Apify
Cloud-scale web scraping and automation via the Apify platform — 4 resources, 11 operations covering actors, actor runs, tasks, datasets, and key-value stores.
What is Apify?
Apify is a cloud scraping and automation platform that lets you run headless-browser actors, crawlers, and data extraction scripts at scale without managing your own infrastructure. Each actor is a containerised program that can accept JSON input, browse websites, extract data, and store results in datasets or key-value stores.
The BizFirst Apify node connects directly to the Apify API, allowing your workflows to launch actors, wait for completion, and immediately consume the extracted data — all in a single workflow chain.
Resources & Operations — 11 Total
| Resource | Operation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| actor (4 operations) | ||
actor | run | Start an actor run asynchronously. Returns immediately with the run ID — use actorRun/getRun to poll for completion. |
actor | getLastRun | Retrieve the most recent run for an actor, optionally filtered by status. |
actor | runAndGetDatasetItems | Start an actor, wait for it to finish, and return all items from its default dataset in a single operation. |
actor | scrapeSingleUrl | Convenience operation — scrapes a single URL using Apify's built-in URL scraper actor. Returns HTML, text, and optional screenshot without requiring an actor ID. |
| actorRun (3 operations) | ||
actorRun | getRun | Get the current status and statistics for a specific run by its run ID. |
actorRun | getActorRuns | List all runs for a specific actor with optional status filtering and pagination. |
actorRun | getUserRunsList | List all runs across all actors belonging to the API token owner. |
| actorTask (2 operations) | ||
actorTask | run | Execute a pre-configured actor task. Tasks bundle an actor with saved input so you don't need to provide configuration each time. |
actorTask | runAndGetDatasetItems | Run a task and wait for completion, returning all dataset items — identical to actor/runAndGetDatasetItems but task-based. |
| dataset (1 operation) | ||
dataset | getItems | Read items from any named dataset by ID with pagination, field filtering, and clean mode. |
| keyValueStore (1 operation) | ||
keyValueStore | getRecord | Retrieve a stored record from an Apify key-value store by store ID and record key. |
Authentication
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Auth method | API token — a single token is passed with every request via the Authorization header. |
| Where to get it | Apify Console → Settings → Integrations → API tokens. Create a personal token or a scoped token for a specific actor. |
| Node property | ApiToken — required on every operation. |
Use Cases
- Competitor monitoring — schedule daily actor runs to scrape competitor pricing pages and store deltas in your database
- Lead extraction — run LinkedIn or directory scraper actors and feed contact data into your CRM workflow
- Content aggregation — collect articles, job postings, or social media content from multiple sources into a single dataset
- Data pipeline — chain multiple actors (crawl → extract → enrich) and process results sequentially inside a BizFirst workflow
- One-off page scrapes — use
actor/scrapeSingleUrlto instantly extract text or take a screenshot of any public URL without writing actor code
In This Guide
Configuration
Complete property reference for all 11 operations including MemoryMb enum values and ActorId format notes.
Input & Output
Actor run object schema, dataset item format, key-value store record structure, and error port details.
Examples
Five practical examples: single URL scrape, full crawler run, dataset retrieval, scheduled runs, and task-based jobs.