# Sitemap URL Extractor (`vex_workflow/sitemap-url-extractor`) Actor

Get every URL a website lists in its XML sitemaps. Finds sitemaps through robots.txt and common locations, follows sitemap indexes and .gz files, and returns each URL with lastmod, changefreq, priority, image count and hreflang languages. Filter by regex. Pay per URL.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/vex_workflow/sitemap-url-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [Ian McCann](https://apify.com/vex_workflow) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Developer tools, Automation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

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

### What does Sitemap URL Extractor do?

It collects **every URL a website publishes in its XML sitemaps**, without crawling the site page by page.

- Finds sitemaps automatically from **robots.txt** and common locations (`/sitemap.xml`, `/sitemap_index.xml`, `/wp-sitemap.xml`)
- Follows **sitemap indexes** to any depth and reads **gzipped** (`.xml.gz`) sitemaps
- Returns each URL with **lastmod**, **changefreq**, **priority**, **image count**, **video flag** and **hreflang languages**
- **Include / exclude regex filters** so you only get, for example, `/blog/` or `/product/` URLs
- De-duplicates URLs per site

### Use cases

- **SEO audits**: get the full list of indexable pages, find stale pages by `lastmod`, compare the sitemap with what is actually ranking
- **Content inventories** and **site migrations**: export every URL before you move a site
- **Monitoring**: schedule it and compare runs to see which pages a competitor added
- **Feeding other tools**: pass the URLs to a status checker, SEO audit, or your own scraper

### How to use it

1. Enter websites (like `apify.com`) or direct sitemap URLs.
2. Optional: set a regex in **Only URLs matching**, such as `/blog/`.
3. Run and export as CSV, JSON or Excel.

#### Input example

```json
{ "startUrls": ["apify.com"], "maxUrlsPerSite": 200, "includePattern": "/store/" }
```

#### Output example

```json
{
  "url": "https://apify.com/store/categories/ai",
  "lastmod": "2026-10-20",
  "changefreq": null,
  "priority": null,
  "imageCount": 0,
  "alternateLanguages": [],
  "sitemapUrl": "https://apify.com/sitemap/pages.xml",
  "domain": "apify.com"
}
```

### How much does it cost?

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| Actor start | $0.001 per run |
| URL extracted | **$0.0005** per URL |

1,000 URLs cost about **$0.50**. Filtered-out URLs are not charged. Use **Maximum URLs per site** or a run cost limit to stay in budget.

### Notes

- Only sitemap files are downloaded, not the pages themselves, so runs are fast and light on the target site.
- Sitemaps disallowed by robots.txt are skipped by default.
- If a site has no sitemap, the run summary says so and nothing is charged for that site.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

A website (its sitemaps are found through robots.txt and common locations) or a direct sitemap URL, one per line. Sitemap indexes and .xml.gz files are followed automatically.

## `maxUrlsPerSite` (type: `integer`):

Stop collecting URLs for a site after this many.

## `includePattern` (type: `string`):

Optional. Keep only URLs matching this regular expression, for example /blog/ or /products/.

## `excludePattern` (type: `string`):

Optional. Drop URLs matching this regular expression.

## `respectRobotsTxt` (type: `boolean`):

Skip sitemap files that robots.txt disallows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "apify.com"
  ],
  "maxUrlsPerSite": 100000,
  "respectRobotsTxt": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

One row per URL found in the sitemaps.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Sitemaps read, URLs found and any errors per site.

# 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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        "apify.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vex_workflow/sitemap-url-extractor").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 = { "startUrls": ["apify.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vex_workflow/sitemap-url-extractor").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 '{
  "startUrls": [
    "apify.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call vex_workflow/sitemap-url-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,vex_workflow/sitemap-url-extractor"
        }
    }
}
```

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/hFMNI40nOkabuu041/builds/wVyPCcblr0nrqx8y2/openapi.json