# WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号 (`technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper`) Actor

Turn any WeChat Official Account (微信公众号) article into clean, RAG-ready Markdown with title, author, account name, publish time, cover and image URLs. No API key or WeChat account needed for article URLs; optional keyword discovery via Sogou WeChat search.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Technical Dost Solutions](https://apify.com/technicaldost) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, News
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 13 total users, 5 monthly users, 99.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 results

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

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

Convert any **WeChat Official Account (微信公众号) article** into clean, **RAG-ready Markdown** plus structured metadata — title, author, account name, publish time, cover image and all image URLs. Built for Chinese content teams, AI researchers and data engineers feeding WeChat content into **LLM / RAG pipelines**.

### Why this actor

- **No official API exists** for reading WeChat Official Account articles. This actor fills the gap.
- **No API key, no WeChat account, no cookies needed** for direct article URLs — article pages (`mp.weixin.qq.com/s/...`) are fetched with plain HTTP and parsed server-side.
- **Markdown-native output**: the article body (`#js_content`) is converted with Turndown, with WeChat's lazy-loaded `data-src` images rewritten to real URLs so no image is lost.
- **Pay-per-event pricing**: you pay per article scraped plus a tiny per-run start charge. No monthly minimum.

### Reliability — read this

| Mode | Reliability |
|---|---|
| **Direct article URLs** (`articleUrls`) | ✅ Fully reliable, keyless, no proxy needed |
| **Keyword discovery** (`searchKeywords`) | ⚠️ Best-effort. Uses Sogou WeChat search, which is **captcha-prone**. Without proxies it may work for a few queries, then get blocked. For production discovery use **residential proxies** (see `proxyConfiguration`). If discovery fails, the actor logs a warning and continues — direct URLs always work. |

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `articleUrls` | string\[] | `[]` | Direct WeChat article links (`https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/...`). Fully reliable mode. The form is prefilled with one example article — replace it with your own links. |
| `searchKeywords` | string\[] | — | Optional keywords for article discovery via Sogou WeChat search. Best-effort, captcha-prone. |
| `maxArticlesPerKeyword` | integer | `5` | Max articles scraped per keyword. |
| `includeImages` | boolean | `true` | Keep `![](url)` image markdown in the body. Image URLs are always collected in `images` regardless. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | — | Optional Apify proxy settings. Residential proxies recommended for keyword discovery. |

**At least one of `articleUrls` / `searchKeywords` is required** — the actor fails fast with a clear error otherwise.

#### Example input

```json
{
  "articleUrls": [
    "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"
  ],
  "searchKeywords": ["人工智能"],
  "maxArticlesPerKeyword": 5,
  "includeImages": true
}
```

### Output

One dataset item per article:

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `source` | string | `"url"` (direct link) or `"search"` (keyword discovery) |
| `keyword` | string | null | The keyword that found this article, or `null` for direct URLs |
| `articleUrl` | string | Canonical article URL |
| `title` | string | Article title |
| `author` | string | null | Article author(s) |
| `accountName` | string | Official Account (公众号) name |
| `publishTime` | string | null | ISO 8601 publish timestamp |
| `coverUrl` | string | null | Cover image URL |
| `markdown` | string | Full article body as clean Markdown |
| `textLength` | number | Plain-text length of the article body (chars) |
| `imageCount` | number | Number of images found in the body |
| `images` | string\[] | Image URLs (capped at 50) |
| `scrapedAt` | string | ISO 8601 scrape timestamp |

#### Example output item (markdown truncated)

```json
{
  "source": "url",
  "keyword": null,
  "articleUrl": "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ",
  "title": "欧盟ESG法规解读系列之《零毁林法案》对中国新能源汽车企业的影响",
  "author": "苏畅 刘阳禾",
  "accountName": "金杜研究",
  "publishTime": "2025-04-07T10:51:51.000Z",
  "coverUrl": "https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz_jpg/.../0?wx_fmt=jpeg",
  "markdown": "# 欧盟ESG法规解读系列...\n\n![](https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/...)\n\n...",
  "textLength": 5210,
  "imageCount": 6,
  "images": ["https://mmbiz.qpic.cn/..."],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-19T18:55:00.000Z"
}
```

### Pricing

**$5.00 per 1,000 articles** — pay-per-event, charged per article written to the dataset, plus a **$0.00005 start charge per run**. You are charged only for articles successfully pushed to the dataset. Set **Maximum cost per run** to cap spend; the actor stops fetching once the cap is reached.

### Usage tips

- Feed the `markdown` field straight into your chunking/embedding pipeline — it's already cleaned of WeChat's wrapper noise.
- WeChat image URLs (`mmbiz.qpic.cn`) are hotlink-protected for browsers but downloadable server-side; fetch them soon after scraping if you need to archive them.
- Sogou-discovered article URLs are signed and time-limited — scrape them promptly, or re-run discovery to get fresh links.
- For large keyword-discovery jobs, enable **residential proxies** to avoid Sogou captchas.

