apify-cli
Apify command line client (apify-cli)
Apify command line client (CLI) helps you to create, develop, build and run Apify Actor acts from a local computer.
Apify Actor is a serverless computing platform that enables the execution of arbitrary web scraping and automation jobs in the cloud. A single job is called an act.
While you can develop acts in a code editor directly in the Apify web application, for more complex projects it is more convenient to develop the acts locally and only push them to the Apify cloud for execution. This is where the CLI comes in.
Note that the acts running on the Apify platform are executed in Docker containers, so with an appropriate Dockerfile
you can build your acts in any programming language.
However, we recommend using JavaScript / Node.js, for which we provide most libraries and support.
Installation
First, make sure you have Node.js version 7.10 or higher installed on your computer:
node --versionInstall Apify CLI by running:
npm -g install apify-cliFinally, you can test that the CLI was installed correctly:
apify infoBasic usage
The following examples show basic usage of the CLI.
Create a new act from scratch
apify create my-hello-worldFirst, you will be prompted to select a template with the boilerplate for the act, to help you get started quickly.
The command will create a directory called my-hello-world that contains a Node.js project
for the act and a few configuration files.
Create a new act from existing project
cd ./my/awesome/projectapify initThis command will only set up local act development environment in an existing directory,
i.e. it will create the apify.json file and apify_local directory.
Run the act locally
cd my-hello-worldapify runThis command runs the act on your local machine. Now's your chance to develop the logic - or magic 😏
Login with your Apify account
apify loginBefore you can interact with the Apify cloud, you need to create an Apify account
and log in to it using the above command. You will be prompted for
your Apify API token.
Note that the command will store the API token and other sensitive information to ~/.apify.
Push the act to the Apify cloud
apify pushThis command creates a ZIP archive with your project, uploads it to the Apify cloud and builds an act from it.
Run an act on the Apify cloud
apify callRuns the act corresponding to the current directory on the Apify platform.
This command can also be used to run other acts, for example:
apify call apify/hello-worldSo what's in this apify.json file?
This file associates your local development project with an act on the Apify platform. It contains information such as act name or ID, version and build tag. Make sure you commit this file to the Git repository.
Need help?
To see all CLI commands simply run:
apify helpTo get information about a specific command run:
apify help COMMANDStill haven't found what you were looking for? Please go to Apify Help center or contact us.
Command reference
This section contains printouts of apify help for all commands.
Apify command line client to help you create, develop, build and run Actor acts. VERSION apify-cli/0.1.13 darwin-x64 node-v8.4.0 USAGE $ apify [COMMAND] COMMANDS call Runs the act remotely on the Apify platform. create Creates a new act project directory from a selected template. info Displays information about current Apify settings. init Initializes an act project in an existing directory. login Logs in to the Apify platform using the API token. logout Logs out of the Apify platform. push Uploads the act to the Apify platform and builds it there. run Runs the act locally in the current directory. apify call
Runs the act remotely on the Apify platform. USAGE $ apify call [ACTID] ARGUMENTS ACTID Name or ID of the act to run (e.g. "apify/hello-world" or "E2jjCZBezvAZnX8Rb"). If not provided, the command runs the remote act specified in the "apify.json" file. OPTIONS -b, --build=build Tag or number of the build to run (e.g. "latest" or "1.2.34"). -m, --memory=memory Amount of memory allocated for the act run, in megabytes. -t, --timeout=timeout Timeout for the act run in seconds. Zero value means there is no timeout. -w, --wait-for-finish=wait-for-finish Seconds for waiting to run to finish, if no value passed, it waits forever. DESCRIPTION The act is run under your current Apify account, therefore you need to be logged in by calling "apify login". It takes input for the act from default local key-value store by default. apify create
Creates a new act project directory from a selected template. USAGE $ apify create ACTNAME ARGUMENTS ACTNAME Name of the act and its directory OPTIONS -t, --template=basic|puppeteer|puppeteer_crawler|plain_request_urls_list Template for the act. If not provided, the command will prompt for it. apify info
Displays information about current Apify settings. USAGE $ apify info DESCRIPTION This command prints information about Apify to the console. apify init
Initializes an act project in an existing directory. USAGE $ apify init [ACTNAME] ARGUMENTS ACTNAME Name of the act. If not provided, you will be prompted for it. DESCRIPTION The command only creates the "apify.json" file and the "apify_local" directory in the current directory, but will not touch anything else. WARNING: If the files already exist, they will be overwritten! apify login
Logs in to the Apify platform using the API token. USAGE $ apify login OPTIONS -t, --token=token [Optional] Apify API token DESCRIPTION The token and other account information is stored to the ~/.apify directory, from where it is read by all other "apify" commands. To log out, call "apify logout". apify logout
Logs out of the Apify platform. USAGE $ apify logout DESCRIPTION The command deletes the API token and all other account information stored in the ~/.apify directory. To log in again, call "apify login". apify push
Uploads the act to the Apify platform and builds it there. USAGE $ apify push [ACTID] ARGUMENTS ACTID ID of an existing act on the Apify platform where the files will be pushed. If not provided, the command will create or modify the act with the name specified in "apify.json" file. OPTIONS -b, --build-tag=build-tag Build tag to be applied to the successful act build. By default, it is taken from the "apify.json" file -v, --version-number=version-number Act version number to which the files should be pushed. By default, it is taken from the "apify.json" file. -w, --wait-for-finish=wait-for-finish Seconds for waiting to build to finish, if no value passed, it waits forever. DESCRIPTION The command creates a ZIP with files of the act from the current directory, uploads it to the Apify platform and builds it. The act settings are read from the "apify.json" file in the current directory, but they can be overridden using command-line options. WARNING: If the target act already exists in your Apify account, it will be overwritten! apify run
Runs the act locally in the current directory. USAGE $ apify run OPTIONS -p, --purge Shortcut that combines the --purge-queue, --purge-dataset and --purge-key-value-store options. --purge-dataset Deletes the local directory containing the default dataset before the run starts. --purge-key-value-store Deletes all records from the default key-value store in the local directory before the run starts, except for the "INPUT" key. --purge-queue Deletes the local directory containing the default request queue before the run starts. DESCRIPTION The command runs a Node.js process with the act in the current directory. It sets various APIFY_XYZ environment variables in order to provide a working execution environment for the act. For example, this causes the act input, as well as all other data in key-value stores, datasets or request queues to be stored in the "apify_local" directory, rather than on the Apify platform. install
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