# Dev.to Articles — by Tag, Author or Top (`omao/dev-to`) Actor

Fetch Dev.to articles by tag, author or top-of-period into clean JSON: title, description, URL, tags, reactions, comments, reading time, author and cover image. Powered by the public Dev.to (Forem) API. No API key, no anti-bot.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/omao/dev-to.md
- **Developed by:** [Marouane Oulabass](https://apify.com/omao) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 articles

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

## Dev.to Articles — by Tag, Author or Top to JSON

**Fetch Dev.to articles by tag, author or top-of-period — as clean JSON.** Pass tags or usernames (or ask for the top articles of the last N days) and get back a tidy row per article: title, description, URL, tags, reactions, comments, reading time, author and cover image. Powered by the public Dev.to (Forem) API — no API key, no anti-bot.

The easy way to build developer-content datasets for monitoring, curation and AI.

### Who uses this

- 🧑‍💻 **Developers & DevRel** — monitor what's trending in your tech niche.
- 📰 **Content curators & newsletters** — pull top articles by tag automatically.
- 🤖 **AI / LLM pipelines** — build datasets of technical writing.
- 📊 **Researchers & marketers** — track topics, authors and engagement.
- 🏢 **Communities & orgs** — follow articles from your team or tags.

### What you get — one clean row per article

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `title` | Article title |
| `description` | Summary |
| `url` + `canonicalUrl` | Links |
| `tags` | Article tags |
| `reactions` | Reaction count |
| `comments` | Comment count |
| `readingTimeMinutes` | Reading time |
| `author` + `authorUsername` | Author |
| `organization` | Publishing org (if any) |
| `coverImage` + `socialImage` | Images |
| `publishedAt`, `scrapedAt` | Dates & provenance |

### Example

**Input**

```json
{ "tags": ["python", "webdev"], "usernames": ["ben"], "topDays": 7, "maxResultsPerSource": 40 }
```

**Output (one item)**

```json
{
  "id": 1234567,
  "title": "10 Python tricks you should know",
  "description": "A quick tour of underrated Python features...",
  "url": "https://dev.to/someone/10-python-tricks",
  "tags": ["python", "beginners"],
  "reactions": 342, "comments": 27, "readingTimeMinutes": 5,
  "authorUsername": "someone", "publishedAt": "2026-07-10T09:00:00Z"
}
```

### Why this actor

- ✅ **Official source** — the Dev.to (Forem) API, always current.
- 🏷️ **Three ways in** — by tag, by author, or top-of-period.
- ❤️ **Engagement metrics** — reactions, comments and reading time.
- 🖼️ **Images included** — cover and social images.
- ⚡ **Fast & affordable** — pay only per article returned. No key, no anti-bot.

### Input options

- `tags` — fetch articles for these tags.
- `usernames` — fetch articles by these authors.
- `topDays` — fetch the top articles of the last N days.
- `maxResultsPerSource` — cap articles per tag/author.

### FAQ

**By tag or by author?** Both — pass `tags`, `usernames`, or use `topDays` for top articles.

**Can I get the most popular articles?** Yes — set `topDays` to fetch the top of that period.

**Do I get engagement stats?** Yes — `reactions`, `comments` and `readingTimeMinutes` are included.

**How fresh is the data?** Live from the Dev.to API on every run.

**Can I export to CSV/Excel/Google Sheets?** Yes — the dataset exports to JSON, CSV, Excel and HTML, or pull it via the API.

**What does it cost?** Pay-per-article — you're only charged for articles actually returned.

***

*Tip: schedule this on your key tags to auto-populate a newsletter or a trending-content dashboard.*

# Actor input Schema

## `tags` (type: `array`):

Fetch latest articles for these Dev.to tags.

## `usernames` (type: `array`):

Fetch articles by these Dev.to usernames.

## `topDays` (type: `integer`):

Return most popular articles over the last N days (applies to tag queries).

## `maxResultsPerSource` (type: `integer`):

Cap the number of articles per tag or username.

## `healthCheckMode` (type: `boolean`):

Internal monitoring: fetch canary articles and FAIL if broken (no billing).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "tags": [
    "javascript",
    "webdev"
  ],
  "usernames": [
    "ben"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerSource": 40,
  "healthCheckMode": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `articles` (type: `string`):

All Dev.to articles (title, tags, reactions, comments, author, URL).

# 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 = {
    "tags": [
        "python"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("omao/dev-to").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 = { "tags": ["python"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("omao/dev-to").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 '{
  "tags": [
    "python"
  ]
}' |
apify call omao/dev-to --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/brLcSuadG0tRa5UHZ/builds/87spf5AhKPiPONeDS/openapi.json