Run an Actor

Run an Actor

Starts an Apify Actor, such as a Google Maps or search-results scraper, with JSON input and returns the run's status and the ID of the dataset that holds its results.

Name the Actor as username/actor-name (username~actor-name in an API path) and pass input that matches its input schema. The MCP tool waits up to 45 seconds for the run to finish and the API up to 60 with waitForFinish; read the results with get-dataset-items once the run has succeeded. On the CLI, --output-dataset prints the results. Over the API, maxTotalChargeUsd caps what a run can cost, and POST /actors/{actorId}/run-sync-get-dataset-items waits up to 300 seconds and returns the items in the response.

Set up

Use the first option your agent supports.

MCP (official, remote)

Add this server to your agent's MCP settings, then sign in when asked.

{ "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com" } } }

Call the MCP tool call-actor.

Server URL: https://mcp.apify.com

CLI (official)

Install the command, then confirm it runs.

npm install -g apify-cli
apify --version

Run apify actors call.

API (official)

• Base URL: https://api.apify.com/v2
• Endpoint: POST /actors/{actorId}/runs
• Auth: send the header Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN
• Get a key: https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations
• Docs: https://docs.apify.com/api/v2

Before doing anything else, make one read-only call to confirm access.

Rules

• Ask the user before anything that sends messages, costs money, or changes data.
• Never print API keys.