/apify-yandex-search-api

name: apify-yandex-search-api
description: Get structured Yandex search results without an official API key using the Apify Yandex Search Scraper Actor (johnvc/Scrape-Yandex). One query returns the full SERP as JSON, with organic results (position, title, link, displayed_link, snippet), and optional ads, knowledge graph, inline images, and inline videos, targeted by Yandex domain, language, and any of 123,000 plus lr region IDs. Use when the user wants a yandex search api, a yandex serp api, Yandex search results as JSON or CSV, to scrape Yandex search, to check what ranks on yandex.ru for a query or region, or SEO research for Russian-speaking markets. Pay-per-page billing, MCP-ready for Claude and other AI agents.
author: John Cole (links use the author’s Apify affiliate code; routed Actors are built by the author)
author_url: https://github.com/johnisanerd
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: "1.0"
  keywords: "apify, yandex, yandex-search, serp, search-api, seo, json, mcp, claude"
  category: data-extraction

Yandex Search API: Full SERP Results as JSON

A Yandex search API without an official API key. One query returns the full Yandex SERP as structured JSON: organic results with positions and sitelinks, plus ads, knowledge graph, and inline media when you ask for them, targeted to any Yandex domain, language, and region.

When to use this skill

• The user wants a "Yandex search API" or "Yandex SERP API" without registering for an official key.
• They want Yandex search results as JSON or CSV for a query, market, or region.
• They want to see what ranks on yandex.ru for a query, by city or region.
• They are doing SEO or competitor research for Russian-speaking markets.

Not for: keyword rank tracking over time (use the pay-per-result Yandex edition), reverse image lookups (use the Yandex Reverse Image Search Actor), or Google SERPs.

What you get (one dataset item per page, tagged by `item_type`)

Each dataset item is one page of one result type, tagged with `item_type` (`organic`, `ads`, `knowledge_graph`, `inline_images`, `inline_videos`). The results sit in a nested array on that item: `organic_results` holds rows with `position`, `title`, `link`, `displayed_link`, `snippet` (plus `date`, `rich_snippet`, and `sitelinks` when Yandex shows them); the optional types use `ads_results`, `knowledge_graph`, `inline_images`, and `inline_videos` arrays. Every item also carries page metadata: `total_results_found`, `page_number`, `pages_processed`, `pagination_limit_reached`.

Prerequisites

• Apify account (sign up at https://apify.com?fpr=9n7kx3&fp_sid=awesomeskills).
• Authentication via `apify login`, or an `APIFY_TOKEN` environment variable (Apify Console, Settings, Integrations).

The Actor

• Store page: https://apify.com/johnvc/Scrape-Yandex?fpr=9n7kx3&fp_sid=awesomeskills
• Actor ID: `johnvc/Scrape-Yandex`
• Pricing: a small per-run start fee plus a per-page fee (see `references/gotchas.md`).

Run it with the Apify CLI

Organic results for a query on yandex.com:

apify actors call "johnvc/Scrape-Yandex" -i '{"text":"crm software","max_pages":2}' \
  --json \
  --user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-yandex-search-api \
  2>/dev/null

Full Russian SERP for Moscow (lr 213), organic plus ads plus knowledge graph:

apify actors call "johnvc/Scrape-Yandex" -i '{"text":"купить ноутбук","yandex_domain":"yandex.ru","lang":"ru","lr":213,"include_ads":true,"include_knowledge_graph":true,"max_pages":2}' \
  --json \
  --user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-yandex-search-api \
  2>/dev/null

Every call carries the three flags this repo expects: `--json`, `--user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-yandex-search-api`, and `2>/dev/null`.

Run it from Claude or another AI agent (MCP)

The Actor is MCP-ready. Add the hosted server URL:

`https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/Scrape-Yandex`

Then ask, for example: "Get the first two pages of Yandex results for 'hotel booking' on yandex.ru and list the organic links with positions." MCP setup docs: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp

Workflow

1. Fetch the current input schema with `apify actors info "johnvc/Scrape-Yandex" --input --json --user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-yandex-search-api 2>/dev/null` (read `taggedBuilds.latest.build.inputSchema`), then build the query. `text` is the only required field. Pick `yandex_domain` (six domains), `lang` (19 languages), and `lr` (region ID, for example 213 for Moscow, 2 for Saint Petersburg) for the market you care about. 2. Choose result types. Organic is on by default; flip `include_ads`, `include_knowledge_graph`, `include_inline_images`, or `include_inline_videos` as needed. Each page of each type comes back as its own dataset item tagged with `item_type`. 3. Bound the volume. `max_pages` (default 2) is the cost driver; `sort_mode` "date" and `period` narrow to recent results. 4. Estimate cost, then confirm with the user if the run is large. See `references/gotchas.md`. 5. Run the Actor, then read the completed run’s `defaultDatasetId` into `DATASET_ID` and fetch its rows with `apify datasets get-items "$DATASET_ID" --format json --user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-yandex-search-api 2>/dev/null`. Check all items for `error` and `error_message` before filtering by `item_type`, then read the nested array on each item (`organic_results` for the web SERP). Flatten the arrays client-side if the user wants CSV.

Inputs

• `text` (string, required): the search query
• `yandex_domain` (enum, 6 domains, default `yandex.com`)
• `lang` (enum, 19) and `lr` (integer region ID, 123,000 plus locations)
• `include_organic_results` (default true), `include_ads`, `include_knowledge_graph`, `include_inline_images`, `include_inline_videos` (booleans)
• `max_pages` (integer, default 2) and `groups_on_page` (default 10)
• `sort_mode` (`relevance` or `date`), `period`, `family_mode`, `fix_typo`

For video results in the web SERP, set `in