Scrape a URL (query-string form)
Fetch one URL synchronously and return it as html, markdown, text, a PDF, or a JSON envelope with extracted data.
How a request is rendered (cheapest first). You do not choose: Spicrawl picks the cheapest path that can do what the request asks.
- Default (plain fetch, 1 credit): plain HTTP, no JavaScript, presenting a current browser TLS/HTTP2 fingerprint (impersonate, on by default and free; impersonate=false turns it off).
- js_render=true (JavaScript rendering, 3 credits): content is built by JavaScript, or you need wait/wait_for/block_resources/network_capture.
- Screenshots, response_format=pdf and actions use full-browser rendering (8 credits). stealth=true (full-browser rendering hardened against bot detection, 25 credits) is coming soon.
- mode=auto: unsure - escalates through the available rendering tiers, bills only the tier that worked.
- Managed proxy pools (premium_proxy) are coming soon; during the beta pass your own proxy with proxy.
- The engine and headless fields are deprecated and ignored. Browser-only flags on the fetch tier are a 400, never silently ignored.
Billing: failures cost 0 (errors, bot challenges, timeouts, target statuses other than 200/404/410 unless listed in allowed_status_codes, undelivered screenshots). A cache hit is billed at the same price as the fetch that stored it: the cache saves the fetch (latency and load on the target), not credits. Like any request, a hit is refused with 402 when the monthly allowance cannot cover its price. Check X-Credits-Charged.
Bot challenges: a challenge page attributed to a named vendor (Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, Akamai) is never returned as a success. A fetch through a managed pool exit that meets one is retried once on a different exit, free (GET/HEAD/OPTIONS only, not with sticky_key or session_id, never on your own proxy). When you bring your own proxy (residential works best) and send no mode=auto, a request whose page is still a challenge is escalated automatically to stronger full-browser rendering on the same exit, which works through the interstitial and returns the real page; there is no flag to set. This is how Cloudflare-protected pages are supported. Automatic handling on managed premium exits is coming soon. Success is not guaranteed for every page. Only the tier that returned the page is billed (up to 25 credits, or the first tier's price), and 0 if every tier was challenged (502 ERR::UPSTREAM::CHALLENGE). On the default shared pool a challenged page may return that error; retry with your own residential proxy. A transport error, a refusal with no vendor marker (such as a bare 403) or a non-billable status such as 404 does not escalate. Escalation is skipped for a non-GET method, response_format=pdf, a screenshot, actions, a proxy that is not http://, or a max_cost below the escalated price; an allowance that covers the first attempt but not the escalation runs the request without it. X-Engine reports the rendering tier that served, each abandoned tier adds an X-Warning: ESCALATED, and diagnostics.attempts lists every attempt (in the JSON envelope on a successful escalation). Batch items never escalate.
Status: the HTTP status is the platform's. A blocked or erroring site is usually still HTTP 200 - read envelope status or X-Target-Status for the site's answer. Errors are application/problem+json; retry only when retryable is true.
Not idempotent: there is no idempotency key, and each call bills again, whether it performs a new scrape or is served from cache. GET and POST accept the same parameters and behave identically.
Request
- Base URL: https://api.spicrawl.com
- URL: https://api.spicrawl.com/v1/scrape
- Auth: HTTP bearer
Query parameters
Target URL; required, must be http or https with a host. A private or reserved address fails with 400 ERR::SECURITY::SSRF_BLOCKED at 0 credits.
HTTP method sent to the target (case-insensitive). There is no request-body parameter, so non-GET methods are sent without a body; only GET/HEAD/OPTIONS are retried on transient failure and only GET results are cached.
Run the page's JavaScript before capture (3 credits on datacenter or your own proxy; 25 on managed residential exits, coming soon). Required by every browser-only flag unless stealth or mode=auto is set; cannot be combined with mode=auto. If omitted, the project's stored default applies. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?js_render means true.
Coming soon. Render with full-browser rendering hardened against bot detection, flat 25 credits at any proxy tier; wins over js_render when both are set. Cannot be combined with mode=auto; returns 503 ERR::ENGINE::UNAVAILABLE where it is not available. If omitted, the project's stored default applies. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?stealth means true.
Fetch tier only. Present a current browser TLS/HTTP2 fingerprint, with matching browser headers and Accept-Encoding, to pass passive fingerprint checks. On by default, free, no JavaScript; impersonate=false turns it off and the fetch uses a non-browser TLS handshake. Ignored on rendered requests. If omitted, the project's stored default applies, and true when the project sets none. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?impersonate means true.
auto escalates through the rendering tiers (plain fetch, then JavaScript rendering) until one returns a usable page, billing only the rung that succeeded (0 if all fail) while reserving the dearest rung against quota. Incompatible with js_render and stealth. If omitted, the project's stored default applies.
