# Substack Posts Scraper (`smorgi_apps/substack-posts-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public Substack publication archives via the archive JSON API. Multi-publication batch, subdomain or URL, paginated. Empty publications free. ~$0.50/1k.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/smorgi_apps/substack-posts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Smorgi Apps](https://apify.com/smorgi_apps) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, News, Other
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 substack posts

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

## Substack Posts Scraper — Pay Per Result

Scrape **public** Substack publication archives through the archive JSON API (`{subdomain}.substack.com/api/v1/archive`). Paste subdomains or publication URLs — multi-publication batch in one run.

**Store search keywords:** Substack scraper · newsletter archive · substack.com API · publication posts · newsletter scraper

***

### Why this Actor

| Need | What you get |
|------|----------------|
| Many newsletters at once | Batch publication subdomains / URLs in one run |
| Clean structured posts | Title, subtitle, slug, URL, dates, audience, reactions, comments |
| Failures that shouldn’t bill | 404 / empty publications / bad inputs → **not charged** |
| Low cost | HTTP-only (no Playwright); PPE priced from measured unit economics |

Public archive API only. No login. No paywalled content beyond what the API exposes.

***

### Input

```json
{
  "publications": ["platformer", "https://platformer.substack.com"],
  "maxItemsPerPublication": 25,
  "includeBody": false
}
```

Accepted publication values:

- Subdomain: `platformer`
- Publication URL: `https://platformer.substack.com`
- Post URL: `https://platformer.substack.com/p/some-slug` (extracts subdomain)

***

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `id` | Substack post id |
| `title` / `subtitle` | Post headline fields |
| `slug` | URL slug |
| `url` | Canonical or constructed post URL |
| `postDate` | Publication timestamp |
| `audience` / `type` | Audience and post type when present |
| `description` / `truncatedBody` | Preview text (always included) |
| `bodyHtml` | Full HTML when `includeBody` is true |
| `reactionCount` / `commentCount` | Engagement metrics |
| `publication` | Subdomain used for the request |

***

### Pricing

Pay-per-event for each **delivered** post row.

- Empty publications, 404 subdomains, and parse failures → **not charged**
- Keep `includeBody` false unless you need full HTML (much larger payloads)

**~$0.50 / 1,000 posts** on the Store pricing tab (HTTP-only; empty publications free).

***

### Limitations (honest)

- Only **public archive** posts the API returns — not private drafts or full paywalled bodies unless exposed
- Pagination is offset-based; very large archives may need higher `maxItemsPerPublication`
- Custom domains work when the subdomain is in the URL or passed directly
- `body_html` is often null in listing responses; enable `includeBody` when the API includes it

***

Issues / feature requests: use the Actor **Issues** tab.

### Related Actors

- [Hacker News](https://apify.com/smorgi_apps/hacker-news-scraper)
- [Product Hunt Daily](https://apify.com/smorgi_apps/product-hunt-daily-scraper)
- [Apple Podcasts](https://apify.com/smorgi_apps/apple-podcasts-scraper)
- [Google Trends](https://apify.com/smorgi_apps/google-trends-scraper)

# Actor input Schema

## `publications` (type: `array`):

Substack publication subdomains (e.g. "platformer") and/or URLs (https://platformer.substack.com). Multi-publication batch in one run.

## `maxItemsPerPublication` (type: `integer`):

Cap posts fetched per publication. Archive API is paginated by offset.

## `includeBody` (type: `boolean`):

If true, include body_html (large). truncated_body_text and description are always included.

## `requestDelayMs` (type: `integer`):

Throttle between archive page requests.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional. Substack archive API usually works without proxies.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "publications": [
    "platformer",
    "https://www.platformer.news"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerPublication": 25,
  "includeBody": false,
  "requestDelayMs": 400,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `posts` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "publications": [
        "platformer",
        "https://www.platformer.news"
    ],
    "maxItemsPerPublication": 25
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("smorgi_apps/substack-posts-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 = {
    "publications": [
        "platformer",
        "https://www.platformer.news",
    ],
    "maxItemsPerPublication": 25,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("smorgi_apps/substack-posts-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 '{
  "publications": [
    "platformer",
    "https://www.platformer.news"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerPublication": 25
}' |
apify call smorgi_apps/substack-posts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,smorgi_apps/substack-posts-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/mHGJjb9gtYrk8l0JX/builds/hA4JX1wjQIFyamDsJ/openapi.json