Apify for GitHub Copilot

Official Apify plugin for GitHub Copilot — adds an apify agent, an Apify MCP server connection, a routing instruction, and a set of internal skills for three Apify workflows: using existing Actors from the Apify Store, building or actorizing custom Actors, and integrating Apify into existing applications.

Apify is a platform of thousands of serverless cloud programs called Actors for web scraping, browser automation, and data extraction. Learn more at apify.com.

What you get

Component	Name	Purpose
Agent (entry point)	apify	Routes each Apify request to the right MCP tool, CLI-based flow, or internal skill. This is the one you should invoke.
MCP server	apify (https://mcp.apify.com/)	Configured in apify/.mcp.json; lets the agent search the Apify Store, fetch Actor details, run Actors, retrieve dataset items, and look up Apify docs when MCP is available.
Skill	apify-actor-development	Create, debug, test, and deploy a new Apify Actor from scratch.
Skill	apify-actorization	Convert an existing JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, or CLI-based project into an Apify Actor.
Skill	apify-generate-output-schema	Analyze an Actor and generate or update dataset_schema.json, output_schema.json, and key_value_store_schema.json.
Skill	apify-sdk-integration	Add Apify Actor execution to an existing application using the apify-client package or REST API.
Skill	apify-ultimate-scraper	Run Apify Store Actors for multi-step scraping workflows across 15+ platforms using the Apify CLI and bundled workflow references.

Installation

Clone (or copy) the plugin contents into your project repository so that the Copilot-specific directories (apify folder with plugin.json and .mcp.json) are in the right places.

# Clone the plugin repo
git clone https://github.com/apify/apify-github-copilot-plugin /tmp/apify-copilot

Prerequisites

• VS Code with the GitHub Copilot Chat extension installed and active.
• A GitHub account with Copilot access.

First-run setup

The plugin supports multiple execution paths behind a single @apify entry point. The apify agent chooses the right route based on the request, and the required auth depends on that route.

Path 1 — Using existing Actors (MCP)

For straightforward "search / inspect / run an Actor" tasks, the agent prefers the Apify MCP server when it is available. The first time the agent calls an MCP tool that needs auth (for example run-actor), VS Code opens console.apify.com in your browser and asks you to sign in. Read-only tools such as search-actors, fetch-actor-details, search-apify-docs, and fetch-apify-docs work without auth.

If MCP is not available, the agent can fall back to the Apify CLI for Route 1 tasks, especially for the apify-ultimate-scraper skill. In that case, verify the CLI with apify --help, then authenticate with apify login or use an exported APIFY_TOKEN in headless environments.

Path 2 — Building Actors or integrating via SDK

This path covers two different cases:

• Actor development / actorization uses the Apify CLI (apify create, apify init, apify run, apify push). In interactive environments, the skills expect apify login; in headless environments, they can work with an exported APIFY_TOKEN.
• Application integration uses the apify-client package (or REST API) and requires an APIFY_TOKEN environment variable. Generate one at console.apify.com/settings/integrations and export it before starting VS Code (or add it to your project's .env):

export APIFY_TOKEN="apify_api_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

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Working in remote sessions, devcontainers, or SSH (no browser)

The MCP OAuth flow needs a browser. If you're running VS Code over SSH, in a devcontainer, or in any environment where VS Code cannot open a browser, you have two options:

1. Authenticate locally first. Connect the Apify MCP server once on your laptop with a normal VS Code session so the OAuth refresh token is stored in your profile, then reconnect remotely.
2. Use the CLI / SDK paths instead. The non-MCP flows (apify-actor-development, apify-actorization, apify-sdk-integration, and apify-ultimate-scraper) can work without MCP. Use apify login where a browser is available, or export APIFY_TOKEN for headless sessions.

How to use it

Open Copilot Chat in VS Code and invoke the apify agent. The routing instruction is designed to keep all Apify requests going through that single entry point so the agent can choose the correct transport and skill.

@apify find me 5 well-rated coffee shops in Seattle and export to CSV
@apify build me an Actor that scrapes a sitemap and stores titles
@apify add Apify to this Next.js app so I can run a scraper from /api/scrape
@apify generate output schemas for the Actor in this folder

Components reference

MCP server

The apify MCP server is configured in apify/.mcp.json and is the preferred Route 1 transport when it is available. The shipped agent expects the server to expose:

• search-actors — search the Apify Store by keyword
• fetch-actor-details — Actor specs, input schema, and pricing
• run-actor — execute an Actor and return run metadata
• get-dataset-items — retrieve dataset rows from a previous run
• search-apify-docs / fetch-apify-docs — Apify documentation lookup

You can disable or re-enable the server in VS Code Settings → GitHub Copilot → MCP.

Bundled scripts

This Copilot package does not ship helper scripts under skills/apify-ultimate-scraper/scripts/. Instead, the apify-ultimate-scraper skill is documented as a CLI-driven workflow and ships markdown references under skills/apify-ultimate-scraper/references/, including:

• actor-index.md — curated Actor selection guidance
• gotchas.md — common pitfalls and warnings
• workflows/*.md — playbooks for lead generation, competitive intelligence, brand monitoring, review analysis, SEO/content, and other multi-step use cases

Troubleshooting

OAuth browser never opens / hangs. See the "Working in remote sessions" section above.

APIFY_TOKEN not found or CLI auth failures. For CLI-based flows (apify-ultimate-scraper, apify-actor-development, apify-actorization), either log in with apify login or export APIFY_TOKEN before starting the session. For SDK integrations, apify-client expects APIFY_TOKEN to be available in the environment.

The wrong skill keeps getting picked. That's exactly the problem the apify routing instruction and agent are designed to prevent — make sure you're starting with @apify.

apify vs apify-client — these are two different npm packages. The apify package is the SDK for building Actors (used inside an Actor's code, on the Apify platform). The apify-client package is the API client for calling Actors from your own application. The agent picks the right one for you; if you're installing manually, double-check.

MCP server appears disconnected after VS Code restart. Open VS Code Settings → GitHub Copilot → MCP and toggle the apify server off and on. If that doesn't help, re-trigger OAuth by running any Actor command.

Resources

• Apify Console — console.apify.com
• Apify Store — apify.com/store
• Apify MCP server — mcp.apify.com
• Docs (LLM-friendly) — docs.apify.com/llms.txt
• Docs (full) — docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt
• Apify CLI reference — docs.apify.com/cli

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.