Deprecated and ignored; rendering is chosen automatically from the request's flags and the page, and you are billed for the rendering tier actually used (X-Engine). Accepted so existing clients keep working. The response carries X-Warning: ENGINE_IGNORED.
Coming soon; not available yet, so bring your own proxy (residential works best). Will use residential exits from the managed pool: 10 credits for a plain fetch, 25 with JavaScript rendering, 32 with full-browser rendering (stealth stays 25). If no residential exit is available the request fails 503 ERR::PROXY::EXHAUSTED rather than falling back; ignored (with X-Warning PROXY_FLAG_IGNORED) when proxy is set. See "Bot challenges" in the operation description. If omitted, the project's stored default applies. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?premium_proxy means true.
Coming soon. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 exit country (case-insensitive), within the residential pool. Requires premium_proxy=true (400 ERR::REQUEST::INCOMPATIBLE_FLAGS otherwise) unless proxy is set, in which case it is kept as the render environment hint (browser timezone and locale follow it) while the custom URL stays the exit; an unavailable country is 503 ERR::PROXY::EXHAUSTED, never substituted. A browser render takes its timezone and locale from this country or, when it is omitted, from the country of the pool exit it was assigned. If omitted, the project's stored default applies.
Your own proxy URL (http, https, socks5 or socks5h; credentials in userinfo). Takes precedence over premium_proxy and adds 0 proxy credits; proxy_country is kept as the render environment hint; loopback hosts are refused with 400 ERR::SECURITY::SSRF_BLOCKED. An unreachable proxy fails 502 ERR::PROXY::UNREACHABLE. A bot challenge from a named vendor is escalated automatically to stronger rendering on the same exit when the proxy is http:// (residential works best); see "Bot challenges" in the operation description.
Probe the custom proxy before spending the engine cost so a dead proxy fails fast. Requires proxy (400 ERR::REQUEST::INCOMPATIBLE_FLAGS otherwise). Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?proxy_verify means true.
Reuse a session's cookies and storage (created via /v1/sessions); the request runs with the session's own rendering. Checked before any work, at 0 credits and not retryable - an unknown, malformed or other organization's id is 404 ERR::SESSION::NOT_FOUND, a released session 410 ERR::SESSION::RELEASED, an expired one 410 ERR::SESSION::EXPIRED. A successful request increments the session's usage_count, sets last_used_at and slides expires_at. Requests with a session are never cached.
Coming soon. Any string; requests sharing it reuse the same pool exit. Forces a pool exit even on deployments whose default is direct egress, so it can fail 503 ERR::PROXY::EXHAUSTED where no pool exists.
Milliseconds to wait after load before capture. Browser-only: needs js_render, stealth, or mode=auto, else 400 ERR::REQUEST::INCOMPATIBLE_FLAGS.
CSS selector to wait for before capture. Browser-only. If it never appears the page is returned as it stood with an X-Warning RENDER_DEGRADED; if the render times out waiting it fails 504 ERR::UPSTREAM::TIMEOUT - raise wait_for_timeout or fix the selector.
Milliseconds to wait for wait_for; 0 uses the engine default. Requires wait_for (400 ERR::REQUEST::INCOMPATIBLE_FLAGS otherwise).
URL-encoded JSON array. Ordered browser workflow (click, fill, scroll, ...), validated before anything is spent. Browser-only and makes the request uncacheable. A failed step ends the request at 0 credits unless that step has on_error=skip.
Comma-separated list (blank items dropped). Subresource classes the browser must not load (plural and short aliases accepted, case-insensitive). If omitted, full-browser rendering blocks nothing, so images and fonts load, including for screenshot, pdf, actions and anti-bot escalation. A list blocks exactly the classes named and none (alone) blocks nothing. Any value other than none is browser-only. If omitted, the project's stored default applies.
Deprecated and ignored. Rendering is chosen automatically. Accepted so existing clients keep working. The response carries X-Warning: ENGINE_IGNORED.
Capture a screenshot; forces the JSON envelope (image base64 under screenshots). Rendered with full-browser rendering - on a deployment without it, 400 ERR::REQUEST::CAPABILITY_UNSUPPORTED at 0 credits. mode=auto cannot satisfy it (its fetch rung has no rasteriser). If the image is not delivered the page is still returned but charged 0. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?screenshot means true.
Capture the full scrollable page. Requires screenshot=true; mutually exclusive with screenshot_selector. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?screenshot_fullpage means true.
CSS selector of the element to capture. Requires screenshot=true; mutually exclusive with screenshot_fullpage.
Image format; omitted uses the engine default (png). Not validated by the API - an unrecognised value silently falls back to the engine default.
Lossy quality for jpeg/webp; 0 uses the engine default. A value above 0 requires screenshot=true.
