# 💬 WeChat Channels Channels Scraper (`ethereal_wool/wechat-channels-scraper`) Actor

Extract WeChat Channels channels data — title, likes, author, and more. Scrape by keyword, URL or ID. Export to JSON, CSV & Excel, use the API, schedule runs and integrate. No code required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ethereal\_wool/wechat-channels-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Jackie Chen](https://apify.com/ethereal_wool) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Videos
- **Stats:** 26 total users, 7 monthly users, 99.7% runs succeeded, 2 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

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/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

## WeChat Channels (视频号) Scraper

![wechat-channels-scraper](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/48FFrfZnw5XqzUC1C/records/wechat-channels-scraper__hero)

Scrape **WeChat Channels (视频号)** by **keyword** or video ID — search videos,
find channel accounts, and fetch full video detail. Multi-result searches are live
now; one-call detail auto-activates on **July 26, 2026 at 05:00 UTC**, when its
separate $0.02 cost-covering event becomes active.

> **Unofficial.** This Actor is not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by WeChat,
> Weixin Channels (微信视频号), or Tencent. It is an independent tool that retrieves
> publicly available data via a third-party API. Use it in compliance with WeChat's terms
> and all applicable laws; you are responsible for how you use the retrieved data.

### What it does

- **Video keyword search** — give one or more keywords to search 视频号 videos. Choose
  `comprehensive` (relevance), `latest` (newest first), or `both`. Returns a preview per
  video: id, title, channel name, like/comment counts and cover URL.
- **Channel/account search** — give keywords to find matching WeChat accounts. Returns
  account name, description and avatar.
- **Video detail (scheduled)** — from July 26, use numeric IDs or exportIds from
  search output to fetch full engagement and media metadata. Earlier requests fail
  before making a paid upstream call.

All modes can be combined in a single run. Results are de-duplicated by id and
capped at `maxItems`.

### Requirements

This Actor calls a third-party WeChat search API. The managed deployment supplies
the required API credential.

Self-hosted copies need access to the provider's `wechat_search` and
`wechat_channels` API scopes.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `searchKeywords` | string\[] | `[]` | Keywords to search videos. Chinese keywords return the most results. |
| `searchType` | enum | `comprehensive` | `comprehensive` / `latest` / `both` video ranking. |
| `userKeywords` | string\[] | `[]` | Keywords to search channel accounts. |
| `videoIds` | string\[] | `[]` | Numeric IDs or exportIds for full video detail. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `50` | Max total items across all modes. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "searchKeywords": ["美食", "健身"],
  "searchType": "both",
  "userKeywords": ["美食"],
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

### Output

One dataset item per search result:

```json
{
  "type": "video",
  "id": "14941130915890399732",
  "objectId": "14941130915890399732",
  "exportId": "export/UzFf...",
  "title": "土菜中的农家一碗香 #辣椒炒肉",
  "publishTime": 1780571202,
  "likeCount": 53,
  "commentCount": 7,
  "coverUrl": "https://findermp.video.qq.com/...",
  "author": { "username": "v2_...@finder", "nickname": "湖南最生活" },
  "source": "search:美食:comprehensive"
}
```

A channel-search item has `type: "channel"` with `username`, `nickname`, `description`
and `avatarUrl`.

After the scheduled activation, a video-detail item has `type: "videoDetail"` and
adds full engagement counts, region, duration, media URL, decode key, file size and
encryption metadata. Each delivered detail charges one `video-detail` event at $0.02.

### Notes

- Data is sourced live; WeChat occasionally rate-limits, so the Actor retries transient
  blocks with exponential backoff.
- IDs are de-duplicated within a run.

# Actor input Schema

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

Keywords to search WeChat Channels videos for. Each keyword is searched independently. Chinese keywords return the most results.

## `searchType` (type: `string`):

How to rank video-search results. 'comprehensive' = relevance; 'latest' = newest first; 'both' = run both and merge.

## `userKeywords` (type: `array`):

Keywords to search WeChat accounts for. Returns matching accounts with name, description and avatar. Requires the 'wechat\_search' scope on the upstream API credential.

## `videoIds` (type: `array`):

Fetch full video detail and media metadata for numeric ids or exportIds from search output. Scheduled to activate on July 26, 2026 with a separate $0.02 video-detail event; requests fail before upstream spend until then.

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

Maximum total number of items to scrape across all modes.

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

Optional. Route the upstream API calls through an Apify Proxy to vary the source IP. Usually not needed.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchKeywords": [
    "美食"
  ],
  "searchType": "comprehensive",
  "userKeywords": [],
  "videoIds": [],
  "maxItems": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "searchKeywords": [
        "美食"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ethereal_wool/wechat-channels-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 = { "searchKeywords": ["美食"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ethereal_wool/wechat-channels-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 '{
  "searchKeywords": [
    "美食"
  ]
}' |
apify call ethereal_wool/wechat-channels-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/iU99n2gnOaUHpPXsm/builds/DqkYEzoTxOVtSJzca/openapi.json