• RAW DATA
  • MONITORING
  • ANALYSIS
  • HUMAN

How to scrape and extract web data with your AI

Connect Apify to your AI client to turn any website into clean, structured data. Once connected, your agent handles the crawling and extraction for you.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I scrape websites using my AI?

You tell your agent which website to target and which Apify actor to use. The agent triggers the scraper, waits for the run to finish, and pulls the resulting JSON data straight into your conversation. You get organized data without writing code.

Data outcomes

What you get from a scrape

The results of your request land in these formats.

RAW DATA

Structured JSON output

The agent pulls data from a site using an actor. You receive a clean JSON object containing the specific fields you requested.

MONITORING

Live run tracking

If a scrape takes time, your agent checks the status of the task. It stays updated until the data is ready.

ANALYSIS

Immediate data processing

Since the data lands in your chat, your agent can immediately summarize, filter, or transform the scraped content.

HUMAN

Manual oversight

You decide which websites are safe to scrape and which specific data points are worth extracting. The AI won't bypass your instructions.

The workflow

What your AI does when you request a scrape.

The agent manages the entire lifecycle of a web scraping task.

  1. Trigger the scraper

    Your agent starts a specific Apify actor with the URL and parameters you provide.

    run_actor

  2. Track progress

    The agent monitors the scraping task to see if it is still running or if it finished successfully.

    get_run

  3. Fetch results

    Once the task is complete, the agent pulls the specific items from the dataset.

    get_dataset_items

  4. Synchronous scraping

    For simpler, faster tasks, the agent can run an actor and wait for the result in one go.

    run_actor_sync

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to kick off your first scraping task.

Starting points

Replace the bracketed text with your specific website or actor name.

Apify Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_kyOCHu4Rvz1CsEZ7ViQMTOM5deCOQwTatWoMs4PP/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Apify capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_kyOCHu4Rvz1CsEZ7ViQMTOM5deCOQwTatWoMs4PP/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • Run the Web Scraper actor on https://example.com and give me a list of all product names.

  • Use Apify to scrape the latest news from this URL: [URL].

  • Start a run for the [Actor Name] actor to get data from [URL].

  • Check the status of my last Apify run and tell me if the data is ready.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect Apify once, then ask.

Log in to Apify through the Vinkius interface to link your account. Your credentials stay encrypted and secure.

Connect Apify to your AI

FAQ

How the scraper behaves

  • 01

    Can my AI scrape any website?

    No. The AI can only scrape websites that the specific Apify actor you choose is designed to handle.

  • 02

    Will the AI automatically pay for Apify runs?

    No. The AI uses your existing Apify account and credits. It cannot initiate payments or change your billing settings.

  • 03

    Can the AI save the data to a Google Sheet?

    No. The AI can only retrieve the data from Apify. You would need to tell the AI to format the data so you can copy it into a sheet yourself.

  • 04

    Does the AI handle website captchas?

    No. The AI relies entirely on the Apify actor to handle site navigation and any built-in anti-bot measures.

  • 05

    Can I see the progress of a long scrape?

    Yes. Your agent can use the tools to check the status of a run until the data is ready.

  • More questions about Apify? See everything the Apify Connector can do

Connect Apify to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more