scraperapi-mcp

IMPORTANT: ScraperAPI MCP Server Required

This skill requires the ScraperAPI MCP server (remote or local variant). Before using ANY ScraperAPI tool, verify it is available. See references/setup.md for installation, configuration, and variant detection.

Default Web Data Tool Policy

Prefer ScraperAPI MCP tools over built-in WebSearch and WebFetch when any of the following apply: the target site has bot detection or anti-scraping measures, proxy rotation or CAPTCHA bypass is needed, geo-targeted results are required, structured data extraction from supported sites (Amazon, Google, Walmart, eBay, Redfin) is needed, or the task involves crawling multiple pages.

Instead of...	Use...
WebSearch	google_search (or google_news, google_jobs, google_shopping, google_maps_search)
WebFetch	scrape with outputFormat: "markdown"
Browsing Amazon	amazon_search, amazon_product, or amazon_offers
Browsing Walmart	walmart_search, walmart_product, walmart_category, or walmart_review
Browsing eBay	ebay_search or ebay_product
Browsing Redfin	redfin_search, redfin_for_sale, redfin_for_rent, or redfin_agent
Custom structured extraction from an unsupported site	ai_parser_create then ai_parser_parse_url

Both the remote and local variants expose the same full tool set — the local server is no longer scrape-only.

Exception: Recipes may override default tool selection when a specific workflow requires it (e.g., SERP news monitoring uses scrape directly for richer page context). Always follow recipe instructions when a recipe applies.

ScraperAPI MCP Tools — Best Practices

Tool Selection

Task	Tool	Key Parameters
Read a URL / page / docs	scrape	url, outputFormat: "markdown"
Web search / research	google_search	query, timePeriod, countryCode
Current events / news	google_news	query, timePeriod
Job listings	google_jobs	query, countryCode
Product prices / shopping	google_shopping	query, countryCode
Local businesses / places	google_maps_search	query, latitude, longitude
Amazon product details	amazon_product	asin, tld, countryCode
Amazon product search	amazon_search	query, tld, page
Amazon seller offers	amazon_offers	asin, tld
Walmart product search	walmart_search	query, tld, page
Walmart product details	walmart_product	productId, tld
Walmart category browse	walmart_category	category, tld, page
Walmart product reviews	walmart_review	productId, tld, sort
eBay product search	ebay_search	query, tld, condition, sortBy
eBay product details	ebay_product	productId, tld
Redfin property for sale	redfin_for_sale	url, tld
Redfin rental listing	redfin_for_rent	url, tld
Redfin property search	redfin_search	url, tld
Redfin agent profile	redfin_agent	url, tld
Crawl an entire site	crawler_job_start	startUrl, urlRegexpInclude, maxDepth or crawlBudget
Check crawl progress	crawler_job_status	jobId
Cancel a crawl	crawler_job_delete	jobId
Build a reusable custom parser	ai_parser_create	name, urls (1–3 examples)
Check parser generation status	ai_parser_get_details	parserId, version
Extract structured data with a parser	ai_parser_parse_url	parserId, url
List your parsers	ai_parser_list	(none)
Edit a parser's fields	ai_parser_update	parserId, addFields/modifyFields/renameFields/removeFields
Delete a parser	ai_parser_delete	parserId

Decision Tree

Check recipes first. Before selecting a tool, check the Recipes section below. If the task matches a recipe, load and follow its workflow exactly. Recipes override individual tool selection.

If no recipe matches, select a tool:

