# Watson - Username Finder (`lofomachines/watson`) Actor

Fast, Reliable, username discovery - alternative to Sherlock. Hunt for accounts by username across +700 sources.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lofomachines/watson.md
- **Developed by:** [Lofomachines](https://apify.com/lofomachines) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Social media, Other
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 1,065 total users, 23 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 2 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 4.67 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 accounts

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
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

## Watson - Username Finder

Find any username across 700+ websites in seconds. The fast, cloud-based alternative to Sherlock that actually works on modern platforms like Instagram, Reddit, and More. Get only vaild results.

### Why Watson over Sherlock?

Sherlock is a great open-source tool, but it breaks constantly and show false positive results. Sites change their layouts, add bot protection, or block requests, and Sherlock's results become unreliable. Watson solves this with a different approach:

- **Cloud-powered** - Runs on Apify infrastructure with built-in proxy rotation, no local setup headaches
- **Smart detection** - Uses both HTTP requests and real browser automation (Playwright) to handle JavaScript-heavy sites like Instagram and Facebook
- **Always up-to-date** - 708 sites and growing, with detection logic tuned for how platforms work today
- **Parallel scanning** - Checks all 700+ sites simultaneously, results in about 60 seconds
- **Structured output** - Clean JSON results ready for any workflow, API, or integration

### What can you find?

Watson scans across 20+ categories:

| Category | Sites | Examples |
|----------|-------|---------|
| Social Media | 209 | Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, X/Twitter, Threads, Telegram |
| Gaming | 77 | Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games, Twitch |
| Coding | 45 | GitHub, GitLab, Stack Overflow, Docker Hub, npm, PyPI |
| Tech | 43 | HackerNews, Product Hunt, Keybase, dev.to |
| Creative | 39 | Behance, Dribbble, DeviantArt, ArtStation, Flickr |
| Music | 19 | Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Mixcloud |
| Video | 8 | YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion |
| Business | 23 | LinkedIn, AngelList, Crunchbase |
| Shopping | 22 | eBay, Etsy, Poshmark |
| + 12 more categories | 223 | Dating, Finance, Health, News, Blogs... |

### Use cases

#### OSINT & Investigations

Map a person's digital footprint from a single username. Identify connected accounts, discover aliases, and build a complete online presence profile for background checks or investigations.

#### Brand Protection

Monitor if someone is impersonating your brand or registering your company name on platforms you haven't claimed yet. Run periodic checks to catch new unauthorized accounts early.

#### Username Availability

Planning a rebrand or launching a new product? Check if your desired username is available across all major platforms before committing to a name.

#### Competitive Intelligence

Discover where your competitors are active online. Find their community profiles, forum accounts, and niche platform presence beyond the obvious social media channels.

#### Journalism & Research

Verify sources by cross-referencing their claimed online identities. Find additional context about a subject across platforms they may not have mentioned.

#### Cybersecurity

During penetration testing or social engineering assessments, quickly enumerate a target's online accounts to understand their attack surface.

### How it works

1. **Enter a username** - Just provide the username you want to search
2. **Watson scans 700+ sites** - HTTP requests for APIs and standard sites, real browser for JavaScript-heavy platforms
3. **Get results** - A clean list of every platform where that username exists, with direct profile links

### Example output

Search for username `johndoe`:

```json
[
  {
    "username": "johndoe",
    "site": "GitHub",
    "category": "coding",
    "url": "https://github.com/johndoe",
    "found": true
  },
  {
    "username": "johndoe",
    "site": "Instagram",
    "category": "social",
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/johndoe/",
    "found": true
  },
  {
    "username": "johndoe",
    "site": "Reddit",
    "category": "forum",
    "url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/johndoe",
    "found": true
  },
  {
    "username": "johndoe",
    "site": "Spotify",
    "category": "music",
    "url": "https://open.spotify.com/user/johndoe",
    "found": true
  },
  {
    "username": "johndoe",
    "site": "Steam",
    "category": "gaming",
    "url": "https://steamcommunity.com/id/johndoe",
    "found": true
  }
]
```

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `username` | String (required) | The username to search for across all platforms |

### Output

Each found profile is saved as a dataset item with:

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `username` | The searched username |
| `site` | Platform name (e.g., "Instagram", "GitHub") |
| `category` | Platform category (e.g., "social", "coding", "gaming") |
| `url` | Direct link to the profile |
| `found` | Always `true` in dataset (only found profiles are saved) |

### Integrations

Connect Watson to your existing workflow:

- **Zapier / Make / n8n** - Trigger actions when new accounts are found
- **Google Sheets** - Export results directly to a spreadsheet
- **Slack / Email** - Get notifications with found profiles
- **API** - Call Watson programmatically from any application
- **Webhooks** - Get real-time results pushed to your endpoint

### FAQ

**How accurate is Watson?**
Watson uses site-specific detection logic for each platform. For major sites (Instagram, Reddit, GitHub, etc.) accuracy is very high. Some smaller or heavily-protected sites may occasionally return false positives or be temporarily unavailable.

**How fast is it?**
A full scan of all 700+ sites typically completes in 60-90 seconds thanks to parallel processing.

**Does it work with any username?**
Yes. Just enter any username string and Watson will check it everywhere. Special characters are handled automatically for platforms that don't support them.

**Can I run it on a schedule?**
Yes. Use Apify's scheduling feature to run Watson periodically and monitor for new accounts appearing under a specific username.

**Is there an API?**
Yes. Every Apify Actor has a full REST API. You can start runs, get results, and integrate Watson into any application programmatically.

# Actor input Schema

## `username` (type: `string`):

Username to check across the configured websites.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "username": "example_username"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (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 = {
    "username": "example_username"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lofomachines/watson").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 = { "username": "example_username" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lofomachines/watson").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 '{
  "username": "example_username"
}' |
apify call lofomachines/watson --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/xxFmZdC7HkSuCfZzd/builds/GRAyaw847CM2TvNuH/openapi.json