# Cnn Top Headlines (`runtime/cnn-top-headlines`) Actor Apify Actor that scrapes top headlines from CNN's homepage and article pages. - **URL**: https://apify.com/runtime/cnn-top-headlines.md - **Developed by:** [scraping automation](https://apify.com/runtime) (community) - **Categories:** News, E-commerce - **Stats:** 9 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 2 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $29.00/month + usage To use this Actor, you pay a monthly rental fee to the developer. The rent is subtracted from your prepaid usage every month after the free trial period.You also pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher Apify subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#rental-actors ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 ## CNN Top Headlines Scraper Actor This Apify actor scrapes the latest top news headlines from [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) or [CNN International](https://edition.cnn.com/), with optional extraction of full article details. ### Features - Extracts real news headlines from the CNN homepage or section pages - Optionally follows links to extract full article content, author, and publish date - Outputs clean, structured data for further processing or analysis ### Usage #### 1. Input Options Configure your run using the following input fields (see `.actor/input_schema.json` for details): | Field | Type | Description | Default | |------------------------|-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------| | `startUrls` | array | List of URLs to start scraping from (homepage or section pages) | `["https://www.cnn.com/"]` | | `maxHeadlines` | integer | Maximum number of headlines to extract and visit | `20` | | `includeArticleDetails`| boolean | If true, scrape full article details for each headline | `false` | Example input: ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://edition.cnn.com/" } ], "maxHeadlines": 10, "includeArticleDetails": true } ```` #### 2. Output Format Each result in the dataset will look like: **Headline only:** ```json { "title": "Superman’ smashes box office expectations, soaring towards $130 million opening", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/13/entertainment/superman-box-office-intl", "source": "CNN", "scrapedAt": "2025-07-13T12:56:40.535Z" } ``` **With article details (if enabled):** ```json { "title": "Superman’ smashes box office expectations, soaring towards $130 million opening", "content": "Full article text ...", "author": "CNN Staff", "publishedDate": "2025-07-13T10:00:00Z", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/13/entertainment/superman-box-office-intl", "source": "CNN", "scrapedAt": "2025-07-13T12:56:40.535Z" } ``` ### How It Works - The actor visits the provided start URL(s) and extracts up to `maxHeadlines` news headlines. - If `includeArticleDetails` is true, it follows each headline link and scrapes the article's content, author, and publish date. - Results are saved to the default Apify dataset for download in JSON, CSV, or Excel formats. ### Customization - To target a specific section (e.g., World, Business), set the appropriate `startUrls`. - Adjust `maxHeadlines` to control crawl depth. - Set `includeArticleDetails` to `true` for full article scraping. ### ⚠️ Important Notes 1. **Respect CNN's Terms of Service** - Use this Actor responsibly and in accordance with CNN's policies. 2. **Rate Limiting** - Avoid making too many requests in a short period to prevent overloading CNN's servers. 3. **Proxy Usage** - For large-scale scraping, consider using proxies to avoid IP blocking. 4. **Data Usage** - Ensure you have permission to use scraped data for your intended purpose. 5. **Public Content Only** - This Actor can only scrape publicly accessible CNN news articles. ### ⚖️ Legal Disclaimer This project is intended for educational and research purposes only. When using this Actor, please comply with CNN's Terms of Service and relevant robots.txt policies. Use this tool responsibly and avoid aggressive scraping that could negatively impact CNN's website infrastructure. ### 🔗 Related Actors - [Booking.com Hotel Scraper](https://apify.com/runtime/booking-scraper): Scrape hotel data, prices, ratings, and more from Booking.com with advanced anti-detection and flexible extraction limits. - [Product Hunt Scraper](https://apify.com/runtime/producthunt-scraper): Extract product listings, launch details, votes, and comments from Product Hunt for market research and trend analysis. # Actor input Schema ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): URLs to start scraping from. Defaults to CNN homepage. ## `maxHeadlines` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of headlines to extract per page. ## `includeArticleDetails` (type: `boolean`): Whether to scrape full article details when following links. ## Actor input object example ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.cnn.com/" } ], "maxHeadlines": 200, "includeArticleDetails": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `title` (type: `string`): The main headline or article title. ## `url` (type: `string`): Direct link to the news article. ## `source` (type: `string`): The news source (always 'CNN'). ## `scrapedAt` (type: `string`): Timestamp when the data was scraped. ## `content` (type: `string`): Full article text (if includeArticleDetails is true). ## `author` (type: `string`): Article author (if available). ## `publishedDate` (type: `string`): Date the article was published (if available). # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.cnn.com/" } ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("runtime/cnn-top-headlines").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.cnn.com/" }] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("runtime/cnn-top-headlines").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 '{ "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.cnn.com/" } ] }' | apify call runtime/cnn-top-headlines --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=runtime/cnn-top-headlines", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Cnn Top Headlines", "description": "Apify Actor that scrapes top headlines from CNN's homepage and article pages.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "hhXQtoCJRE3YkOT9d" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/runtime~cnn-top-headlines/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-runtime-cnn-top-headlines", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/runtime~cnn-top-headlines/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-runtime-cnn-top-headlines", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/runtime~cnn-top-headlines/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-runtime-cnn-top-headlines", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "startUrls": { "title": "Start URLs", "type": "array", "description": "URLs to start scraping from. Defaults to CNN homepage.", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "type": "string", "title": "URL of a web page", "format": "uri" } } } }, "maxHeadlines": { "title": "Maximum Headlines", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of headlines to extract per page.", "default": 200 }, "includeArticleDetails": { "title": "Include Article Details", "type": "boolean", "description": "Whether to scrape full article details when following links.", "default": false } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```