# NCDOR Vapor Certification Directory (`tehsnarf/ncdor-vapor-certification-directory`) Actor

Scrapes North Carolina's official approved (and optionally removed) vapor/e-cigarette product certification directory into structured product-level data.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/tehsnarf/ncdor-vapor-certification-directory.md
- **Developed by:** [Chris Hoover](https://apify.com/tehsnarf) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## 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

## NCDOR Vapor Certification Directory Scraper

Scrapes North Carolina's official approved vapor/e-cigarette product certification directory
(NCDOR) into structured, per-product data — the same list retailers and distributors are legally
required to check to confirm they're only stocking approved vapor products in NC. Optionally also
pulls the linked "Products Removed from the Vapor Directory" list.

### Use cases

1. **Retailer/distributor compliance checks** — cross-reference your inventory's UPC/SKU list
   against the current approved directory before restocking.
2. **Compliance monitoring** — run on a schedule and diff against a previous run to catch newly
   added or newly removed products.
3. **Market research** — see which manufacturers/brands have the most NC-approved SKUs by category
   and flavor.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `includeRemoved` | boolean | `false` | Also scrape the "Products Removed from the Vapor Directory" page/CSV |
| `maxItems` | integer | `2000` | Cap on total rows scraped across both directories |

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `upc_sku` | Unique Product Identifier (UPC or SKU) |
| `manufacturer` | Manufacturer name |
| `brand_name` | Brand name |
| `product_name` | Product name |
| `category` | Product category (e.g. Device, E-liquid Pod) |
| `flavor` | Flavor, or "N/A"/"None" |
| `date_added` | Date added to the directory |
| `date_removed` | Date removed from the directory (only present for removed rows) |
| `status` | `"approved"` or `"removed"` |
| `source_file_url` | Exact dated CSV URL the row was scraped from |
| `scraped_at` | ISO 8601 scrape timestamp |

### Example output

```json
{
  "upc_sku": "888861300992",
  "manufacturer": "E-Alternative Solutions, LLC",
  "brand_name": "Leap",
  "product_name": "Leap Device Kit",
  "category": "Device",
  "flavor": "N/A",
  "date_added": "05/01/2025",
  "date_removed": "",
  "status": "approved",
  "source_file_url": "https://files.nc.gov/dor/2026-08/ApprovedVaporProducts%2007.30.2026.csv?VersionId=...",
  "scraped_at": "2026-08-15T04:10:00.000000+00:00"
}
```

### How it works

NCDOR republishes the directory as a dated CSV export linked from each directory page (the file
name changes over time, e.g. `ApprovedVaporProducts 07.30.2026.csv`). This Actor loads the
directory page, discovers the current CSV link, downloads it, and parses it directly — no
pagination or per-item fetching required.

### Pricing

$3 per 1,000 result rows (dataset items).

| Results | Approx. cost |
|---|---|
| 100 | $0.30 |
| 500 | $1.50 |
| 1,000 | $3.00 |
| 5,000 | $15.00 |

The full approved directory is currently ~819 rows (~$2.46 to pull in full); adding
`includeRemoved` roughly doubles the row count.

# Actor input Schema

## `includeRemoved` (type: `boolean`):

Also scrape the linked 'Products Removed from the Vapor Directory' page and CSV export

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

Maximum number of rows to scrape (across approved + removed if included)

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "includeRemoved": false,
  "maxItems": 2000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("tehsnarf/ncdor-vapor-certification-directory").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("tehsnarf/ncdor-vapor-certification-directory").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 '{}' |
apify call tehsnarf/ncdor-vapor-certification-directory --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,tehsnarf/ncdor-vapor-certification-directory"
        }
    }
}

```

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/H3a7AKMky5KUmqsS2/builds/uadMIHr0sTbRxv9YC/openapi.json