# Weibo Hot Search Scraper (`kjames2001/weibo-hot-search`) Actor

Scrape Weibo (微博) trending hot search topics in real-time. Get trending keywords, engagement counts, labels (新/热/沸), and rankings. No login required — uses public API.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/kjames2001/weibo-hot-search.md
- **Developed by:** [James Huang](https://apify.com/kjames2001) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, News
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 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

## 🔥 Weibo Hot Search Scraper | 微博热搜 & Chinese Trending Topics API

[![Apify Actor](https://img.shields.io/badge/Apify-Actor-blue)](https://apify.com/store)
[![Weibo](https://img.shields.io/badge/Weibo-微博-red)](https://weibo.com)
[![Node.js 20](https://img.shields.io/badge/Node.js-20-green)](https://nodejs.org)
[![Pay Per Event](https://img.shields.io/badge/Pricing-Pay_per_Event-orange)](https://apify.com/pricing)

> Scrape **Weibo (微博) trending hot search topics** in real-time. Get the top 50 **微博热搜榜** (Weibo hot search ranking) with trending keywords, engagement counts, labels (新/热/沸/爆), categories, and direct search URLs. The most reliable **weibo scraper** for **chinese social media trends** and **china market research** — no login required.

### Features

- 🔥 **Real-time trending topics** — fetch the current Weibo hot search list (微博热搜榜) on every run
- 📊 **Rich metadata per topic** — engagement counts (`num`), labels (新/热/沸/爆), categories (综艺/体育/财经…), ranking position, and topic flags
- 🔗 **Direct search URLs** — each topic includes a clickable `s.weibo.com` search URL
- 🏷️ **Promoted topics included** — government/promoted topics (`hotgovs`) are captured separately with `isPromoted: true`
- 🚫 **No login required** — uses the public `ajax/side/hotSearch` endpoint
- ⚡ **Fast & lightweight** — single API call, no browser, no pagination needed
- 🌐 **Proxy support** — optional Apify proxy configuration for access from outside China
- 📱 **Structured JSON output** — clean, ready for dashboards, ML pipelines, or databases

### Use Cases

- **Social media monitoring** — track what's trending on China's largest microblogging platform
- **Chinese market research** — understand real-time public discourse and trending topics in China
- **News aggregation** — supplement news feeds with Weibo trending stories
- **Sentiment analysis pipelines** — feed trending keywords into downstream sentiment analysis
- **Brand monitoring** — check if your brand or product appears in Weibo hot search
- **Content discovery** — find viral topics for content creation or curation
- **Academic research** — study Chinese social media trends and public opinion dynamics
- **Competitive intelligence** — monitor trending topics in your industry on Chinese social media
- **SEO & marketing** — discover trending keywords for Chinese market campaigns
- **Crisis detection** — catch negative trending topics about your brand early

### Input Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|---------|-------------|
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | No | `{ useApifyProxy: true }` | Apify proxy configuration. Use residential proxies if scraping from outside China. The public API works without proxy from most locations. |

### Output Fields

Each dataset item represents one hot search topic with the following fields:

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `rank` | integer | Ranking position on the hot search list (0-based for realtime, appended for promoted) |
| `realpos` | integer|null | Real position as reported by Weibo (may differ from rank for promoted topics) |
| `word` | string | Topic text / search keyword |
| `wordScheme` | string | Hashtag-formatted topic (e.g. `#话题#`) |
| `note` | string | Topic description or note text |
| `num` | integer | Engagement count (search/discussion volume) |
| `label` | string | Label tag (新=New, 热=Hot, 沸=Boiling, 爆=Explosive, etc.) |
| `iconDesc` | string | Icon description text |
| `iconDescColor` | string | Icon color (hex, e.g. `#ff3852`) |
| `category` | string | Topic category (综艺/体育/财经/社会/etc.) |
| `flag` | integer | Weibo internal flag (1=hot, 2=new, etc.) |
| `topicFlag` | integer | Weibo topic flag |
| `url` | string | Direct Weibo search URL for this topic |
| `isPromoted` | boolean | `true` if this is a promoted/government topic, `false` for organic hot search |
| `scrapedAt` | string | ISO timestamp of when the data was scraped |

