# RubyGems Scraper (`crawlergang/rubygems-scraper`) Actor

Scrape RubyGems.org, Ruby community gem hosting with 170K+ gems. Search gems by keyword, fetch gem details, get all gems by a user/owner, or browse recent activity.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlergang/rubygems-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Crawler Gang](https://apify.com/crawlergang) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 11 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## RubyGems Scraper

Scrape **RubyGems.org** — the Ruby community's official gem hosting service with 170,000+ published gems. Search by keyword, fetch a specific gem, retrieve all gems by a user/owner, or browse recently published or updated gems.

No API key, login, or proxy required. Uses the free public RubyGems REST API.

### Features

- **Search** gems by keyword with pagination
- **Fetch a specific gem** by exact name
- **List all gems by a user or organization owner**
- **Browse recent activity** — 20 most recently published or updated gems

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `mode` | select | `search` / `byGem` / `byUser` / `recentActivity` |
| `query` | string | Search keyword (mode=search) |
| `gemName` | string | Exact gem name (mode=byGem) |
| `username` | string | RubyGems username or owner handle (mode=byUser) |
| `activityType` | select | `latest` or `justUpdated` (mode=recentActivity) |
| `maxItems` | integer | Max records to emit (1–5000, default 50) |

#### Example inputs

**Search gems:**

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "query": "rails",
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

**Fetch a specific gem:**

```json
{
  "mode": "byGem",
  "gemName": "sidekiq"
}
```

**Get all gems by a user:**

```json
{
  "mode": "byUser",
  "username": "matz"
}
```

**Browse recent activity:**

```json
{
  "mode": "recentActivity",
  "activityType": "justUpdated"
}
```

### Output

Each record contains:

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `name` | string | Gem name |
| `version` | string | Latest version number |
| `authors` | string\[] | List of author names |
| `description` | string | Gem description / info |
| `downloads` | integer | Total all-time downloads |
| `versionDownloads` | integer | Downloads for this version |
| `licenses` | string\[] | SPDX license identifiers |
| `platform` | string | Target platform (usually `ruby`) |
| `createdAt` | string | ISO timestamp of this version release |
| `projectUri` | string | RubyGems.org gem page URL |
| `gemUri` | string | Direct .gem download URL |
| `homepageUri` | string | Project homepage URL |
| `sourceCodeUri` | string | Source code repository URL |
| `documentationUri` | string | Documentation site URL |
| `scrapedAt` | string | ISO timestamp when record was scraped |

#### Example record

```json
{
  "name": "rails",
  "version": "7.1.3",
  "authors": ["David Heinemeier Hansson"],
  "description": "Ruby on Rails is a full-stack web framework optimized for programmer happiness.",
  "downloads": 500000000,
  "versionDownloads": 1000000,
  "licenses": ["MIT"],
  "platform": "ruby",
  "createdAt": "2024-01-16T00:00:00.000Z",
  "projectUri": "https://rubygems.org/gems/rails",
  "homepageUri": "https://rubyonrails.org",
  "sourceCodeUri": "https://github.com/rails/rails",
  "documentationUri": "https://api.rubyonrails.org",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-05-25T10:00:00+00:00"
}
```

### FAQs

**Does this require an API key or login?**
No. The RubyGems public API is freely accessible without authentication.

**Is there a rate limit?**
RubyGems enforces approximately 300 requests per 5 minutes. This actor automatically paginates with a 1-second delay between pages to stay within limits.

**How many results can I get?**

- Search mode: up to 5000 results (paginated at 30 per page)
- byUser mode: all gems owned by the user (no pagination needed)
- recentActivity mode: always returns 20 gems (API limit)

**What is the difference between `latest` and `justUpdated`?**

- `latest` — gems that were published for the first time most recently
- `justUpdated` — gems that had a new version release most recently

**Can I get all versions of a gem?**
The scraper returns the latest version metadata. For full version history, use mode=byGem which fetches the latest gem info including version.

**Which fields are always present?**
`name` and `scrapedAt` are always populated. All other fields are omitted if not available for a gem.

# Actor input Schema

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

What to fetch from RubyGems.org.

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

Keyword to search for (mode=search). Example: rails, rspec, nokogiri.

## `gemName` (type: `string`):

Exact gem name to fetch details for (mode=byGem). Example: rails, devise, sidekiq.

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

RubyGems username or handle to fetch all owned gems (mode=byUser). Example: matz, tenderlove.

## `activityType` (type: `string`):

Which activity feed to fetch (mode=recentActivity).

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

Hard cap on emitted records (applies to search and byUser modes).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "query": "rails",
  "gemName": "rails",
  "username": "tenderlove",
  "activityType": "latest",
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `gems` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing all scraped RubyGems records.

# 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 = {
    "mode": "search",
    "query": "rails",
    "gemName": "rails",
    "username": "tenderlove",
    "activityType": "latest",
    "maxItems": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("crawlergang/rubygems-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 = {
    "mode": "search",
    "query": "rails",
    "gemName": "rails",
    "username": "tenderlove",
    "activityType": "latest",
    "maxItems": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("crawlergang/rubygems-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "mode": "search",
  "query": "rails",
  "gemName": "rails",
  "username": "tenderlove",
  "activityType": "latest",
  "maxItems": 50
}' |
apify call crawlergang/rubygems-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=crawlergang/rubygems-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/IYebdtJUkXisCLYeW/builds/YQbQkyeomSsyL2GUi/openapi.json