Convert Existing Software into Apify Serverless Actors

Apify Actorization transforms existing software projects into reusable serverless applications compatible with the Apify platform. Actors are programs packaged as Docker images that accept well-defined JSON input, perform an action, and optionally produce structured JSON output. The skill guides you through wrapping your code with the Apify SDK lifecycle, configuring input/output schemas, and deploying to the Apify platform.

Use this skill when converting an existing project to run on the Apify platform, adding Apify SDK integration to a project, wrapping a CLI tool or script as an Actor, or migrating a Crawlee project to Apify. Do NOT use this skill if the task clearly falls outside the scope of Apify platform integration. Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.

You provide an existing software project (JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or CLI-based), its entry point, and its current input/output mechanisms. The skill guides you through creating Actor configuration files including .actor/actor.json metadata, .actor/input_schema.json defining inputs, optional .actor/output_schema.json for structured output, and a Dockerfile. Your code is wrapped with SDK lifecycle calls and configured to read inputs via Actor.getInput() and push outputs via Actor.pushData() or key-value stores.

The skill integrates with the Apify platform and CLI. It supports JavaScript/TypeScript projects via the Apify SDK for JavaScript, Python projects via the Apify SDK for Python, and other languages through CLI-based wrapper scripts. For JavaScript/TypeScript, install the SDK and wrap your code:

npm install apify

import { Actor } from 'apify';

await Actor.init();

const input = await Actor.getInput();
console.log('Input:', input);

// Your existing code here

await Actor.exit();

Test locally with:

apify run --input '{"startUrl": "https://example.com", "maxItems": 10}'

Deploy with:

apify push

The skill validates schemas against the @apify/json_schemas npm package and optionally integrates with Apify MCP tools (search-apify-docs, fetch-apify-docs) for documentation lookup.

This skill serves developers converting existing scrapers, crawlers, CLI tools, or automation scripts into Apify Actors. It's designed for engineers familiar with JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or command-line tools who need to package their work as serverless applications. After deployment, you can monetize your Actor in the Apify Store using Pay Per Event (PPE), Rental, or Free models. The skill provides an 8-step checklist from project analysis through deployment, with language-specific integration guides and pre-deployment validation steps.