# Mastodon Posts Scraper (`texxupport/mastodon-posts-scraper`) Actor

- **URL**: https://apify.com/texxupport/mastodon-posts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Kye Williams](https://apify.com/texxupport) (community)
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 posts

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?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Mastodon Posts Scraper

Collect public Mastodon posts as clean rows: by hashtag, from accounts on any server, or from a server's public timeline. Schedule it to receive **only new posts**.

**Who uses it:** social listening and brand monitoring, open-source and developer-relations teams, researchers, journalists, and anyone tracking communities that moved off X/Twitter.

### Modes

| Mode | Give it | You get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hashtags | #hashtags and a server | Posts with those tags that the server knows about |
| Accounts | user@server or profile links | Each account's posts, read from its own server |
| Timeline | A server | That server's public (or local-only) timeline |

Each row: clean text (and the original HTML), content warning, language, author, author followers, replies, boosts, favourites, hashtags, media links with descriptions, link card, and a link to the post.

### Good to know

- Mastodon is many independent servers. A hashtag search on mastodon.social shows what mastodon.social has seen; run the same hashtags on other servers for wider coverage.
- Some servers show timelines only to signed-in users. The run says so; you can add a read-only access token from your own account (Preferences > Development), stored as a secret.
- The Actor waits about a second between requests to be polite to volunteer-run servers.

### Cost

Priced per post delivered.

### Notes

Public posts only. Respect people's privacy and each server's rules. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Mastodon gGmbH.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to collect: posts for the hashtags below, posts from the accounts below, or the public timeline of the server.

## `server` (type: `string`):

Which Mastodon server to ask, for example mastodon.social, fosstodon.org or mstdn.social. Hashtag results come from what that server knows about. Accounts are always read from their own server.

## `hashtags` (type: `array`):

Hashtags to collect posts for, without the # sign. Used when the mode is hashtags.

## `accounts` (type: `array`):

user@server or profile links, for example Gargron@mastodon.social.

## `localOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only include posts that were written on that server, not posts from other servers it has seen.

## `includeReplies` (type: `boolean`):

Include posts that are replies to other posts.

## `includeBoosts` (type: `boolean`):

Include boosts (reposts of someone else's post).

## `since` (type: `string`):

Only include posts published on or after this date (format YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for no date limit.

## `maxPerSource` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many posts for each hashtag or account.

## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`):

Turn on for scheduled runs. Skip posts that were already delivered in a previous run, so each post is reported once.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many posts have been delivered in one run.

## `accessToken` (type: `string`):

Some servers show timelines only to signed-in users. Create a token under Preferences > Development on your account, with read access only. Stored as a secret.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "hashtags",
  "server": "mastodon.social",
  "hashtags": [
    "opensource"
  ],
  "localOnly": false,
  "includeReplies": true,
  "includeBoosts": false,
  "maxPerSource": 200,
  "onlyNew": false,
  "maxResults": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Every row delivered by this run, as a table you can download as CSV, Excel or JSON.

# 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 = {
    "hashtags": [
        "opensource"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("texxupport/mastodon-posts-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "hashtags": ["opensource"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("texxupport/mastodon-posts-scraper").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 '{
  "hashtags": [
    "opensource"
  ]
}' |
apify call texxupport/mastodon-posts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,texxupport/mastodon-posts-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/cJE1tcDPY2pHPW5SJ/builds/juqMEpOKPlhMFQ2y0/openapi.json