Web Scraper API skill

Oxylabs Web Scraper API

Authentication

Requires HTTP Basic Auth with credentials from environment variables:

curl -u "$OXY_WSA_USERNAME:$OXY_WSA_PASSWORD" ...

Endpoint

POST https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries   # immediate response
POST https://data.oxylabs.io/v1/queries       # Push-Pull jobs, callbacks, storage
Content-Type: application/json

Core Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
source	Yes	Target scraper (e.g., universal, amazon_product, google_search)
url	Conditional	URL to scrape (for universal and *_url sources)
query	Conditional	Search query or product ID (for *_search and *_product sources)
parse	No	Enable structured data parsing (recommended for supported sources)
render	No	JavaScript rendering: html or png
geo_location	No	Geographic targeting: country/state/city, ZIP/postcode, coordinates, or Criteria ID where supported
session_id	No	Reuse the same proxy IP across multiple jobs
content_encoding	No	Set to base64 when downloading image files via Realtime or Push-Pull
user_agent_type	No	Device/browser preset, e.g., desktop_chrome, mobile_ios, tablet_android
locale	No	Interface language / Accept-Language, e.g., de-DE
callback_url	No	Push-Pull callback endpoint
storage_type, storage_url	No	Push-Pull cloud upload target (gcs, s3, tos, s3_compatible)
markdown, xhr	No	Enable markdown or captured XHR result types
browser_instructions	No	Rendered browser actions; requires render: "html"
parsing_instructions, parser_preset	No	Custom parser rules or saved preset; pair with parse: true
client_notes	No	Client-side job tag saved with the job metadata
domain, subdomain, start_page, pages, limit, store_id, delivery_zip, fulfillment_type	Source-specific	Marketplace/search/store localization and pagination fields

user_agent_type values: desktop, desktop_chrome, desktop_edge, desktop_firefox, desktop_opera, desktop_safari, mobile, mobile_android, mobile_ios, tablet, tablet_android, tablet_ios.

Context Parameters

Add these as { "key": "...", "value": ... } objects in context:

Key	Use
force_headers, headers	Merge custom headers with managed headers
force_cookies, cookies	Merge custom cookies with managed cookies
http_method, content	Use post with Base64-encoded body content
follow_redirects	Follow 3xx redirect chains
successful_status_codes	Treat specific non-standard HTTP codes as successful

For multi-format output, enable types in the payload (parse, markdown, xhr, render: "png") and request them with ?type=raw,parsed,png,markdown,xhr.

For batch Push-Pull jobs, use POST /v1/queries/batch with arrays only for query or url; keep all other parameters singular. Maximum batch size is 5,000 values.

Quick Start

Scrape any URL:

curl -X POST 'https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries' \
  -u "$OXY_WSA_USERNAME:$OXY_WSA_PASSWORD" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"source": "universal", "url": "https://example.com"}'

Google search with parsing:

curl -X POST 'https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries' \
  -u "$OXY_WSA_USERNAME:$OXY_WSA_PASSWORD" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"source": "google_search", "query": "best laptops", "parse": true}'

Amazon product by ASIN:

curl -X POST 'https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries' \
  -u "$OXY_WSA_USERNAME:$OXY_WSA_PASSWORD" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"source": "amazon_product", "query": "B07FZ8S74R", "parse": true}'

Choosing the Right Source

1. Use specific sources when available (amazon_product, google_search) - better parsing and reliability
2. Use universal for unsupported sites - works with any URL
3. Enable parse: true for structured JSON output on supported sources

Response Structure

{
  "results": [{
    "content": "...",
    "status_code": 200,
    "url": "https://..."
  }]
}

With parse: true, content contains structured data (title, price, reviews, etc.) instead of raw HTML.

Available Sources

For the complete list of 40+ supported sources organized by category, see sources.md.

More Examples

For detailed request/response examples including geo-location, JavaScript rendering, and custom headers, see examples.md.

Error Handling

Code	Meaning
200	Success
400	Invalid parameters
401	Authentication failed
403	Access denied
429	Rate limit exceeded

Key Guidelines

• Always set parse: true for supported sources to get structured data
• Use ZIP codes for US e-commerce geo-location (e.g., "90210")
• Use country/state format for search engines (e.g., "California,United States")
• Add render: "html" for JavaScript-heavy pages
• Use render: "" only to disable automatic forced rendering for force-rendered pages; set client timeouts near 180 seconds for rendered Realtime or Proxy Endpoint requests
• Add content_encoding: "base64" when scraping image URLs, then decode results[0].content before saving the file