# Multi-Source Tech Intelligence Search (`gen.ishinabe/scout-multi-source-search`) Actor

Search 6+ tech sources in one API call. Structured JSON for competitive intelligence, trend monitoring and market research. Pay-per-use.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gen.ishinabe/scout-multi-source-search.md
- **Developed by:** [GENYA ishinabe](https://apify.com/gen.ishinabe) (community)
- **Categories:** AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event + usage

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## Multi-Source Tech Intelligence Search

Search 6+ tech sources in one API call and get structured JSON results. Built for developers, analysts, and AI agents who need real-time tech intelligence without juggling multiple APIs.

### What does Multi-Source Tech Intelligence Search do?

Multi-Source Tech Intelligence Search queries **Hacker News, GitHub, npm, PyPI, Product Hunt, and X/Twitter** simultaneously and returns unified, structured JSON. Instead of writing separate integrations for each platform, you make one request and get normalized results with relevance scores, metadata, and direct links.

Use it for:

- **Competitive intelligence** — track what competitors are building and launching
- **Trend monitoring** — spot emerging technologies before they go mainstream
- **Market research** — understand developer sentiment and adoption patterns
- **Due diligence** — quickly assess a technology's ecosystem health

### Why use Multi-Source Tech Intelligence Search?

- **6 sources, 1 call** — HN, GitHub, npm, PyPI, Product Hunt, and X/Twitter
- **Structured output** — consistent JSON schema across all sources
- **Pay-per-use** — no subscription, pay only for what you search
- **Real-time data** — live API queries, not cached or stale data
- **Partial failure tolerance** — if one source is down, others still return results
- **AI-powered X search** — uses xAI's Grok model for intelligent Twitter/X results

### How much does it cost?

This Actor uses **Pay Per Event** pricing — you only pay for searches you actually run.

| What you get | Price per call | Event name |
|---|---|---|
| Search one free source (HN, GitHub, npm, PyPI, Product Hunt, or Bazaar) | **$0.005** | `search-free` |
| Search X/Twitter (AI-powered via xAI Grok) | **$0.10** | `search-x` |
| Balanced report (4 free sources in parallel) | **$0.02** | `report-balanced` |
| Comprehensive report (all 6 sources including X) | **$0.15** | `report-full` |

**Example**: Running 100 balanced reports costs just $2.00.

### Input

All endpoints accept query parameters via HTTP GET:

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `q` | string | Yes | Search query |
| `per_page` | number | No | Results per source (default: 10, max: 50) |
| `sort` | string | No | Sort order (source-specific) |
| `focus` | string | No | Report preset: `balanced` or `comprehensive` |
| `sources` | string | No | Comma-separated source list for reports |

### Output

Every response follows a consistent structure:

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "source": "hackernews",
  "query": "AI agents",
  "count": 10,
  "data": [
    {
      "title": "Show HN: Open-source AI agent framework",
      "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=...",
      "points": 342,
      "num_comments": 128,
      "created_at": "2026-02-20T10:30:00Z"
    }
  ]
}
```

Report endpoints return results grouped by source:

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "query": "MCP servers",
  "focus": "balanced",
  "sources_queried": ["hn", "github", "npm", "pypi"],
  "results": {
    "hn": { "success": true, "count": 10, "data": [...] },
    "github": { "success": true, "count": 10, "data": [...] },
    "npm": { "success": true, "count": 10, "data": [...] },
    "pypi": { "success": true, "count": 5, "data": [...] }
  }
}
```

### How to use

This Actor runs in **Standby mode** — it's always available as an HTTP API.

#### Individual source search

```bash
## Search Hacker News
curl "https://gen-ishinabe--scout-multi-source-search.apify.actor/scout/hn?q=AI+agents&per_page=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"

## Search GitHub repositories
curl "https://gen-ishinabe--scout-multi-source-search.apify.actor/scout/github?q=mcp+server&sort=stars&per_page=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"

## Search npm packages
curl "https://gen-ishinabe--scout-multi-source-search.apify.actor/scout/npm?q=openai&per_page=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"

## Search X/Twitter (AI-powered)
curl "https://gen-ishinabe--scout-multi-source-search.apify.actor/scout/x?q=x402+protocol&per_page=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
```

#### Multi-source reports

```bash
## Balanced report (4 free sources)
curl "https://gen-ishinabe--scout-multi-source-search.apify.actor/scout/report?q=MCP+servers&per_page=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"

## Comprehensive report (all 6 sources including X)
curl "https://gen-ishinabe--scout-multi-source-search.apify.actor/scout/report/full?q=AI+agents&per_page=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
```

#### Available endpoints

| Endpoint | Source | Price |
|---|---|---|
| `/scout/hn` | Hacker News (Algolia) | $0.005 |
| `/scout/github` | GitHub Repositories | $0.005 |
| `/scout/npm` | npm Registry | $0.005 |
| `/scout/pypi` | PyPI Packages | $0.005 |
| `/scout/ph` | Product Hunt | $0.005 |
| `/scout/x402` | x402 Bazaar | $0.005 |
| `/scout/x` | X/Twitter (xAI Grok) | $0.10 |
| `/scout/report` | Balanced (4 sources) | $0.02 |
| `/scout/report/full` | Comprehensive (6 sources) | $0.15 |
| `/health` | Health check | Free |

### Integrations

- **Direct HTTP API** — use from any language with HTTP support
- **Apify API client** — use the official [Apify SDK](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/) for Node.js or Python
- **Zapier / Make / n8n** — connect via Apify's built-in integrations
- **AI agents** — structured JSON output is optimized for LLM consumption

### Limitations

- **X/Twitter search uses AI** — results come from xAI's Grok model with web search, so structure may occasionally vary
- **PyPI search is name-based** — searches by package name variants, not full-text keyword search
- **Product Hunt is topic-based** — queries are mapped to PH topic slugs; niche queries may return fewer results
- **Rate limits** — GitHub allows ~30 requests/minute with authentication; heavy concurrent use may hit limits
- **Cold start** — first request after idle period takes 15-20 seconds; subsequent requests are sub-second

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

The search term to look up across sources

## `source` (type: `string`):

Which source to search

## `per_page` (type: `integer`):

Number of results to return (1-50)

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "AI agents",
  "source": "hn",
  "per_page": 10
}
```

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "query": "AI agents",
    "source": "hn",
    "per_page": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gen.ishinabe/scout-multi-source-search").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "query": "AI agents",
    "source": "hn",
    "per_page": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gen.ishinabe/scout-multi-source-search").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 '{
  "query": "AI agents",
  "source": "hn",
  "per_page": 10
}' |
apify call gen.ishinabe/scout-multi-source-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=gen.ishinabe/scout-multi-source-search",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/0TI1uy14b572iqgw5/builds/ImZfvj3Gowi3PSNp3/openapi.json