# Sitemap to URL List Extractor (`scrapeworks/sitemap-to-urls`) Actor

Extract every URL from any website's sitemap as clean JSON. Handles sitemap indexes (recursive) and gzipped sitemaps automatically. Includes lastmod, priority, and changefreq.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapeworks/sitemap-to-urls.md
- **Developed by:** [Nicolas van Arkens](https://apify.com/scrapeworks) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Open source
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 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/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

## Sitemap to URL List Extractor 🗺️

Extract **every URL from any website's sitemap** as clean structured JSON, with last-modified dates, priority, and change frequency. Handles **sitemap indexes** (recursing into nested sitemaps) and **gzipped sitemaps** (`.xml.gz`) automatically — the parts most lazy sitemap scrapers get wrong.

Perfect for SEO audits, content inventories, building crawl lists, monitoring site changes, and feeding URL lists into other tools.

### Why use it

- 🔁 **Recursive sitemap indexes** — point it at `sitemap_index.xml` and it'll follow every nested sitemap automatically
- 📦 **Gzipped sitemaps handled** — many large sites ship `.xml.gz`, decompressed transparently
- 🗓️ **Full metadata** — `lastmod`, `priority`, `changefreq`, plus image URLs from the Google image sitemap extension
- 🛡️ **Guardrails** — configurable caps on total URLs and nested sitemaps so a giant site can't run away
- 🌐 **Works on any website** — news sites, e-commerce stores, blogs, documentation, public web apps

### Use cases

- **SEO audits** — list every indexed URL on a site, sort by lastmod, find stale content
- **Crawl seed lists** — generate URL lists for downstream scrapers or archival tools
- **Content inventories** — see what a competitor or partner site is actually publishing
- **Change monitoring** — schedule it and detect newly added pages
- **Site migrations** — get the full URL set before redirect mapping

### Input

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| **Sitemap URLs** | One or more sitemap URLs (`sitemap.xml`, `sitemap_index.xml`, or `.xml.gz`). |
| **Follow indexes** | If a URL points to an index, recurse and process each nested sitemap. |
| **Maximum URLs** | Total URL cap across all sitemaps. |
| **Maximum nested sitemaps** | Cap on number of sitemap files fetched when following indexes. |

### Output

```json
{
  "url": "https://example.com/page1",
  "lastModified": "2025-05-10",
  "changeFrequency": "weekly",
  "priority": "0.8",
  "images": ["https://example.com/img1.jpg"],
  "sourceSitemap": "https://example.com/sitemap-products.xml",
  "sourceRoot": "https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml"
}
```

Export to JSON, CSV, or Excel, or pull via the Apify API.

### Notes

- Supports the standard [sitemaps.org protocol](https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html), sitemap index files, and the Google image-sitemap extension.
- Always respects each site's `robots.txt` policy on access — please use responsibly.
- Independent tool; sitemaps remain the property of their publishers.

# Actor input Schema

## `sitemapUrls` (type: `array`):

One or more sitemap URLs to process. Usually sitename.com/sitemap.xml or sitename.com/sitemap_index.xml. Gzipped (.xml.gz) sitemaps are handled automatically.

## `followIndexes` (type: `boolean`):

If a URL points to a sitemap index (a list of nested sitemaps), automatically follow and process each of them. Turn off to only list the nested sitemap URLs.

## `maxUrls` (type: `integer`):

Cap on the total number of URLs to return across all sitemaps.

## `maxNestedSitemaps` (type: `integer`):

Cap on how many sitemap files to fetch when following indexes (a guardrail for very large sites with many shards).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sitemapUrls": [
    "https://www.apify.com/sitemap.xml"
  ],
  "followIndexes": true,
  "maxUrls": 50000,
  "maxNestedSitemaps": 50
}
```

# 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 = {
    "sitemapUrls": [
        "https://www.apify.com/sitemap.xml"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapeworks/sitemap-to-urls").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 = { "sitemapUrls": ["https://www.apify.com/sitemap.xml"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapeworks/sitemap-to-urls").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 '{
  "sitemapUrls": [
    "https://www.apify.com/sitemap.xml"
  ]
}' |
apify call scrapeworks/sitemap-to-urls --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/mCMjPPWcSvUt9xwTX/builds/CiOwTwZZE8St4kmPC/openapi.json