# Sitemap URL Extractor & Filter (`knotted_tussock/sitemap-url-extractor-filter`) Actor

Extract, filter, and export URLs from sitemap.xml files for SEO audits, crawler seeding, RAG pipelines, and site intelligence.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/knotted\_tussock/sitemap-url-extractor-filter.md
- **Developed by:** [Ralph T](https://apify.com/knotted_tussock) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Developer tools, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.25 / 1,000 url results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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

## Sitemap URL Extractor & Filter

Extract, filter, and export URLs from `sitemap.xml` files for SEO audits, crawler seeding, RAG ingestion, competitive research, and website intelligence workflows.

### What it does

- Starts from one or more sitemap XML URLs.
- Supports sitemap indexes and nested sitemap files.
- Extracts page URLs plus `lastmod`, `changefreq`, and `priority` when present.
- Applies include/exclude regex filters before export.
- Deduplicates URLs.
- Outputs a clean dataset view ready for CSV, JSON, or downstream Apify Actors.

### Best for

- Preparing URL lists for RAG crawlers.
- Seeding Apify crawlers with filtered URLs.
- SEO audits and site inventory checks.
- Finding docs/blog/product URLs from large sites.
- Competitive content monitoring.

### Input example

```json
{
  "sitemapUrls": ["https://docs.apify.com/sitemap.xml"],
  "includePatterns": ["^https://docs\\.apify\\.com/platform/actors"],
  "excludePatterns": ["/login", "/signup", "#"],
  "maxUrls": 1000,
  "maxSitemaps": 100,
  "sameDomainOnly": true
}
```

### Output

Each dataset item is one filtered URL:

```json
{
  "url": "https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors",
  "sitemapUrl": "https://docs.apify.com/sitemap.xml",
  "rootSitemapUrl": "https://docs.apify.com/sitemap.xml",
  "hostname": "docs.apify.com",
  "path": "/platform/actors",
  "lastmod": "2026-07-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "changefreq": "weekly",
  "priority": 0.8,
  "discoveredAt": "2026-07-04T00:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Notes

- Keep `maxUrls` low for first runs, inspect the output, then scale up.
- For very large sitemap indexes, use include/exclude patterns to avoid exporting irrelevant URLs.
- This Actor extracts URLs only; pair it with a crawler Actor when you need page content.

# Actor input Schema

## `sitemapUrls` (type: `array`):

One or more sitemap.xml or sitemap index URLs.

## `includePatterns` (type: `array`):

Optional regex patterns. If set, only URLs matching at least one pattern are exported.

## `excludePatterns` (type: `array`):

Regex patterns for URLs to skip.

## `maxUrls` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of page URLs to export across all sitemaps.

## `maxSitemaps` (type: `integer`):

Maximum sitemap XML files to fetch, including nested sitemap indexes.

## `sameDomainOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only export URLs from the same hostname as the sitemap that supplied them.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sitemapUrls": [
    "https://docs.apify.com/sitemap.xml"
  ],
  "includePatterns": [],
  "excludePatterns": [
    "/login",
    "/signup",
    "#"
  ],
  "maxUrls": 1000,
  "maxSitemaps": 100,
  "sameDomainOnly": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `urls` (type: `string`):

Filtered sitemap URLs in the default dataset.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Summary JSON with sitemap and URL counts.

# 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 = {
    "sitemapUrls": [
        "https://docs.apify.com/sitemap.xml"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("knotted_tussock/sitemap-url-extractor-filter").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 = { "sitemapUrls": ["https://docs.apify.com/sitemap.xml"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("knotted_tussock/sitemap-url-extractor-filter").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 '{
  "sitemapUrls": [
    "https://docs.apify.com/sitemap.xml"
  ]
}' |
apify call knotted_tussock/sitemap-url-extractor-filter --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=knotted_tussock/sitemap-url-extractor-filter",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/0ZfBMSZGamNKfuqZQ/builds/rfpv0DUdrKCN89hxx/openapi.json