# Standby Keep-Alive Actor (`tobice/standby-keep-alive-actor`) Actor Achieve almost 100% availability of your Standby Actor by periodically starting a new run of the Actor. - **URL**: https://apify.com/tobice/standby-keep-alive-actor.md - **Developed by:** [Tobiáš Potoček](https://apify.com/tobice) (community) - **Categories:** Automation - **Stats:** 5 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage ## 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 ### Standby Keep-Alive Actor This Actor allows you to achieve almost 100% availability of your Standby Actor by periodically starting a new run of the Actor. **Note: This is an experimental Actor. Use at your own risk.** #### How it works Availability might be impacted by the two following mechanisms of the platform: - The platform shuts down all runs if there is no incoming traffic, causing the next incoming request to deal with the Actor cold start. - The platform needs to migrate runs between machines once in a while, during which the Standby run is not able to handle requests. This Actor can automatically start new Standby runs at given interval, which will ensure that there always is an instance. By configuring the interval right (see below), you can actually achieve arbitrary concurency, which should overcome the migration problem. For example, if you have always 2 runs running, it's very unlikely that both will be migrated at the same time. #### How to achieve desired concurrency Run concurrency will be the result of the combination of `intervalSecs` and the `idleTimeoutSecs` setting of the target Standby Actor. For example, if `idleTimeoutSecs` is `600` (a standby run will shut down after 10 minutes of inactivity), and you want to have always at least 3 concurrent runs, then you should set `intervalSecs` to roughly `200` (or rather less to be safe). Note that the standard Standby scaling mechanism will still work in the background. It'll scale up to accommodate incoming traffic, and then scale down when the traffic drops, but never below the desired concurrency maintained by this Actor. #### Input - `standbyActorId` (string, required) — ID or username/actor-name of the Standby Actor to run. - `intervalSecs` (number, default 60) — How often to start a new run (in seconds). - `runInput` (any, optional) — Input passed to the standby Actor. - `build` (string, optional) — Build tag/version for the standby Actor. - `memoryMbytes` (number, optional) — Memory override for the runs. # Actor input Schema ## `standbyActorId` (type: `string`): ID or username/actor-name of the Standby Actor to run (e.g., username/standby-actor). ## `intervalSecs` (type: `integer`): How often to start a new run of the standby Actor (minimum 1 second). ## `runInput` (type: `object`): Optional input to pass to the Standby Actor runs. Any JSON value is accepted. ## `build` (type: `string`): Optional build tag/version for the Standby Actor (e.g., latest, 0.1.23). ## `memoryMbytes` (type: `integer`): Optional memory override for the runs in megabytes. ## Actor input object example ```json { "standbyActorId": "username/standby-actor", "intervalSecs": 60 } ```` # 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 = { "standbyActorId": "username/standby-actor" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("tobice/standby-keep-alive-actor").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 = { "standbyActorId": "username/standby-actor" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("tobice/standby-keep-alive-actor").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 '{ "standbyActorId": "username/standby-actor" }' | apify call tobice/standby-keep-alive-actor --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=tobice/standby-keep-alive-actor", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Standby Keep-Alive Actor", "description": "Achieve almost 100% availability of your Standby Actor by periodically starting a new run of the Actor.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "hdVsEfLQ2tW4WNzfL" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/tobice~standby-keep-alive-actor/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-tobice-standby-keep-alive-actor", "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/tobice~standby-keep-alive-actor/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-tobice-standby-keep-alive-actor", "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/tobice~standby-keep-alive-actor/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-tobice-standby-keep-alive-actor", "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", "required": [ "standbyActorId" ], "properties": { "standbyActorId": { "title": "Standby Actor ID", "type": "string", "description": "ID or username/actor-name of the Standby Actor to run (e.g., username/standby-actor)." }, "intervalSecs": { "title": "Start interval (seconds)", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "How often to start a new run of the standby Actor (minimum 1 second).", "default": 60 }, "runInput": { "title": "Run input", "type": "object", "description": "Optional input to pass to the Standby Actor runs. Any JSON value is accepted." }, "build": { "title": "Build tag", "type": "string", "description": "Optional build tag/version for the Standby Actor (e.g., latest, 0.1.23)." }, "memoryMbytes": { "title": "Memory (MB)", "minimum": 128, "type": "integer", "description": "Optional memory override for the runs in megabytes." } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```