# OpenFDA US Drug Products, Labels & Approvals (`dromb/openfda-drug-us`) Actor

Search official openFDA NDC drug products and enrich records with FDA labels and Drugs@FDA approval data.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dromb/openfda-drug-us.md
- **Developed by:** [Dmitriy Gyrbu](https://apify.com/dromb) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, Other
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.40 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## OpenFDA Drug US Scraper

OpenFDA Drug US Scraper extracts structured US drug product data from the official public openFDA drug APIs.
Use it for NDC lookup, regulatory product research, label review, approval-data enrichment, market analysis, and lightweight health checks.

This actor is not affiliated with the FDA or openFDA. It uses public data from `api.fda.gov` and does not require proxies.

### Supported operations

- `probe`: checks openFDA availability with a small NDC request.
- `categories`: lists high-volume browse categories for product type, route, dosage form, and marketing category.
- `filters`: returns filter metadata and lookup-key guidance.
- `search`: searches the openFDA NDC dataset by query or exact filters.
- `category`: browses NDC products by `category_id` in `group:value` format.
- `item`: returns an enriched product profile from NDC data with optional label and Drugs@FDA approval data.

### Input guide

`operation` is required. For `search`, provide `query` or at least one exact filter such as `brand`, `generic_name`, `manufacturer`, `dosage_form`, `route`, `product_type`, `marketing_category`, or `application_number`.

The default Store/Console input runs bounded `categories`, which writes useful dataset rows without silently injecting a search term into exact-filter workflows.

For `item`, provide one of `product_ndc`, `set_id`, `application_number`, or `item_id`. `include_label` and `include_approval` default to `true`; set either to `false` for a lighter item lookup.

`limit` defaults to `5` and is capped at `100`. `page` is 1-based. General search results are relevance-ranked so exact generic, ingredient, and brand matches appear before incidental text matches.

### Ready-to-run use cases

Use the public Saved Tasks for common workflows: aspirin product intelligence, Pfizer product portfolio research, and oral prescription product discovery. Saved Tasks keep inputs bounded and provide repeatable starting points for automation.

### Example inputs

Probe:

```json
{
  "operation": "probe"
}
```

Search:

```json
{
  "operation": "search",
  "query": "aspirin",
  "limit": 5
}
```

Search with exact filter:

```json
{
  "operation": "search",
  "route": "ORAL",
  "dosage_form": "TABLET",
  "limit": 5
}
```

Category browse:

```json
{
  "operation": "category",
  "category_id": "route:ORAL",
  "limit": 5
}
```

Item detail:

```json
{
  "operation": "item",
  "product_ndc": "21130-481"
}
```

### Output

For monetization and result counting, each useful result is written as its own Apify dataset item. Search limit `5` writes `5` dataset items, and item lookup writes `1` dataset item when the product is found.

Run status, totals, no-result summaries, and error summaries are written to the default key-value store under `OUTPUT`. Probe, no-result searches, invalid item lookups, and invalid inputs do not create fake dataset result rows.

Search and category results can include:

- `status`, `source`, `operation`, `mode`, `record_type`
- `id`, `item_id`, `product_ndc`, `set_id`
- `name`, `brand`, `generic_name`, `manufacturer`
- `product_type`, `dosage_form`, `route`, `marketing_category`
- `application_number`
- `active_ingredients`
- `package_count`
- `source_dataset`, `source_urls`

Item results extend listing fields with:

- `description`, `short_description`
- `ingredients`, `inactive_ingredients`
- `usage_instructions`, `warnings`, `benefits`
- `packaging`
- `sections`
- `label_available`, `approval_available`
- `openfda`
- `approval`
- `source_datasets`, `source_urls`

No-result searches write zero dataset items and return `status: "success"` with `dataset_item_count: 0` in `OUTPUT`. Invalid item selectors/other invalid inputs write structured `OUTPUT` and fail the Actor run. Valid selectors with no matching drug remain a normal `not_found` outcome with zero dataset rows.

### Limitations

- Data freshness, coverage, and field availability are controlled by openFDA.
- Some NDC records do not have matching label or Drugs@FDA approval records.
- The openFDA public API may rate-limit heavy usage.
- This actor does not provide medical advice and should not be used as a substitute for official labeling review by qualified professionals.

### Proxy behavior

No proxy is required. The actor performs direct HTTPS requests to public openFDA endpoints.

### Default Store run

The default Store input now performs a small bounded operation that writes real Dataset rows, so automated Store checks and first-time users see useful output immediately.

# Actor input Schema

## `operation` (type: `string`):

The operation to perform: probe, categories, filters, search, category, item

## `query` (type: `string`):

General search query for brand, generic, manufacturer, or substance.

## `brand` (type: `string`):

Exact brand name.

## `generic_name` (type: `string`):

Exact generic name.

## `manufacturer` (type: `string`):

Exact manufacturer name.

## `dosage_form` (type: `string`):

Exact dosage form.

## `route` (type: `string`):

Exact route of administration.

## `product_type` (type: `string`):

Exact product type.

## `marketing_category` (type: `string`):

Exact marketing category.

## `application_number` (type: `string`):

Exact application number.

## `category_id` (type: `string`):

Category ID in format group:value (e.g., route:ORAL).

## `product_ndc` (type: `string`):

Exact NDC listing code.

## `set_id` (type: `string`):

Exact SPL set id.

## `item_id` (type: `string`):

Alias for NDC or set ID.

## `page` (type: `integer`):

1-based page number.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Results per page (max 100).

## `include_label` (type: `boolean`):

Whether to include label data.

## `include_approval` (type: `boolean`):

Whether to include Drugs@FDA approval data.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "operation": "categories",
  "page": 1,
  "limit": 5,
  "include_label": true,
  "include_approval": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `status` (type: `string`):

Operation status: success, invalid_input, not_found, blocked, or error.

## `source` (type: `string`):

Stable source key.

## `operation` (type: `string`):

Requested operation.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Internal operation mode or source dataset.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Search query when applicable.

## `page` (type: `string`):

1-based page number.

## `limit` (type: `string`):

Requested page size.

## `total` (type: `string`):

Total matching records reported by openFDA, or 0 for errors.

## `matched_by` (type: `string`):

Lookup strategy that matched an item request.

## `record_type` (type: `string`):

Dataset row type, such as drug_listing, drug_item, category, or filter_group.

## `product_ndc` (type: `string`):

FDA NDC product code.

## `brand` (type: `string`):

Brand name when available.

## `generic_name` (type: `string`):

Generic name when available.

## `manufacturer` (type: `string`):

Labeler or manufacturer name.

## `product_type` (type: `string`):

openFDA product type.

## `dosage_form` (type: `string`):

Drug dosage form.

## `route` (type: `string`):

Administration route values.

## `active_ingredients` (type: `string`):

Active ingredient names and strengths.

## `label_available` (type: `string`):

Whether label data was attached for an item row.

## `source_urls` (type: `string`):

Official openFDA API source URLs.

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

API URL for all flat dataset result rows produced by the run.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Run status, totals, and empty/error summary stored under OUTPUT.

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dromb/openfda-drug-us").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dromb/openfda-drug-us").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 '{}' |
apify call dromb/openfda-drug-us --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,dromb/openfda-drug-us"
        }
    }
}
```

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/vnIc7Z6HLrsfVz5rw/builds/t9YnSACtzpeKvcoDu/openapi.json