# CPAN Module Metadata Scraper (`klondikeking/cpan-module-scraper`) Actor

Extract metadata, dependencies, and reverse-dependency counts for Perl modules from CPAN via the MetaCPAN API.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/klondikeking/cpan-module-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Pierrick McD0nald](https://apify.com/klondikeking) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 module extracteds

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

## CPAN Module Metadata Scraper — Extract Perl Package Metadata, Dependencies & Reverse Dependencies

The CPAN Module Metadata Scraper extracts structured metadata for Perl distributions from the [Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN)](https://www.cpan.org/) via the public MetaCPAN API. It is built for developers, security researchers, and DevOps teams who need to inventory Perl dependencies, track release history, or monitor the open-source Perl ecosystem.

This Actor accepts a list of CPAN distribution names (e.g., `Moose`, `JSON`, `DBI`, `Dancer2`) and returns a clean dataset with version, author, license, release date, dependency counts, reverse-dependency counts, and source links. You can also supply a search query to discover related distributions through MetaCPAN autocomplete before extraction.

### Use Cases

- **Dependency inventory** — Audit all Perl modules used across your organization and export them to a spreadsheet or SIEM.
- **Supply-chain monitoring** — Track new releases, deprecation flags, and license changes for critical CPAN distributions.
- **Competitive research** — Compare reverse-dependency counts to identify the most widely used libraries in the Perl ecosystem.
- **Security triage** — Identify deprecated modules and outdated versions that may need upgrading or replacement.
- **Dataset creation** — Build a structured corpus of Perl package metadata for research, search, or internal tooling.

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `moduleNames` | Array | Yes | CPAN distribution names to scrape, e.g., `["Moose", "JSON", "DBI"]` |
| `searchQuery` | String | No | MetaCPAN autocomplete query used to discover additional distributions |
| `maxItems` | Number | No | Maximum results to output (default: 100) |
| `includeReverseDependencies` | Boolean | No | Fetch reverse-dependency counts for each distribution (default: true) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Object | No | Apify proxy configuration (recommended for production runs) |

### Output

The Actor outputs a dataset with one row per CPAN distribution:

```json
{
  "distribution": "Moose",
  "moduleName": "Moose",
  "version": "2.4000",
  "author": "ETHER",
  "abstract": "A postmodern object system for Perl 5",
  "license": "perl_5",
  "releaseDate": "2025-07-04T21:24:15",
  "downloadUrl": "https://cpan.metacpan.org/authors/id/E/ET/ETHER/Moose-2.4000.tar.gz",
  "homepageUrl": "http://moose.perl.org/",
  "repositoryUrl": "https://github.com/moose/Moose",
  "bugtrackerUrl": "https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Name=Moose",
  "dependencyCount": 42,
  "dependencyNames": "Carp, Class::Load, Data::OptList, ...",
  "reverseDependencyCount": 3122,
  "deprecated": false,
  "maturity": "released",
  "url": "https://metacpan.org/release/ETHER/Moose-2.4000"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.001 per module extracted**. The Actor charges only after successfully extracting metadata, so you never pay for failed or empty requests.

### Limitations

- The Actor relies on the public MetaCPAN API. Availability and rate limits are governed by MetaCPAN.
- Distribution names are treated as distribution names, not full module paths (e.g., `Moose` works, `Moose::Role` should be mapped to its parent distribution).
- Very large dependency lists are truncated to a comma-separated string in the output.
- Reverse-dependency counts require an additional API call per distribution.

### FAQ

**Q: Do I need a CPAN or MetaCPAN account?**
A: No. The public MetaCPAN API does not require authentication.

**Q: Can I scrape all CPAN distributions at once?**
A: The Actor is designed for targeted lists or autocomplete queries. Use `maxItems` to cap output and respect API limits.

**Q: Why are some fields empty?**
A: CPAN maintainers provide metadata voluntarily. If a field such as `homepageUrl` or `repositoryUrl` is missing from the upstream release, the output will be blank.

### Changelog

- **v1.0.0** — Initial release: distribution metadata, dependency counts, reverse-dependency counts, and source links.

# Actor input Schema

## `moduleNames` (type: `array`):

List of CPAN distribution names to scrape (e.g., Moose, JSON, DBI, Dancer2). Each name is treated as a distribution.

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Optional MetaCPAN autocomplete query. When provided, the Actor discovers distributions matching the query and merges them with the explicit module names above.

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

Maximum number of module records to output.

## `includeReverseDependencies` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch the number of distributions that depend on each scraped distribution. Adds one extra API call per result.

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

Select a proxy to route requests through. Residential proxies are recommended for high-volume runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "moduleNames": [
    "Moose",
    "JSON",
    "DBI"
  ],
  "searchQuery": "",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "includeReverseDependencies": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `stats` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "moduleNames": [
        "Moose",
        "JSON",
        "DBI"
    ],
    "searchQuery": "",
    "maxItems": 100,
    "includeReverseDependencies": true,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("klondikeking/cpan-module-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 = {
    "moduleNames": [
        "Moose",
        "JSON",
        "DBI",
    ],
    "searchQuery": "",
    "maxItems": 100,
    "includeReverseDependencies": True,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("klondikeking/cpan-module-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 '{
  "moduleNames": [
    "Moose",
    "JSON",
    "DBI"
  ],
  "searchQuery": "",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "includeReverseDependencies": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call klondikeking/cpan-module-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Lsvo9fTKOG1sU42Tq/builds/t9MDg8T2JIyOV2qLY/openapi.json