify API.

The runtime uses an isolated pool of pre-registered NetShort visitor devices. Device tokens, proxy credentials, and internal device identifiers are never included in public Dataset results.

How much does the NetShort scraper cost?

NetShort Search Scraper uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay only for unique, successful search matches actually saved to the default Dataset:

• Free Apify plan: $0.003 per result, or $3 per 1,000 saved results.
• Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond plans: $0.002 per result, or $2 per 1,000 saved results.
• Platform usage: Apify runtime, residential proxy, storage, and transfer usage is paid separately by the user.

Empty searches, failed requests, retries, duplicates removed within the same keyword, and SEARCH_SUMMARY records are not charged. There is no separate Actor start fee. When a run has a maximum charge limit, the Actor saves and charges only the results that fit the remaining event budget, then stops.

NetShort search scraper input

See the Input tab for full configuration options. keywords is required and accepts 1–1,000 strings. max_results and search_type apply to every keyword.

{
  "keywords": [
    "love"
  ],
  "max_results": 50,
  "search_type": "1"
}

max_results is a paging threshold rather than a truncation boundary. The final fetched page is kept whole, so the fetched count can exceed the threshold. Once the threshold is reached, the Actor does not request another page. Requests use h264, 720p, and normal submitted search mode (searchFlag=0).

NetShort scraper output example

Every Dataset item represents one successfully saved NetShort search match:

[
  {
    "keyword": "love",
    "search_type": "1",
    "result_id": "1894649306163933185",
    "title": "Example Romance Drama",
    "cover_url": "https://example.com/romance-cover.webp",
    "description": "A short-drama synopsis returned by NetShort search.",
    "labels": [
      "Romance",
      "Contract Marriage"
    ],
    "result": {
      "shortPlayId": "1894649306163933185"
    }
  },
  {
    "keyword": "love",
    "search_type": "1",
    "result_id": "1894648813714894850",
    "title": "Example Comeback Drama",
    "cover_url": "https://example.com/comeback-cover.webp",
    "description": "Another matching NetShort short drama.",
    "labels": [
      "Comeback",
      "Romance"
    ],
    "result": {
      "shortPlayId": "1894648813714894850"
    }
  }
]

You can download the dataset in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel. JSON preserves the nested result object; spreadsheet exports make the top-level title, ID, cover, description, and labels easy to analyze.

Can I use this as a NetShort search API?

Yes. Every Apify Actor can be called with HTTP, JavaScript, Python, CLI, OpenAPI, or MCP integrations. A synchronous HTTP request can run the search and return Dataset items directly:

POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/spider_studio~netshort-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items

Pass the same JSON object shown in the input example and authenticate with your Apify API token. For scheduled or larger jobs, start an asynchronous run and read its default Dataset after completion.

Tips for reliable NetShort data collection

• Start with a small max_results value to validate search intent and expected cost.
• Use distinct, specific keywords for cleaner discovery results.
• Keep IDs as strings because NetShort identifiers can exceed JavaScript's safe integer precision.
• Inspect SEARCH_SUMMARY when a keyword returns no rows or a run reaches its charge limit.
• Re-run scheduled searches to monitor changes; discovery results can evolve over time.

FAQ, responsible use, and support

Why did I receive more rows than max_results?

The Actor keeps the final upstream page intact. It stops requesting new pages after the accumulated count reaches or exceeds the threshold, so a keyword can return slightly more than max_results.

Why did a keyword produce no Dataset rows?

An empty search, exhausted charge budget, unavailable device pool, proxy failure, or upstream change can prevent saved results. Check SEARCH_SUMMARY and the run log for a sanitized explanation.

Does this Actor download NetShort videos?

No. It extracts search metadata and the raw search-result object; it does not download or redistribute video files.

Use this Actor only for data you are authorized to access and in accordance with NetShort's terms, copyright rules, privacy obligations, and applicable law. Do not process personal data without a legitimate basis. Report reproducible issues through the Actor Issues tab with credentials removed, and use the API tab for programmatic examples.