Official agent skill

Apify CLI

Patterns for invoking the Apify CLI (apify) from agents. An agent skill from apify/apify-cli.

OfficialApache-2.0Auto-check passedData & Analytics

Install Apify CLI

skills CLI

$ npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install apify/apify-cli apify-cli --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/apify/apify-cli.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/apify .claude/skills/apify-cli && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "apify-cli" agent skill from https://github.com/apify/apify-cli/tree/master/skills/apify into .claude/skills/apify-cli/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "apify-cli", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/apify/apify-cli/tree/master/skills/apify

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install apify/apify-cli apify-cli --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/apify/apify-cli.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/apify .agents/skills/apify-cli && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "apify-cli" agent skill from https://github.com/apify/apify-cli/tree/master/skills/apify into .agents/skills/apify-cli/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "apify-cli", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install apify/apify-cli apify-cli --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/apify/apify-cli.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/apify .cursor/skills/apify-cli && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "apify-cli" agent skill from https://github.com/apify/apify-cli/tree/master/skills/apify into .cursor/skills/apify-cli/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "apify-cli", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/apify/apify-cli.git --path skills/apify

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install apify/apify-cli apify-cli --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/apify/apify-cli.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/apify .gemini/skills/apify-cli && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "apify-cli" agent skill from https://github.com/apify/apify-cli/tree/master/skills/apify into .gemini/skills/apify-cli/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "apify-cli", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install apify/apify-cli apify-cli

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/apify/apify-cli.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/apify .github/skills/apify-cli && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "apify-cli" agent skill from https://github.com/apify/apify-cli/tree/master/skills/apify into .github/skills/apify-cli/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "apify-cli", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install apify/apify-cli apify-cli --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/apify/apify-cli.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/apify .opencode/skills/apify-cli && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "apify-cli" agent skill from https://github.com/apify/apify-cli/tree/master/skills/apify into .opencode/skills/apify-cli/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "apify-cli", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: apify-cli
GitHub stars: 255
Token cost: ~1.5k tokens
SKILL.md length: 591 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 1
Repo updated: Oct 6, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

Patterns for invoking the Apify CLI (apify) from agents. An agent skill from apify/apify-cli.

Tasks that involve Web scraping
SKILL.md covers Start here, Non-interactive use, Auth and Structured output, plus 3 more sections
Reaches raw.githubusercontent.com; needs APIFY_TOKEN

What it does

Apify CLI is an agent skill from apify/apify-cli, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Patterns for invoking the Apify CLI (apify) from agents. Covers authentication, creating/running/pushing Actors, calling Actors in the cloud, and reading results from datasets and key-value stores.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.5k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Data & Analytics, covering Web scraping. It works with Apify and Puppeteer. The repository describes itself as: Apify command-line interface helps you create, develop, build and run Apify Actors, and manage the Apify cloud platform. The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

Tasks that involve Web scraping

Example prompts

“Use the apify-cli skill to pattern for invoking the Apify CLI (apify) from agents. An agent skill from apify/apify-cli”
“/apify-cli”

Requirements

A credential in APIFY_TOKEN

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit e79c9df. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are bash).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:
- raw.githubusercontent.com
Also links to:
- apify.com
- console.apify.com
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:
- APIFY_TOKEN
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Apify CLI loads about 1.5k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 52 tokens; SKILL.md has 591 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~52
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.5k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from apify/apify-cli at commit e79c9df, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© apify). 591 words, ~1,530 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/apify-cli/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: apify-cli
description: Patterns for invoking the Apify CLI (`apify`) from agents. Covers authentication, creating/running/pushing Actors, calling Actors in the cloud, and reading results from datasets and key-value stores.

Start here

Run apify -h first to see the available commands and global options, then apify <command> -h (e.g. apify call -h) for the args and flags of a specific command. This is the source of truth — prefer it over assumptions.

Non-interactive use

Many commands prompt when run interactively. To run without prompts, pass every required argument and flag explicitly:

apify create <name> --template <template> — skip the create wizard.
apify init <name> — skip the init prompt.
-y / --yes on destructive commands (apify actors rm, etc.) — auto-confirm.
apify login --token <token> — log in without the interactive token prompt.

If a command's help shows an "interactive note", it lists exactly which flags make it non-interactive.

Auth

See https://apify.com/auth.md for how to authenticate. Do not assume APIFY_TOKEN is already set in the environment and use it implicitly — confirm with the user first.

APIFY_TOKEN wins over a stored login, for every command. When it is set, apify login refuses to run unless --token passes the same token — unset APIFY_TOKEN first, or skip the login.

Persist a session explicitly: apify login --token <token>. Exits non-zero on a rejected token, so apify login --token <t> && apify push is safe to chain.
Verify auth: apify info (prints the username, user ID, and which source the token came from; non-zero exit / error if not authenticated).
Print the token in use: apify auth token (the APIFY_TOKEN one when set, otherwise the stored login's).

Structured output

--json is supported on most list/info commands (apify actors ls --json, apify actors info <id> --json, apify datasets info <id> --json, apify runs ls --json, etc.). Use it and parse with jq; don't scrape the human table.
apify create <name> --template <template> --json prints { dir, actorJsonPath, template, source, nextSteps, postCreate, gitRepositoryInitialized } on stdout. Everything else goes to stderr, so stdout is safe to pipe into jq. postCreate is non-null when the template needs extra setup before apify run works.
List commands paginate — control with --limit / --offset (and --desc).
Dataset items: apify datasets get-items <datasetId> --format json. Use --limit / --offset.

