# Hugging Face Datasets Scraper (`parseforge/hugging-face-datasets-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Hugging Face dataset metadata by search query, task category, language, and license. Returns name, description, tags, downloads, likes, and trending score. No API key needed.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/hugging-face-datasets-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Developer tools, Automation
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 4 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $23.99 / 1,000 result items

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

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner-v4.webp)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### Hugging Face Datasets Scraper

**Scrape Hugging Face datasets by search query, task, language, or license, up to thousands per run.** Every dataset comes with its name, description, tags, downloads, likes, and trending score. No API key needed. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Hugging Face hosts over 200,000 public datasets for machine learning, but browsing and filtering them manually is slow. This Actor reads the Hugging Face dataset hub directly, applying your filters for task category, language, license, and sort order, and returns each matching dataset as a clean row. No registration or API token required.

| Who uses it | What they scrape Hugging Face for |
|---|---|
| Machine learning engineers | Find datasets for a specific task like text classification or image generation without manually browsing the hub. |
| Data scientists | Discover trending or highly-downloaded datasets for a given language or license. |
| AI researchers | Collect metadata on datasets for benchmarking or survey papers. |
| Product managers | Monitor which datasets are popular in a domain to inform model training priorities. |

### What it does

This Actor collects Hugging Face datasets by search term, task category, language, license, and sort order, and returns each dataset as a flat row with its metadata.

- 🔍 **Search by query:** Free-text search across dataset names and descriptions.
- 📂 **Filter by task:** Narrow to categories like text-classification, image-classification, or text-generation.
- 🌐 **Filter by language:** Target datasets in English, Chinese, French, and more.
- 📜 **Filter by license:** Restrict to Apache-2.0, MIT, CC-BY-4.0, or other licenses.
- 📊 **Sort by popularity:** Order by trending score, downloads, likes, or last modified.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with Hugging Face data

**🔍 Find datasets for a specific ML task.**

A machine learning engineer searches for 'text classification' datasets filtered by English language and Apache-2.0 license to quickly build a training pipeline.

**📈 Monitor trending datasets in a domain.**

A data scientist sorts by trending score and filters by 'image-classification' to see what the community is using this week.

**🌐 Collect multilingual datasets.**

A researcher filters by language code 'zh' to gather Chinese-language datasets for a cross-lingual NLP project.

**📋 Audit dataset licenses for compliance.**

A product manager filters by license 'cc-by-4.0' to ensure all datasets used in a commercial product meet licensing requirements.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key needed** | Scrape the public Hugging Face hub without any registration or token. |
| **Flexible filters** | Combine search, task, language, and license to pinpoint exactly the datasets you need. |
| **Sort by relevance** | Choose trending score, downloads, likes, or last modified to prioritize the most useful datasets. |
| **Export to any format** | Get results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML for direct use in your workflow. |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets Hugging Face the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | Hugging Face Datasets Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When Hugging Face changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a search query, task category, language, and license, alone or together, and filters run as each dataset is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.03199 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $3.20 |
| 1,000 results | $31.99 |
| 10,000 results | $319.90 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [Hugging Face Datasets Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/hugging-face-datasets-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Hugging Face through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/hugging-face-datasets-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that your filters (query, task, language, license) are not too restrictive. Try removing filters one by one to see which one is causing the issue.

**The run is taking too long.**

Reduce the 'maxItems' value to a smaller number. Also, ensure your sort order is not causing the Actor to scan many pages.

**I see duplicate datasets in the output.**

Duplicates are rare but can occur if the hub pagination changes. Try reducing 'maxItems' or adding a more specific query.

**Can I scrape datasets from a specific user or organization?**

Not directly with the current filters. You can use the search query to include the username, e.g., 'google' to find datasets from Google.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need a Hugging Face API key? | No. This Actor scrapes the public Hugging Face dataset hub directly, so no login or API key is required. |
| How many datasets can I scrape per run? | You set the maximum number of datasets via the 'maxItems' input. There is no hard limit, but very large runs may take longer. |
| Can I filter by multiple languages at once? | Currently, the language filter accepts a single language code. For multiple languages, run the Actor multiple times with different codes. |
| What task categories are available? | You can use any task category from the Hugging Face hub, such as 'text-classification', 'image-classification', 'text-generation', 'question-answering', and many more. |
| Does this scrape the actual dataset files? | No. It scrapes dataset metadata (name, description, tags, downloads, likes, trending score) from the hub listing pages, not the underlying data files. |
| Can I sort by downloads or likes? | Yes. Use the 'sort' input to choose 'downloads', 'likes', 'trendingScore', or 'lastModified'. |
| What export formats are supported? | Results can be exported as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset. |
| Is there a rate limit? | The Actor respects Hugging Face's public rate limits. For large runs, it may slow down to avoid being blocked. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Hugging Face, Inc. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of datasets to collect per run.

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

Free text search query to filter datasets (e.g., 'text classification', 'image', 'llm').

## `taskCategory` (type: `string`):

Filter by task category (e.g., 'text-classification', 'image-classification', 'text-generation').

## `language` (type: `string`):

Filter by language code (e.g., 'en', 'zh', 'fr').

## `license` (type: `string`):

Filter by license (e.g., 'apache-2.0', 'mit', 'cc-by-4.0').

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Sort datasets by this field.

## `direction` (type: `string`):

Sort direction: descending (highest first) or ascending (lowest first).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "query": "text classification",
  "taskCategory": "text-classification",
  "language": "en",
  "license": "apache-2.0",
  "sort": "trendingScore",
  "direction": "desc"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `datasets` (type: `string`):

Complete dataset with all scraped Hugging Face dataset metadata

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Overview of datasets with key fields in table format

# 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 = {
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/hugging-face-datasets-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 = { "maxItems": 10 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/hugging-face-datasets-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 '{
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/hugging-face-datasets-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/hugging-face-datasets-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/a1Rcb0usd8tontsSv/builds/8IcDlMjk2HSc1w1Qb/openapi.json