### Limitations

- Deleted / account-restricted articles return an error page and are logged as failures (not charged).
- "Profile/list" pages (`mp.weixin.qq.com/mp/profile_ext?...`) are short-lived signed links and are **not** supported — use direct article URLs or keyword discovery.
- Keyword discovery depends on Sogou and can break or be captcha-blocked at any time; direct article URLs are the stable path.

### How to use WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号

1. Open [WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号](https://apify.com/technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper) on Apify Store and click **Try for free**.
2. Fill in the input (the form is prefilled with a working example) and click **Start**.
3. Watch results appear in the **Output** tab, then download them as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read them through the API.
4. Optional: save the input as a task and add a **schedule** to run it automatically, or connect it to your tools with integrations and webhooks.

### Use WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号 with AI agents (MCP)

Give Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code or any MCP client this Actor as a tool through the hosted [Apify MCP server](https://mcp.apify.com). The agent sees the input fields with descriptions and example values, runs the Actor, and reads the results.

**MCP server URL (this Actor only):**

```
https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper
```

**Claude Code:**

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper" --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
```

**Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop and other clients** (`mcp.json` or the client's MCP settings):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}
```

Clients that support sign-in (such as Claude.ai connectors) can use the URL without a token and log in to Apify instead. Get your token in [Apify Console → Settings → API & Integrations](https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations), or generate a ready config for your client at [mcp.apify.com](https://mcp.apify.com). In the agent the tool is named `technicaldost--wechat-article-markdown-scraper`; ask it, for example, to *"run WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号 with {"articleUrls": \["https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"]}"*.

AI agents without an Apify account can also run and pay for this Actor per request with [x402 agentic payments](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/x402).

### Run WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号 via API

Run the Actor and get its results in one call (replace `YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN`):

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/technicaldost~wechat-article-markdown-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"articleUrls": ["https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"]}'
```

**Python** (`pip install apify-client`):

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper").call(run_input={"articleUrls": ["https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"]})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)
```

**JavaScript / TypeScript** (`npm install apify-client`):

```js
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper').call({"articleUrls": ["https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"]});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);
```

Long runs: start them with `POST /v2/acts/technicaldost~wechat-article-markdown-scraper/runs` and fetch the dataset when the run finishes, or receive a webhook.

### Integrations

WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号 works with [Make](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make), [Zapier](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier), [n8n](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/n8n), [LangChain](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/langchain), Google Sheets, Slack, GitHub and [webhooks](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks). Schedule runs in Apify Console and send new results straight to your apps, spreadsheets or AI pipelines.

### Related Actors

- [Webpage to Markdown](https://apify.com/technicaldost/webpage-to-clean-markdown) — Convert any web page into clean, LLM-ready Markdown. Strips ads, nav and boilerplate, keeping headings, links

### FAQ

#### Can I use WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号 with AI agents like Claude or ChatGPT?

Yes. Connect the Apify MCP server with `?tools=technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper` (see above) and the agent can run the Actor and read its results on its own.

#### Can I call WeChat Official Account Scraper → Markdown 公众号 from my own code?

Yes. Use the REST API, or the official Python and JavaScript clients shown above. Results are available as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML.

#### How do I run it on a schedule?

Save your input as a task in Apify Console and add a schedule (for example, daily). Use webhooks or integrations to send each run's results onward.

#### Is it legal to use this Actor?

It works with publicly available data. Make sure your use complies with the source website's terms and with data protection laws such as GDPR, especially for personal data.

#### Something doesn't work or I need a feature. What should I do?

Open an issue in the **Issues** tab on this Actor's page with an example input, and we'll look into it.

# Actor input Schema

## `articleUrls` (type: `array`):

Direct WeChat article links (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/...). This mode is fully reliable. Replace the example link with your own articles, one per line.

## `searchKeywords` (type: `array`):

Keywords to discover articles via Sogou WeChat search (weixin.sogou.com). Best-effort: Sogou is captcha-prone, so discovery may fail without residential proxies. Article URLs above always work.

## `maxArticlesPerKeyword` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of articles to scrape per search keyword.

## `includeImages` (type: `boolean`):

Keep image markdown (![](url)) in the article body. Image URLs are always collected in the images field regardless of this setting.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional Apify proxy settings. Recommended (residential proxies) when using keyword discovery, since Sogou frequently shows captchas to datacenter IPs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "articleUrls": [
    "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"
  ],
  "maxArticlesPerKeyword": 5,
  "includeImages": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `articlesDatasetUrl` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing one item per scraped article.

# 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 = {
    "articleUrls": [
        "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-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 = { "articleUrls": ["https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-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 '{
  "articleUrls": [
    "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4gG0wmpjHS94fXEmAbfIXQ"
  ]
}' |
apify call technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,technicaldost/wechat-article-markdown-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/7X9Gz7pq9gpW8jver/builds/GcAJTL2xWjVwkkBzY/openapi.json