### How It Works

1. **Single API call** — The actor calls Weibo's public `ajax/side/hotSearch` endpoint
2. **Parse response** — Extracts organic hot search (`data.realtime`) and promoted topics (`data.hotgovs`)
3. **Structure & enrich** — Each topic is enriched with rank position, category, label, and direct search URL
4. **JSON output** — Results saved to Apify dataset, ready for consumption

### Pricing

This Actor uses **Pay-Per-Event (PPE)** pricing:

| Event | Price | Description |
|-------|-------|-------------|
| `actor-start` | $0.005 | Charged once when the Actor starts |
| `topic-scraped` | $0.002 | Charged per hot search topic scraped |

**Typical cost:** A single run with ~50 trending topics costs approximately **$0.005 + (50 × $0.002) = $0.105**.

### Technical Details

- **API endpoint:** `https://weibo.com/ajax/side/hotSearch` (Weibo's public AJAX hot search endpoint)
- **No authentication:** The API works without login cookies or tokens
- **Headers required:** `User-Agent` (Chrome desktop), `Referer: https://weibo.com/`, `Accept: application/json`
- **Response format:** JSON with `data.realtime` (organic hot search) and `data.hotgovs` (promoted topics)
- **Runtime:** Node.js 20 on Apify platform
- **SDK:** Apify SDK v3 + Crawlee v3
- **Execution time:** Typically < 5 seconds per run

### Why Use This vs Alternatives?

| Feature | This Actor | Weibo Scraper (posts) | Weibo Hot Search Tracker | Chinese Brand Monitor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot search ranking (微博热搜) | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| 50 trending topics per run | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Heat values & labels | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Category classification | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Promoted topic detection | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| No login required | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Post/comment scraping | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Cross-platform | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Single API call (fast) | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |

### FAQ

<details>
<summary><b>How often does the Weibo hot search update?</b></summary>
Weibo's hot search list updates in real-time, typically every few minutes. Run the actor periodically (e.g., every 15-30 minutes) for continuous monitoring.
</details>

<details>
<summary><b>What do the labels (新/热/沸/爆) mean?</b></summary>
新 = New (recently trending), 热 = Hot, 沸 = Boiling (very hot), 爆 = Explosive (highest engagement). These are Weibo's official heat-level indicators.
</details>

<details>
<summary><b>What are promoted topics?</b></summary>
Weibo's hot search includes both organic trending topics and promoted/government topics. This actor captures both, with `isPromoted: true` for promoted entries so you can filter them.
</details>

<details>
<summary><b>Do I need a proxy?</b></summary>
The public API works without proxy from most locations. If you experience access issues from outside China, use residential proxies via Apify's proxy configuration.
</details>

<details>
<summary><b>Can I use this for sentiment analysis?</b></summary>
Yes. Use the `word` (topic keyword) field as input to a sentiment analysis actor, or pair with the Weibo Scraper to fetch posts about each trending topic for deeper analysis.
</details>

### Keywords

`weibo hot search` · `微博热搜` · `weibo trending` · `微博热搜榜` · `sina weibo scraper` · `chinese social media trends` · `weibo api` · `weibo data extraction` · `weibo scraper` · `sina weibo hot search` · `weibo trends api` · `weibo trending topics` · `微博趋势` · `chinese trending topics` · `weibo hot search api` · `china market research` · `weibo monitoring` · `chinese social listening` · `weibo public opinion` · `微博舆情` · `weibo rank tracker` · `weibo heat value` · `china social media monitoring` · `weibo real-time trends` · `微博实时热搜`

# Actor input Schema

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

Apify proxy configuration. Use residential proxies if scraping from outside China.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("kjames2001/weibo-hot-search").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 = { "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True } }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("kjames2001/weibo-hot-search").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 '{
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call kjames2001/weibo-hot-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=kjames2001/weibo-hot-search",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/9nXWvE1dWtbAFV3k4/builds/TE2SRHPiWSEhMtbK7/openapi.json