Apify Market Research
Pull live market, location, pricing, and social signals from Apify Actors so you can validate a niche before you build.
Overview
Apify Market Research is an agent skill most often used in Idea/research (also Validate/scope and Validate/pricing) that runs Apify Actors through mcpc to extract maps, trends, and social marketplace data for market vali
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/apify/agent-skills --skill apify-market-researchWhat is this skill?
- Five-step checklist: pick Actor → fetch schema with mcpc → user format prefs → run script → summarize findings
- Eight documented Actor paths for density (Google Places/Maps), trends, Facebook marketplace/events/groups/pages, plus Bo
- Schema-driven runs via `mcpc` against Apify Actors instead of hand-written scraper configs
- Requires `APIFY_TOKEN`, Node.js 20.6+ with `--env-file`, and global `mcpc` (`@apify/mcpc`)
- Outputs user-chosen format and filename after platform-specific extraction
- Five-step workflow checklist from Actor selection through summarized findings
- Eight Actor mappings listed in the market-research type table
- Prerequisites: Node.js 20.6+, global mcpc, and `.env` `APIFY_TOKEN`
Adoption & trust: 3.4k installs on skills.sh; 2.1k GitHub stars; 1/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You need current competitor density, pricing, and demand signals from real platforms, not guesswork from static articles or one-off manual searches.
Who is it for?
Solo builders with an Apify token who are comparing locations, niches, or price points using Google Maps, Trends, or Facebook-family scrapers before locking a build.
Skip if: Teams without Apify billing or `APIFY_TOKEN`, pure in-repo feature work with no external market question, or regulated scraping without your own compliance review.
When should I use this skill?
Analyze market conditions, geographic opportunities, pricing, consumer behavior, and product validation across Google Maps, Facebook, Instagram, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You get a structured Actor run, exported dataset in your chosen format, and an agent-written summary you can feed into scoping, pricing, or landing-page decisions.
- Actor run output in user-selected format and filename
- Agent summary of market findings from the analysis script step
- Documented Actor choice and schema-backed input parameters
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Market density, trends, and landscape scraping is how solo builders research opportunities before committing to a product direction. The skill is built for exploratory market research—maps density, trends, and platform scrapers—not for shipping code or running production ops.
Where it fits
Map gym or café density with `compass/crawler-google-places` before picking a city for a local SaaS.
Scrape Facebook business pages to list incumbent positioning in a vertical you are considering.
Pull Facebook Marketplace listings to anchor a pricing hypothesis for a physical or resale-adjacent product.
Use Google Trends output to narrow feature scope to regions with rising search interest.
Reuse event or group scrapes to draft content angles grounded in what communities actually discuss—still as research, not live ops analytics.
How it compares
Use this Apify Actor integration skill instead of asking the agent to invent scrapers or rely on stale SEO articles for market facts.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is apify-market-research for?
Indie and solo builders using Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex who already use or can add Apify and want agent-guided market pulls from maps and social commerce sources.
When should I use apify-market-research?
During Idea/research for density and trends, Validate/scope to size a niche, and Validate/pricing when Facebook Marketplace or comparable Actor data informs price tests—before you commit engineering time.
Is apify-market-research safe to install?
It needs network access, shell, and a secret `APIFY_TOKEN`; review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and Apify’s terms for each target platform before running production-scale scrapes.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Apify Market Research
# Market Research Conduct market research using Apify Actors to extract data from multiple platforms. ## Prerequisites (No need to check it upfront) - `.env` file with `APIFY_TOKEN` - Node.js 20.6+ (for native `--env-file` support) - `mcpc` CLI tool: `npm install -g @apify/mcpc` ## Workflow Copy this checklist and track progress: ``` Task Progress: - [ ] Step 1: Identify market research type (select Actor) - [ ] Step 2: Fetch Actor schema via mcpc - [ ] Step 3: Ask user preferences (format, filename) - [ ] Step 4: Run the analysis script - [ ] Step 5: Summarize findings ``` ### Step 1: Identify Market Research Type Select the appropriate Actor based on research needs: | User Need | Actor ID | Best For | |-----------|----------|----------| | Market density | `compass/crawler-google-places` | Location analysis | | Geospatial analysis | `compass/google-maps-extractor` | Business mapping | | Regional interest | `apify/google-trends-scraper` | Trend data | | Pricing and demand | `apify/facebook-marketplace-scraper` | Market pricing | | Event market | `apify/facebook-events-scraper` | Event analysis | | Consumer needs | `apify/facebook-groups-scraper` | Group research | | Market landscape | `apify/facebook-pages-scraper` | Business pages | | Business density | `apify/facebook-page-contact-information` | Contact data | | Cultural insights | `apify/facebook-photos-scraper` | Visual research | | Niche targeting | `apify/instagram-hashtag-scraper` | Hashtag research | | Hashtag stats | `apify/instagram-hashtag-stats` | Market sizing | | Market activity | `apify/instagram-reel-scraper` | Activity analysis | | Market intelligence | `apify/instagram-scraper` | Full data | | Product launch research | `apify/instagram-api-scraper` | API access | | Hospitality market | `voyager/booking-scraper` | Hotel data | | Tourism insights | `maxcopell/tripadvisor-reviews` | Review analysis | ### Step 2: Fetch Actor Schema Fetch the Actor's input schema and details dynamically using mcpc: ```bash export $(grep APIFY_TOKEN .env | xargs) && mcpc --json mcp.apify.com --header "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" tools-call fetch-actor-details actor:="ACTOR_ID" | jq -r ".content" ``` Replace `ACTOR_ID` with the selected Actor (e.g., `compass/crawler-google-places`). This returns: - Actor description and README - Required and optional input parameters - Output fields (if available) ### Step 3: Ask User Preferences Before running, ask: 1. **Output format**: - **Quick answer** - Display top few results in chat (no file saved) - **CSV** - Full export with all fields - **JSON** - Full export in JSON format 2. **Number of results**: Based on character of use case ### Step 4: Run the Script **Quick answer (display in chat, no file):** ```bash node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \ --actor "ACTOR_ID" \ --input 'JSON_INPUT' ``` **CSV:** ```bash node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \ --actor "ACTOR_ID" \ --input 'JSON_INPUT' \ --output YYYY-MM-DD_OUTPUT_FILE.csv \ --format csv ``` **JSON:** ```bash node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \ --actor "ACTOR_ID" \ --input 'JSON_INPUT' \ --output YYYY-MM-DD_OUTPUT_FILE.json \ --format json ``` ### Step 5: Summarize Findings After completion, report: - Number of results found - File location and name - Key market insights - Suggested next steps (deeper analysis, validation) ## Error Handling `APIFY_TOKEN not found` - Ask user to create `.env` with `APIFY_TOKEN=your_token` `mcpc not found` - Ask user to install `npm install -g @apify/mcpc` `Actor not found` - Check Actor ID spelling `Run FAILED` - Ask user to check Apify console link in error ou