Playground

The ActiCrawl Playground is an interactive web-based tool that allows you to test and experiment with our web scraping API directly from your browser. It's the perfect way to explore ActiCrawl's capabilities before integrating it into your applications.

What is the Playground?

The Playground is a visual interface where you can:
- Test web scraping on any URL instantly
- Experiment with different configuration options
- See real-time results in various formats
- Generate code snippets for your preferred programming language
- Learn how different parameters affect the scraping results

Key Features

1. Real-time Testing

Enter any URL and see the scraped results instantly. No API key required for basic testing!

2. Multiple Output Formats

Choose from various output formats:
- Markdown: Clean, readable text format
- HTML: Raw or cleaned HTML
- JSON: Structured data extraction
- Screenshot: Full page or viewport captures
- PDF: Save pages as PDF documents

3. Advanced Options

Fine-tune your scraping with powerful options:
- JavaScript Rendering: Wait for dynamic content to load
- Premium Proxy: Bypass geo-restrictions and IP blocks
- Content Filtering: Extract only main content or specific elements
- Custom Selectors: Target specific parts of the page

4. Code Generation

Get ready-to-use code snippets in:
- Python
- JavaScript/Node.js
- PHP
- Ruby
- cURL
- And more!

How to Use the Playground

Step 1: Access the Playground

Navigate to https://acticrawl.com/playground or click the Playground link in the main navigation.

Step 2: Enter a URL

Type or paste the URL you want to scrape in the input field at the top of the page.

Step 3: Configure Options (Optional)

Adjust the scraping parameters based on your needs:

Page Options

• Extract Main Content: Removes navigation, ads, and sidebars
• JavaScript Rendering: Enables headless browser for dynamic sites
• Premium Proxy: Uses premium proxy network for better success rates

Advanced Options

• Exclude Tags: Remove specific HTML elements (e.g., nav, .ads, #footer)
• Include Only Tags: Extract only specified elements
• Wait Time: Milliseconds to wait for JavaScript (default: 3000ms)
• Timeout: Maximum page load time (default: 30000ms)

Step 4: Choose Output Format

Select one or more output formats from the available options:
- Markdown
- Clean HTML
- Raw HTML
- Screenshot
- PDF

Step 5: Run the Scrape

Click the Run button to execute the scraping request. Results will appear in the results panel below.

Step 6: Get the Code

Once you're satisfied with the results, click Get Code to generate code snippets for your preferred programming language.

Use Cases

1. Testing Before Implementation

Before integrating ActiCrawl into your application, use the Playground to:
- Verify that your target website can be scraped successfully
- Determine the optimal configuration settings
- Test different output formats

2. Learning and Experimentation

The Playground is an excellent learning tool for:
- Understanding how web scraping works
- Exploring ActiCrawl's features
- Testing CSS selectors and XPath expressions

3. Quick Data Extraction

Need data quickly without writing code? The Playground lets you:
- Extract data from websites instantly
- Download results in your preferred format
- Share results with team members

4. Debugging and Troubleshooting

When your scraping isn't working as expected:
- Test different configurations
- Compare results with different settings
- Identify the optimal parameters

Best Practices

1. Start Simple: Begin with basic settings and add advanced options as needed
2. Test Incrementally: Make one change at a time to understand its effect
3. Use JavaScript Rendering Wisely: Only enable it when necessary, as it's slower
4. Save Your Configurations: Note down successful configurations for future use

Limitations

While the Playground is powerful, it has some limitations:
- Rate Limits: Anonymous users are limited to 10 requests per hour
- Response Size: Large responses may be truncated in the UI
- Session Duration: Results are temporary and not saved
- Authentication: Cannot handle login-protected pages

For production use and higher limits, sign up for an ActiCrawl account and use the API directly.

Next Steps

Ready to integrate ActiCrawl into your application?
1. Sign up for an account to get your API key
2. Check out our Quick Start Guide for integration examples
3. Explore the API Reference for detailed documentation

The Playground is just the beginning – unlock the full power of ActiCrawl with our comprehensive API!