Show full SKILL.md (256 more words)Show less

Core workflows

Discover Actors in the Apify Store

Before assuming an Actor name or scripting a raw Store query, search for an existing Actor:

apify actors search "jobs scraper" --json                 # no auth required
apify actors search "ai" --pricing-model FREE --sort-by popularity --limit 5

Run apify actors search -h to see the available filters (pricing model, category, username, sort order, pagination) and their accepted values.

Pricing matters, but weigh it alongside popularity, rating, and how well-maintained the Actor is — don't pick a FREE Actor over a well-supported, popular, highly-rated one just because it's free. Check an Actor's pricing before running it with apify actors info <actor> --json (look at currentPricingInfo).

Develop and deploy a local Actor

apify create my-actor --template <template>     # or run `apify create` and pick interactively
# template names: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apify/actor-templates/master/templates/manifest.json
cd my-actor
apify run                                        # run locally; --input / --input-file - for input
apify push                                       # build & deploy to the platform

Run an Actor in the cloud and get results

apify call apify/website-content-crawler -i '{"startUrls":[{"url":"https://example.com"}]}' --json
# or non-blocking: apify actors start <actor> --json   (returns run details immediately)
# inspect input schema first: apify actors info <actor> --input

Non-obvious apify call flags: -f - reads input from stdin; -o/--output-dataset prints the result dataset. Run apify call -h for the full list.

Wait for and inspect runs/builds

apify runs ls --json
apify runs info <runId> --json
apify runs wait <runId>          # block until finished
apify runs log <runId>
apify builds wait <buildId>

Storage

apify datasets get-items <datasetId> --format json
apify key-value-stores get-value <storeId> <key>
apify key-value-stores set-value <storeId> <key> <value>
apify key-value-stores keys <storeId> --json

Scheduling and recurring runs

For anything recurring or unattended (e.g. "run every 15 minutes"), use the Apify platform — not local cron, a while loop, or GitHub Actions. Apify Schedules run in the cloud, so they keep firing after your laptop, terminal, or agent session is shut down.

Save a reusable input config as a task, then run it: apify task run <taskId>.
There is no dedicated apify schedules command yet — manage schedules via apify api against the schedules endpoint, or in the Console (https://console.apify.com/schedules):

apify api GET schedules
apify api POST schedules -d '{"name":"jobs-every-15m","cronExpression":"*/15 * * * *","isEnabled":true,"actions":[{"type":"RUN_ACTOR","actorId":"<actorId>","runInput":{"body":"<json>","contentType":"application/json"}}]}'

Escape hatch: `apify api`

Any platform capability without a dedicated command is reachable via the authenticated API wrapper (use this instead of hand-rolling curl against api.apify.com — it injects auth for you):

apify api --list-endpoints                 # discover endpoints (filter with -s "<tokens>")
apify api --describe "actor-runs/{runId}"  # methods, summary, path params for an endpoint
apify api GET /v2/users/me                 # GET is the default method
apify api POST acts -d '<json>' -p '{"limit":1}'   # -d body (use - for stdin), -p query params

The v2/ prefix and leading slash are optional.

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/apify of apify/apify-cli.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit e79c9df

Compare with similar skills

Apify CLI next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Apify CLI compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Apify CLI this skillapify/apify-cli	255	—	~1.5k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	yesterday
Chrome Devtoolseinverne/dotfiles	121	1 repos	~1.6k	Automated safety check: Notes	Apache-2.0	28 days ago
Optimize Button Patternsduckduckgo/tracker-radar-collector	169	—	~1.6k	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	yesterday
Apify Collectextrasmall0/dear-hiring-manager	111	—	~1.1k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	2 mo ago
Blog Feed Monitorgooseworks-ai/goose-skills	1.2k	1 repos	~578	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Apify Product Data Setupapify/awesome-skills	262	1 repos	~2k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	14 days ago

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Works with

Questions about Apify CLI

What does Apify CLI do?

Patterns for invoking the Apify CLI (apify) from agents. An agent skill from apify/apify-cli. Apify CLI is an agent skill from apify/apify-cli, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Patterns for invoking the Apify CLI (apify) from agents.

When should I use Apify CLI?

Apify CLI fits situations like: tasks that involve Web scraping.

How do I install Apify CLI in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/apify in apify/apify-cli) into .claude/skills/apify-cli in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Apify CLI in Codex?

Run `npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/apify in apify/apify-cli) into .agents/skills/apify-cli in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Apify CLI in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add apify/apify-cli --skill apify-cli -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/apify-cli, .gemini/skills/apify-cli, .github/skills/apify-cli and .opencode/skills/apify-cli in your project.

What does Apify CLI need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Apify CLI needs credentials named APIFY_TOKEN. Our summary lists: A credential in APIFY_TOKEN.

Does Apify CLI access the network?

SKILL.md names 3 domains. In commands or code: raw.githubusercontent.com; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. As links in the text: apify.com and console.apify.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Apify CLI safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Apify CLI use?

Apify CLI is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Apify CLI use?

About 1.5k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.1k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Apify CLI?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Apify CLI: Chrome Devtools (einverne/dotfiles, 121 stars), Optimize Button Patterns (duckduckgo/tracker-radar-collector, 169 stars), Apify Collect (extrasmall0/dear-hiring-manager, 111 stars) and Blog Feed Monitor (gooseworks-ai/goose-skills, 1.2k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Apify CLI?

apify (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in apify/apify-cli, which has 255 GitHub stars. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.

Source: apify/apify-cli on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Apify CLI

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Start here

Non-interactive use

Auth

Structured output

Core workflows

Scheduling and recurring runs

Escape hatch: apify api

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

Chrome Devtools

Optimize Button Patterns

Apify Collect

Blog Feed Monitor

Apify Product Data Setup

Web Scraper

Related

Questions about Apify CLI

Escape hatch: `apify api`