URL-encoded JSON object. Headers sent to the target, as name -> string value. Hop-by-hop headers (Connection, Keep-Alive, Proxy-Authenticate, Proxy-Authorization, TE, Trailer, Transfer-Encoding, Upgrade, Host, Content-Length) are refused with 400 ERR::REQUEST::INVALID_PARAMETER. If omitted, the project's stored default applies.
URL-encoded JSON object. Record the XHR/fetch responses the page itself made (often cleaner JSON than the DOM), returned under network in the JSON envelope. Browser-only; no extra credits.
Harvest the page's own structured metadata (JSON-LD, OpenGraph, Twitter, microdata, RDFa, meta, embedded SPA state) into data, no selectors needed. Forces the JSON envelope; no extra credits; refused on a PDF. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?autoparse means true.
Return the page's absolute, de-duplicated <a href> targets under links. Forces the JSON envelope; no extra credits; refused on a PDF. If omitted, the project's stored default applies. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?links means true.
URL-encoded JSON object. Selector extraction into data: a selector map, or a JSON Schema whose properties carry selector. Forces the JSON envelope, validated before fetching, no extra credits; mutually exclusive with extract_preset. Rules that match nothing are listed in empty_fields.
Coming soon. Name of a server-side extraction preset. This deployment has no preset store, so any value fails with 400 ERR::EXTRACT::INVALID_RULES (at 0 credits, after the fetch); use extract inline. Mutually exclusive with extract.
Coming soon. URL-encoded JSON object. Model-driven extraction into data; adds 4 credits. Refused with 503 ERR::INTERNAL::UNAVAILABLE where no model is configured, and a model failure is 502 ERR::EXTRACT::FAILED at 0 credits. Forces the JSON envelope.
true strips nav/footer/aside to the main article; false keeps the whole document. Omitted keeps the pipeline default (main-content isolation on for markdown). Applies to markdown/text/cleaned output. If omitted, the project's stored default applies. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?main_content_only means true.
Comma-separated list (blank items dropped). CSS selectors; keep only matching subtrees before extraction and markdown conversion. Applied before exclude_tags and main_content_only.
Comma-separated list (blank items dropped). CSS selectors; remove matching elements, applied after include_tags and before main_content_only.
When the target returns a PDF and markdown/text is requested, parse it to text. false refuses it with 502 ERR::EXTRACT::FAILED (0 credits); response_format=html always returns the raw bytes. If omitted, the project's stored default applies. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?parse_pdf means true.
Body shape: html/markdown/text return the document itself, json the envelope, pdf a PDF printed by a real browser (needs full-browser rendering). extract, autoparse, links, ai_extract, network_capture or screenshot override this to the JSON envelope with X-Warning FORMAT_COERCED. A non-HTML target (image, binary) requested as markdown/text fails 502 ERR::EXTRACT::FAILED at 0 credits. If omitted, the project's stored default applies.
Serve a stored result younger than cache_ttl (Cache-State: hit). A hit is billed at the same price as the fetch that stored it: the cache saves the fetch (latency and load on the target), not credits. Only billable successes of GET-method requests without session_id or actions are stored. Set false for time-sensitive data; cache=false with cache_ttl>0 is 400 ERR::REQUEST::INCOMPATIBLE_FLAGS. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?cache means true.
Maximum acceptable age of a cached result, in seconds. Default and cap are deployment settings (48h by default); larger values are clamped with X-Warning CACHE_TTL_CLAMPED. 0 disables caching for this request.
Credit ceiling; 0 means none. Checked against the dearest reachable outcome (the top rung under mode=auto) before anything runs, failing 400 ERR::LIMIT::MAX_COST_EXCEEDED at 0 credits.
On success, use the target's status as this response's HTTP status instead of 200. Leave off unless you need it: it makes a target 404 indistinguishable from an API error by status alone. Accepts true/false/1/0; a bare ?original_status means true.
Comma-separated list (blank items dropped). Extra target statuses to treat as billable successes (200, 404 and 410 always are). Other statuses return the target's body at 0 credits, and under mode=auto trigger escalation.
Accepted by the query parser but NOT honoured for authentication on this route (only /v1/browser reads a query key); a request relying on it gets 401 ERR::AUTH::MISSING_KEY. Send Authorization: Bearer <key> instead.
Accepted by the query parser but NOT honoured for authentication on this route (only /v1/browser reads a query key); a request relying on it gets 401 ERR::AUTH::MISSING_KEY. Send Authorization: Bearer <key> instead.
Response
Scrape completed. The HTTP status is the platform's: the site's status is envelope status / X-Target-Status, and a non-billable target status (e.g. 403, 500) still returns 200 with the site's body at 0 credits. With original_status=true this status line carries the target's status instead.
Changes
No recorded changes to this operation across all 1 revision of this API.