# Substack Community Chat Scraper (`techiteasy/substack-chat-scraper`) Actor Scrape posts and comments from a Substack publication's community chat. - **URL**: https://apify.com/techiteasy/substack-chat-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [TechiyEasy](https://apify.com/techiteasy) (community) - **Categories:** Social media - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $4.00 / 1,000 results 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 ## Substack Community Chat Scraper Scrape **posts and comments from a Substack publication's community chat** and get clean, structured JSON — one dataset item per post, with the full comment thread embedded. Substack "chat" is the conversational feed many publications run (questions, recommendations, discussions). This Actor paginates a publication's chat, pulls each published post, fetches its comments, and returns everything in a predictable schema you can pipe into your own pipeline. --- ### Features - 📨 **Posts + comments** — every published, non-paywalled post with its embedded comment thread (including threaded replies via `parent_comment_id`). - 👤 **Author & reaction metadata** — name, handle, bio, role, subscriber tier, plus emoji reaction counts. - 🔗 **Link previews** — title/description/image for link-type posts. - 📆 **Date window & limit** — scrape everything or bound by `startDate` / `endDate` / `maxPosts`. - 🌐 **Apify Proxy support** — route through residential proxies to avoid Cloudflare blocks on datacenter IPs. - 🧱 **Cloudflare-aware** — uses Chrome TLS/JA3 impersonation so requests look like a real browser. --- ### What you need #### 1. The publication ID Open the publication's chat in your browser. The URL looks like: ```` https://substack.com/chat/3643280 ```` The number (`3643280`) is the **`publicationId`**. #### 2. A session cookie (`substack.sid`) The chat API requires authentication. Sign in to Substack in your browser, open DevTools → Application → Cookies → `substack.com`, and copy the value of the **`substack.sid`** cookie into the `sessionCookie` input. (You can also paste the entire `Cookie:` header string.) > ⚠️ **Comments are subscriber-gated.** To read a chat's *comments*, the account behind your cookie must be **subscribed** to that publication. If it isn't, the comments endpoint returns **HTTP 402** and posts come back with an empty `comments` list (post bodies still scrape fine). > > **Tip:** A **free** subscription is often enough. Subscribe (free) to the publication with the same account, then run the Actor — for many publications the comments unlock immediately. Some publications gate chat comments behind a *paid* subscription; for those you'll need to subscribe at the paid tier. --- ### Input | Field | Type | Required | Description | |-------|------|----------|-------------| | `publicationId` | integer | ✅ | Numeric publication id (the number in `https://substack.com/chat/`). | | `sessionCookie` | string (secret) | ✅ | Your `substack.sid` cookie value, or the full Cookie header. | | `maxPosts` | integer | — | Max posts to scrape. Omit to scrape all within the date window. | | `startDate` | string | — | Only posts on/after this date (`YYYY-MM-DD` or ISO-8601). | | `endDate` | string | — | Only posts on/before this date (`YYYY-MM-DD` or ISO-8601). | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | — | Apify Proxy settings (residential recommended). | #### Example input ```json { "publicationId": 3643280, "sessionCookie": "s%3A...your-substack.sid...", "maxPosts": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] } } ```` *** ### Output One dataset item per post. Example: ```json { "id": "0179ee7b-3151-4e87-b3ed-0cdc55bf06dd", "publication_id": 3643280, "created_at": "2026-05-02T14:30:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-02T15:00:00+00:00", "status": "published", "type": "text", "body": "Where are you going? What cities would you like to DO SEE EAT and DRINK in?", "link_url": null, "is_paywalled": false, "comment_count": 2, "reaction_count": 12, "reactions": { "🔥": 8, "❤": 4 }, "audience": "everyone", "author": { "id": 98765, "name": "DO. SEE. EAT. DRINK.", "handle": "dosee", "photo_url": "https://...", "bio": null, "pub_role": "admin", "subscriber_tier": null, "is_bestseller": false }, "link_metadata": null, "comments": [ { "id": "c-1", "post_id": "0179ee7b-...", "body": "What about Sedona, Arizona?", "created_at": "2026-05-02T15:10:00+00:00", "author": { "id": 9002, "name": "Q El Crosby", "handle": "qelc" }, "reactions": {}, "parent_comment_id": null } ], "scraped_at": "2026-05-03T02:00:00+00:00" } ``` *** ### Pricing — pay per event This Actor uses the **pay-per-event** model: | Event | When | Price (USD) | |-------|------|-------------| | `actor-start` | Once per run | $0.01 | | `post-scraped` | Per post returned to the dataset | $0.004 | A 50-post run therefore costs about **$0.01 + 50 × $0.004 = $0.21**. (Final prices are set on the Apify Console at publish time.) *** ### Limitations - **Comments require a subscription** to the target publication (see above); paywalled chats need a paid subscription. - Only **published, non-paywalled** posts are returned; deleted/draft and paywalled posts are skipped. - This is a bounded full scrape — there is no incremental/delta mode. # Actor input Schema ## `publicationId` (type: `integer`): Numeric Substack publication id. It is the number in the chat URL: https://substack.com/chat/\ ## `sessionCookie` (type: `string`): Your `substack.sid` cookie value (or the full Cookie header string). To read comments you must be subscribed (free or paid) to the publication — otherwise the comments endpoint returns HTTP 402 and posts come back without replies. ## `maxPosts` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of posts to scrape. Leave empty to scrape all posts within the date window. ## `startDate` (type: `string`): Only scrape posts created on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD or ISO-8601). Optional. ## `endDate` (type: `string`): Only scrape posts created on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD or ISO-8601). Optional. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Apify Proxy settings. Residential proxies are recommended because Substack sits behind Cloudflare and may block datacenter IPs. ## Actor input object example ```json { "publicationId": 3643280, "maxPosts": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `posts` (type: `string`): Community chat posts with embedded comments, one item per post. # 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 = { "publicationId": 3643280, "maxPosts": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("techiteasy/substack-chat-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 = { "publicationId": 3643280, "maxPosts": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("techiteasy/substack-chat-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 '{ "publicationId": 3643280, "maxPosts": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call techiteasy/substack-chat-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=techiteasy/substack-chat-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Substack Community Chat Scraper", "description": "Scrape posts and comments from a Substack publication's community chat.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "vDzHZnhVnTsrtSTCp" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/techiteasy~substack-chat-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-techiteasy-substack-chat-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/techiteasy~substack-chat-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-techiteasy-substack-chat-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/techiteasy~substack-chat-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-techiteasy-substack-chat-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "required": [ "publicationId", "sessionCookie" ], "properties": { "publicationId": { "title": "Publication ID", "type": "integer", "description": "Numeric Substack publication id. It is the number in the chat URL: https://substack.com/chat/" }, "sessionCookie": { "title": "Session cookie (substack.sid)", "type": "string", "description": "Your `substack.sid` cookie value (or the full Cookie header string). To read comments you must be subscribed (free or paid) to the publication — otherwise the comments endpoint returns HTTP 402 and posts come back without replies." }, "maxPosts": { "title": "Max posts", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of posts to scrape. Leave empty to scrape all posts within the date window." }, "startDate": { "title": "Start date", "type": "string", "description": "Only scrape posts created on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD or ISO-8601). Optional." }, "endDate": { "title": "End date", "type": "string", "description": "Only scrape posts created on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD or ISO-8601). Optional." }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Apify Proxy settings. Residential proxies are recommended because Substack sits behind Cloudflare and may block datacenter IPs." } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```