Web Scraping Start Crawl API
Starts an async crawl job that walks a site and scrapes every page it finds, returning a job id to poll.
POST /v1/web/crawlLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Web Scraping Start Crawl API
Use it when you need many pages from one site; check progress with GET jobs/{job_id}.
From the API reference
Starts an async crawl job and returns a SocialCrawl job id (job_...). Poll or cancel it via GET/DELETE /v1/web/jobs/{job_id}; polling is the authoritative status.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Start Crawl API?
The Start Crawl endpoint gives you structured Web Scraping data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# POST /v1/web/crawl: Metered: holds 10 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 60: the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 60 --retry 3 -o response.json -X POST \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url":"https://example.com","limit":10}' \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/web/crawl" && cat response.json# POST /v1/web/crawl: Metered: holds 10 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 60 # the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/web/crawl"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(payload):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.post(
URL,
json=payload,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
payload = {
"url": "https://example.com",
"limit": 10,
}
body = socialcrawl(payload)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// POST /v1/web/crawl: Metered: holds 10 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000; // the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: string, payload: Record<string, unknown>) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
body: JSON.stringify(payload),
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const body = await socialcrawl("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/web/crawl", {
url: "https://example.com",
limit: 10,
});
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| url | Yes | Root URL to crawl. |
| limit | No | Maximum pages to crawl. |
| max_depth | No | How many link hops from the root URL to follow. 1 is the root page and the pages it links to. Leave unset to let `limit` alone bound the crawl. |
| allow_backward_links | No | Crawl the whole domain rather than only URLs under the starting path. Send it when the root URL is a deep page but you want the entire site. |
| allow_external_links | No | Follow links off the domain. Off by default, and easy to make expensive: `limit` is the only thing bounding it. |
| include_paths | No | CSV of URL path patterns to crawl, e.g. '/blog/.*,/docs/.*'. Everything else is skipped, which is the cheapest way to narrow a crawl. |
| exclude_paths | No | CSV of URL path patterns to skip, e.g. '/tag/.*'. Applied after include_paths. |
| webhook_url | No | Optional URL the crawl backend calls directly with its own progress events. SocialCrawl does not sign or filter that callback, and its payload carries the backend's own job id, not your job_... id; poll GET /v1/web/jobs/{job_id} for the authoritative status. |
| formats | No | CSV of output formats for each crawled page, e.g. 'markdown' (default) or 'markdown,html'. |
| goal | No | Optional. What you are looking for on the site, in your own words. SocialCrawl maps the site, scrapes the URLs that likely hold it (always at least two), and lists every skipped URL with p. Without this param the crawl follows links by depth only. |
What does the Web Scraping Start Crawl API return?
This example shows the endpoint's response shape and fields. Values are illustrative; this is not a live capture.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "web",
"endpoint": "/v1/web/crawl",
"data": {
"job_id": "job_9f3k2n8d1",
"kind": "crawl",
"resource": "crawl",
"status": "queued",
"progress": null,
"invalid_urls": null,
"result_ref": null,
"result": null,
"error": null,
"credits_hold": 10,
"credits_charged": 0,
"created_at": "2026-07-09T09:30:00.000Z",
"updated_at": "2026-07-09T09:30:00.000Z",
"expires_at": "2026-07-16T09:30:00.000Z"
},
"credits_used": 10,
"credits_remaining": 990,
"request_id": "req-a1b2c3d4e5f6",
"cached": false
}Illustrative fixture for the documented response shape. Values are examples, not a production capture.
How does the Web Scraping Start Crawl API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
POST
Response
JSON
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
See your data before you code
Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usWhat does the Web Crawl API return?
When should I use the Web Crawl endpoint?
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