# AI Tools Directory Scraper (`xiaoyu-ai/ai-tools-directory-scraper`) Actor

Extract structured AI tool records from aitools.fyi for market research, newsletters, competitor analysis, and AI product databases.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/xiaoyu-ai/ai-tools-directory-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [rain win](https://apify.com/xiaoyu-ai) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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

## AI Tools Directory Scraper

Extract structured AI tool records from aitools.fyi.

This Actor is built for AI market research, newsletters, product analysis, AI agent databases, and competitor research. It uses lightweight HTTP requests and HTML parsing with Axios and Cheerio. It does not use Playwright, browser automation, residential proxies, LLM enrichment, or private data sources.

### What It Extracts

- Tool name
- Description
- Category
- Official website
- Pricing label
- Tags
- Source detail URL
- Collection timestamp

### Example Input

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://aitools.fyi/"
    }
  ],
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

### Example Output

```json
{
  "name": "QSTN",
  "description": "QSTN is a platform that lets users earn digital rewards by sharing verified social media data...",
  "category": "Web3",
  "website": "https://qstn.us/?ref=aitools.fyi&utm_source=aitools.fyi",
  "pricing": "Free",
  "tags": ["Web3"],
  "sourceUrl": "https://aitools.fyi/qstn",
  "collectedAt": "2026-08-10T03:14:15.149Z"
}
```

### Notes

This Actor intentionally does not bypass access controls. If a source page returns a Cloudflare/security challenge and no records can be saved, the Actor fails with a clear error instead of returning an empty successful Dataset.

# Actor input Schema

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

Directory pages to start from. Phase 1 supports aitools.fyi URLs.

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

Maximum number of tool records to save.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://aitools.fyi/"
    }
  ],
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# 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": [
        {
            "url": "https://aitools.fyi/"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("xiaoyu-ai/ai-tools-directory-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 = { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://aitools.fyi/" }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("xiaoyu-ai/ai-tools-directory-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 '{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://aitools.fyi/"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call xiaoyu-ai/ai-tools-directory-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,xiaoyu-ai/ai-tools-directory-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/XmVuWRLMi2geX1yGp/builds/hV6GcpitDvugIMGqE/openapi.json