# Sitemap Robots Delta Monitor (`tom_the_builder/sitemap-robots-delta-monitor`) Actor Monitor sitemap.xml and robots.txt for URL inventory changes and return new, changed, or removed URLs in normalized JSON. - **URL**: https://apify.com/tom\_the\_builder/sitemap-robots-delta-monitor.md - **Developed by:** [Danil Iarmolchik](https://apify.com/tom_the_builder) (community) - **Categories:** SEO tools, Automation, Developer tools - **Stats:** 0 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $0.01 / 1,000 url change alerts 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/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 ## Sitemap Robots Delta Monitor Track sitemap and robots.txt URL inventory changes for SEO, website migration, and competitor monitoring workflows. ### Why use this Actor? Most sitemap tools give you a one-time URL dump. Most website change monitors compare page content. This Actor sits between those use cases: it checks public `robots.txt` and sitemap files on a schedule and returns only URL inventory changes. Use it to monitor: - new competitor landing pages - removed or changed sitemap URLs during migrations - fresh content URLs from publisher or documentation sites - sitemap metadata changes before a larger crawl - URL lists for downstream crawlers, RAG ingestion, or webhook automations ### Features - Discovers sitemap URLs from `robots.txt`. - Also tries `/sitemap.xml`. - Accepts direct sitemap index or sitemap URLs. - Traverses sitemap indexes within safe limits. - Supports regex include and exclude filters. - Can optionally check URL HTTP status with lightweight `HEAD` requests. - Keeps state across runs by `stateKey`. - Emits `new`, `changed`, and `removed` URL events. - Produces dataset rows plus `OUTPUT`, `RUN_SUMMARY`, and `WEBHOOK_PAYLOAD`. ### Input ```json { "mode": "delta", "changeMode": "new_and_changed", "stateKey": "seo-watch", "sites": ["https://apify.com"], "includeRobotsSitemaps": true, "includeDefaultSitemap": true, "sameHostOnly": true, "maxSitemapsPerSite": 10, "maxUrlsPerSite": 1000, "maxItems": 100, "includePatterns": ["/store", "/actors"], "excludePatterns": ["/login", "/users/"], "checkStatus": false, "includeRemoved": true, "webhookMode": "summary" } ```` ### Output Each dataset item represents one URL inventory event: ```json { "change_type": "new", "site": "https://apify.com", "url": "https://apify.com/store", "sitemap_url": "https://apify.com/sitemap.xml", "lastmod": "2026-05-05T00:00:00.000Z", "changefreq": "", "priority": "", "http_status": null, "final_url": "", "stable_id": "sitemap:...", "fingerprint": "...", "state_key": "seo-watch" } ``` ### Pricing signal The primary value event is a URL change alert. For public Store monetization, use pay per result with the dataset item event as the primary event. ### Limitations - Only public robots and sitemap data is used. - The Actor does not fetch page bodies by default. - `lastmod` quality depends on the website's sitemap. - Optional HTTP status checks increase runtime. ### Suggested schedule For most SEO monitoring, run daily or every few hours. Use separate `stateKey` values for unrelated site groups. # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): Use snapshot to return the current URL inventory, or delta to return only new, changed, and removed URLs compared with the previous run for the same state key. ## `changeMode` (type: `string`): Choose whether delta runs return only new URLs or both new and changed URLs. Removed URLs are included when includeRemoved is enabled. ## `stateKey` (type: `string`): Persistent state namespace. Use a stable key per monitored website group. ## `sites` (type: `array`): Website base URLs. The Actor discovers Sitemap declarations from robots.txt and /sitemap.xml. ## `sitemapUrls` (type: `array`): Optional direct sitemap.xml or sitemap index URLs. ## `includeRobotsSitemaps` (type: `boolean`): Discover Sitemap: declarations from /robots.txt. ## `includeDefaultSitemap` (type: `boolean`): Also try the common /sitemap.xml location. ## `sameHostOnly` (type: `boolean`): Keep sitemap URLs and listed pages on the same hostname as the input site. ## `maxSitemapsPerSite` (type: `integer`): Maximum sitemap files to read per site, including sitemap indexes. ## `maxUrlsPerSite` (type: `integer`): Maximum sitemap URL records to collect per site before delta filtering. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum dataset items to write after snapshot or delta selection. ## `includePatterns` (type: `array`): Optional JavaScript regex patterns. If set, only matching URLs are kept. ## `excludePatterns` (type: `array`): Optional JavaScript regex patterns for URLs to exclude. ## `checkStatus` (type: `boolean`): Use lightweight HEAD requests for listed URLs. This is slower but useful for sitemap QA. ## `includeRemoved` (type: `boolean`): On delta runs, report URLs that existed in the previous state but no longer appear. ## `includeUnchanged` (type: `boolean`): On delta runs, also include unchanged URLs. Usually leave this off for low-noise monitoring. ## `webhookMode` (type: `string`): Full includes all output items in WEBHOOK\_PAYLOAD. Summary includes the first 20. ## `userAgent` (type: `string`): User-Agent header used for sitemap, robots.txt, and optional status requests. ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "snapshot", "changeMode": "new_and_changed", "stateKey": "sitemap-robots-default", "sites": [ "https://apify.com" ], "sitemapUrls": [], "includeRobotsSitemaps": true, "includeDefaultSitemap": true, "sameHostOnly": true, "maxSitemapsPerSite": 10, "maxUrlsPerSite": 1000, "maxItems": 100, "includePatterns": [], "excludePatterns": [], "checkStatus": false, "includeRemoved": true, "includeUnchanged": false, "webhookMode": "full", "userAgent": "sitemap-robots-delta-monitor/0.1 (+https://apify.com)" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `urlChangeAlerts` (type: `string`): Default dataset items containing snapshot, new, changed, or removed sitemap URL records. ## `runSummary` (type: `string`): Compact summary with counts and selected configuration. ## `webhookPayload` (type: `string`): Compact payload suitable for downstream SEO and automation workflows. ## `fullOutput` (type: `string`): Full JSON output object containing summary, items, and webhook payload. # 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 = { "sites": [ "https://apify.com" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("tom_the_builder/sitemap-robots-delta-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "sites": ["https://apify.com"] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("tom_the_builder/sitemap-robots-delta-monitor").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 '{ "sites": [ "https://apify.com" ] }' | apify call tom_the_builder/sitemap-robots-delta-monitor --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=tom_the_builder/sitemap-robots-delta-monitor", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Sitemap Robots Delta Monitor", "description": "Monitor sitemap.xml and robots.txt for URL inventory changes and return new, changed, or removed URLs in normalized JSON.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "DqmnHRf0O3rMNUSxJ" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/tom_the_builder~sitemap-robots-delta-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-tom_the_builder-sitemap-robots-delta-monitor", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/tom_the_builder~sitemap-robots-delta-monitor/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-tom_the_builder-sitemap-robots-delta-monitor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/tom_the_builder~sitemap-robots-delta-monitor/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-tom_the_builder-sitemap-robots-delta-monitor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "properties": { "mode": { "title": "Run mode", "enum": [ "snapshot", "delta" ], "type": "string", "description": "Use snapshot to return the current URL inventory, or delta to return only new, changed, and removed URLs compared with the previous run for the same state key.", "default": "snapshot" }, "changeMode": { "title": "Delta mode", "enum": [ "new_only", "new_and_changed" ], "type": "string", "description": "Choose whether delta runs return only new URLs or both new and changed URLs. Removed URLs are included when includeRemoved is enabled.", "default": "new_and_changed" }, "stateKey": { "title": "State key", "type": "string", "description": "Persistent state namespace. Use a stable key per monitored website group.", "default": "sitemap-robots-default" }, "sites": { "title": "Website base URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Website base URLs. The Actor discovers Sitemap declarations from robots.txt and /sitemap.xml.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "sitemapUrls": { "title": "Direct sitemap URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Optional direct sitemap.xml or sitemap index URLs.", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "includeRobotsSitemaps": { "title": "Read robots.txt Sitemap lines", "type": "boolean", "description": "Discover Sitemap: declarations from /robots.txt.", "default": true }, "includeDefaultSitemap": { "title": "Try /sitemap.xml", "type": "boolean", "description": "Also try the common /sitemap.xml location.", "default": true }, "sameHostOnly": { "title": "Same host only", "type": "boolean", "description": "Keep sitemap URLs and listed pages on the same hostname as the input site.", "default": true }, "maxSitemapsPerSite": { "title": "Max sitemaps per site", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 200, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum sitemap files to read per site, including sitemap indexes.", "default": 10 }, "maxUrlsPerSite": { "title": "Max URLs per site", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum sitemap URL records to collect per site before delta filtering.", "default": 1000 }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max output items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum dataset items to write after snapshot or delta selection.", "default": 100 }, "includePatterns": { "title": "Include URL regex patterns", "type": "array", "description": "Optional JavaScript regex patterns. If set, only matching URLs are kept.", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "excludePatterns": { "title": "Exclude URL regex patterns", "type": "array", "description": "Optional JavaScript regex patterns for URLs to exclude.", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "checkStatus": { "title": "Check URL HTTP status", "type": "boolean", "description": "Use lightweight HEAD requests for listed URLs. This is slower but useful for sitemap QA.", "default": false }, "includeRemoved": { "title": "Include removed URLs", "type": "boolean", "description": "On delta runs, report URLs that existed in the previous state but no longer appear.", "default": true }, "includeUnchanged": { "title": "Include unchanged URLs", "type": "boolean", "description": "On delta runs, also include unchanged URLs. Usually leave this off for low-noise monitoring.", "default": false }, "webhookMode": { "title": "Webhook payload", "enum": [ "summary", "full" ], "type": "string", "description": "Full includes all output items in WEBHOOK_PAYLOAD. Summary includes the first 20.", "default": "full" }, "userAgent": { "title": "User-Agent", "type": "string", "description": "User-Agent header used for sitemap, robots.txt, and optional status requests.", "default": "sitemap-robots-delta-monitor/0.1 (+https://apify.com)" } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```