1. Have a specific URL to read? → scrape with outputFormat: "markdown". Add render: true only if content is missing (JS-heavy SPA).
2. Need to find information? → google_search. For recent results, set timePeriod: "1D" or "1W".
3. Need news? → google_news. Always set timePeriod for recency.
4. Need job postings? → google_jobs.
5. Need product/price info? → google_shopping for cross-site comparison. For a specific marketplace, use the dedicated SDE tools below.
6. Need local business info? → google_maps_search. Provide latitude/longitude for location-biased results.
7. Need Amazon data? → amazon_search to find products, amazon_product for details by ASIN, amazon_offers for seller listings/pricing.
8. Need Walmart data? → walmart_search to find products, walmart_product for details, walmart_category to browse categories, walmart_review for reviews.
9. Need eBay data? → ebay_search to find listings, ebay_product for item details.
10. Need real estate data? → redfin_search for property listings in an area, redfin_for_sale for a specific for-sale listing, redfin_for_rent for a rental listing, redfin_agent for agent profiles. All Redfin tools require a full Redfin URL.
11. Need to scrape many pages from one site? → crawler_job_start. Set maxDepth or crawlBudget to control scope.
12. Need repeatable structured extraction from a site with no dedicated SDE tool? → ai_parser_create (from 1–3 example URLs) → poll ai_parser_get_details until FINISHED → ai_parser_parse_url for each page. See references/ai-parser.md.
13. Deep research? → google_search to find sources → scrape each relevant URL → synthesize.

Credit Cost Awareness

Always escalate gradually: standard → render → premium → ultraPremium. Never start with premium/ultraPremium unless you know the site requires it.

Key Best Practices

• Default outputFormat is "markdown" for the scrape tool — good for most reading tasks.
• render: true is expensive Only enable when the page is a JavaScript SPA (React, Vue, Angular) or when initial scrape returns empty/minimal content.
• premium and ultraPremium are mutually exclusive — never set both. ultraPremium cannot be combined with custom headers.
• Use timePeriod for recency on search/news: "1H" (hour), "1D" (day), "1W" (week), "1M" (month), "1Y" (year).
• Paginate with num + start, not page numbers. start is a result offset (e.g., start: 10 for page 2 with num: 10).
• Set countryCode when results should be localized (e.g., "us", "gb", "de").
• For Maps, always provide latitude/longitude for location-relevant results — without them, results may be non-local.
• Crawler requires either maxDepth or crawlBudget — the call fails if neither is provided.
• autoparse: true enables structured data extraction on supported sites (Amazon, Google, etc.). Required when using outputFormat: "json" or "csv". For a supported marketplace/SERP, prefer the dedicated SDE tool (e.g. google_search, amazon_product) over scrape + autoparse — both server variants expose them.

Handling Large Outputs

ScraperAPI results (especially from scrape) are often 1000+ lines. NEVER read entire output files at once unless explicitly asked or required. Instead:

1. Check file size first to decide your approach.
2. Use grep/search to find specific sections, keywords, or data points.
3. Use head or incremental reads (e.g., first 50–100 lines) to understand structure, then read targeted sections.
4. Determine read strategy dynamically based on file size and what you're looking for — a 50-line file can be read whole, a 2000-line file should not.

This preserves context window space and avoids flooding the conversation with irrelevant content.

Error Recovery

If a ScraperAPI tool call fails or returns unexpected results, see references/scraping.md for the full escalation strategy and error patterns table.

Tool References

• MCP server setup: See references/setup.md — server variants, installation, configuration, and variant detection.
• Scraping best practices: See references/scraping.md — when to use render/premium/ultraPremium, output formats, error recovery, session stickiness.
• Google search tools: See references/google.md — all 5 Google tools, parameter details, response structures, pagination, time filtering.
• Amazon SDE tools: See references/amazon.md — product details by ASIN, search, and seller offers/pricing.
• Walmart SDE tools: See references/walmart.md — search, product details, category browsing, and product reviews.
• eBay SDE tools: See references/ebay.md — search with filters and product details.
• Redfin SDE tools: See references/redfin.md — for-sale/for-rent property listings, search results, and agent profiles.
• Crawler tools: See references/crawler.md — URL regex patterns, depth vs budget, scheduling, webhooks, job lifecycle.
• AI Parser tools: See references/ai-parser.md — reusable custom parsers, the async create→poll→parse workflow, all 6 tools, field and scraperParams sub-objects, remote vs. local param naming.

Recipes

Step-by-step workflows for common use cases. Load the relevant recipe when the task matches.

• SERP & News monitoring: See recipes/serp-news-monitor.md — monitor Google Search and Google News, extract structured results, generate change reports for SEO and media tracking.