# ClinicalTrials.gov NCT Status Monitor (`technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor`) Actor

Re-check caller-owned NCT IDs for overall status, enrollment, sponsor and last-update changes from the public ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Built for scheduled clinops watchlists, not a trial dump. You only pay for successful checks you receive.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Technical Dost Solutions](https://apify.com/technicaldost) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 1,000 successful watchlist results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## ClinicalTrials.gov NCT Status Monitor

**Re-check the NCT IDs on your clinops or competitive-intelligence list. Get overall status, enrollment, sponsor and last-update changes — and skip the trials that did not move.**

This Actor takes a caller-owned list of NCT identifiers, reads the public ClinicalTrials.gov API v2, and writes one structured row per study. Pass the previous run's snapshot back in and you get `INITIAL`, `UNCHANGED` or `CHANGED`. This is not a trial dump or a site-scrape of investigator contact details.

***

### What this Actor does

You already have NCT IDs (your own studies, a competitor set, or a therapeutic-area watchlist). You want a scheduled check for `RECRUITING` → `COMPLETED`, enrollment count moves, sponsor changes and new last-update dates — without a $0.12 start fee on every small run.

That is the job: an **NCT status watchlist**, not a ClinicalTrials.gov catalogue.

***

### What you get

```json
{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "id": "NCT00001372",
  "status": "ok",
  "nctId": "NCT00001372",
  "briefTitle": "Example brief title from ClinicalTrials.gov",
  "overallStatus": "COMPLETED",
  "enrollmentCount": 20,
  "lastUpdatePostDate": "2024-01-15",
  "startDate": "1993-09-01",
  "leadSponsor": "National Institute of Example",
  "statusVerifiedDate": "2023-12-01",
  "changeType": "INITIAL",
  "changedFields": [],
  "checkedAt": "2026-09-06T12:00:00.000Z",
  "sourceUrl": "https://clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies/NCT00001372",
  "error": null
}
```

`NCT00001372` is a public example identifier, not a customer or endorsement. Field values above are illustrative of shape. Missing source strings are `null`.

***

### Main use cases

- **Portfolio status.** Daily or weekly re-check of studies you already manage.
- **Competitive clinops.** Watch a fixed competitor NCT list for status and enrollment moves.
- **Sponsor changes.** `leadSponsor` is a compared field.
- **Publication pairing.** Combine with the PubMed watchlist Actor for papers you already linked.
- **n8n / MCP / EDC-adjacent jobs.** Start from a server that holds `APIFY_TOKEN`.

***

### Quick start

```json
{
  "nctIds": ["NCT00001372"],
  "maxItems": 1
}
```

Run it, open the dataset, and save `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` from the default key-value store.

***

### Repeat workflow

1. Keep one NCT watchlist per program or customer (1–50 IDs).
2. Start a bounded run. Schedule it yourself if you need a cadence.
3. Save `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` in **your** private workflow state.
4. On the next run pass it as `previousSnapshot` and set `onlyChanges: true`.
5. Route `changeType: CHANGED` rows (`overallStatus`, `enrollmentCount`, `leadSponsor`, `lastUpdatePostDate`) for review.

***

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| `nctIds` | array | — | 1–50 IDs (`NCT` + 8 digits). Duplicates checked once. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `50` | 1–50. Must cover all unique IDs. |
| `onlyChanges` | boolean | `false` | Suppress unchanged successful records without charging them. |
| `previousSnapshot` | object | — | Prior `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` with `kind: "nct"`. |

***

### Pricing

| Event | Price | When it happens |
|---|---|---|
| **Successful watchlist result** | **$0.004** | One successful NCT check written to the dataset |
| Actor start | none | No custom start fee |

**You are not charged for:** failed requests, parse failures, retries, duplicate IDs, invalid input, or unchanged records suppressed by `onlyChanges`.

**Worked example.** 30 NCT IDs every weekday, 2 status changes/day after the first run → about `$0.008` per run in Actor event charges.

#### How this compares

| Actor | Price per result | Per-run start | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| **This Actor** | **$0.004** | **none** | Caller-owned NCT watchlist |
| `parseforge/clinicaltrials-gov-scraper` (Store card, 2026-09-06) | $0.01067 | $0.12 | Dump-oriented listing |

A 25-ID refresh costs **$0.10** here and about **$0.39** on a $0.01067 + $0.12 start card. Competitor prices change.

***

### Using the API

```bash
curl --fail -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/technicaldost~clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"nctIds":["NCT00001372"],"maxItems":1}'
```

**JavaScript**

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor').call({
    nctIds: ['NCT00001372'],
    maxItems: 1,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
```

**Python**

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
import os

client = ApifyClient(os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"])
run = client.actor("technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor").call(run_input={
    "nctIds": ["NCT00001372"],
    "maxItems": 1,
})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row["nctId"], row["overallStatus"], row["changeType"])
```

**n8n / MCP.** Same pattern as the other watchlist Actors: start from a server, poll, read the dataset and `NEXT_SNAPSHOT`. Keep the token off the public internet.

***

### Limitations

- Public study metadata only. No investigator emails, phone numbers, or documents behind login.
- This is not a regulatory submission, safety signal, or medical-advice product.
- ClinicalTrials.gov availability governs results. One request at a time, no automatic retries.
- At most 1,000 snapshot records are retained.

Source: public [ClinicalTrials.gov API v2](https://clinicaltrials.gov/data-api/api). Not affiliated with NIH, NLM or ClinicalTrials.gov.

***

### Related Actors

- [PubMed Watchlist Monitor](https://apify.com/technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor) — metadata changes on PMIDs you already track.
- [OFAC SDN Watchlist Monitor](https://apify.com/technicaldost/ofac-sdn-entity-watchlist-monitor) — exact uid/name re-screen of known SDN entries.

***

### Changelog

See `CHANGELOG.md`. Release 1.0.0 (2026-09-06): caller-owned NCT watchlists, status/enrollment deltas, $0.004 per successful result, no start fee.

# Actor input Schema

## `nctIds` (type: `array`):

One to 50 ClinicalTrials.gov NCT identifiers (NCT plus 8 digits). Duplicates are checked once.

## `onlyChanges` (type: `boolean`):

Suppress unchanged successful records without charging them. The first observation is emitted.

## `previousSnapshot` (type: `object`):

Copy the previous run NEXT\_SNAPSHOT JSON here. Keep one snapshot per customer watchlist; no shared server state.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Bound successful checks plus item errors to at most this many records.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "nctIds": [
    "NCT00001372"
  ],
  "onlyChanges": false,
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `nextSnapshot` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (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 = {
    "nctIds": [
        "NCT00001372"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor").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 = { "nctIds": ["NCT00001372"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor").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 '{
  "nctIds": [
    "NCT00001372"
  ]
}' |
apify call technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor"
        }
    }
}

```

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/PB5aDvK5IRc3vhror/builds/DlukqmKlM33TpBmpF/openapi.json