pp-apify

What this skill does

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# Apify — Printing Press CLI

## Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the `apify-pp-cli` binary. **You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill.** If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to `$HOME/.local/bin` on macOS/Linux and `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin` on Windows:
   ```bash
   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install apify --cli-only
   ```
2. Verify: `apify-pp-cli --version`
3. Ensure the reported install directory is on `$PATH` for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the `npx` install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.3 or newer):

```bash
go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/developer-tools/apify/cmd/apify-pp-cli@latest
```

If `--version` reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on `$PATH`. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

## When to Use This CLI

Reach for apify-pp-cli when you need to orchestrate multiple Apify Actors as part of a recurring research, scraping, or newsletter pipeline. It's the right tool when you want per-run cost visibility, novel-only output, cross-Actor search, or schedule-as-code. For Actor development (writing your own scrapers), use the official `apify-cli`; this CLI is for platform operators.

## Unique Capabilities

These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API.

### Local state that compounds
- **`run`** — Run an Actor and emit only items not seen in prior runs of that Actor.

  _Reach for this when you need 'what's new since last run' across recurring scrapes for a newsletter or alert workflow._

  ```bash
  apify-pp run trudax/reddit-scraper --input @sub-list.json --only-new --format markdown
  ```
- **`search items`** — Full-text search across every cached dataset from every Actor, normalized into a common schema.

  _Use this when you want 'what did anyone say about X this week' without juggling 8 dataset IDs._

  ```bash
  apify-pp search "model context protocol" --since 7d --actors twitter,reddit,hn --json --select url,title,source_actor
  ```
- **`digest --offline`** — Run queries and template renders against the local SQLite copy of past datasets without hitting the API.

  _Use this while tuning templates or dedupe heuristics so iteration is free._

  ```bash
  apify-pp digest --offline --topic AI --since 7d --template draft.tmpl
  ```

### Cost discipline
- **`cost report`** — Per-run USD cost report joining cached run metadata with the Apify monthly usage endpoint.

  _Reach for this whenever the user asks 'why is my Apify bill so high' or 'which Actor costs most per useful item.'_

  ```bash
  apify-pp cost report --since 30d --group-by actor,schedule --json
  ```
- **`run --max-cost`** — Pre-flight cost projection from local p50/p90 of past runs for the same Actor; aborts run if projection exceeds budget.

  _Use this on any long-tail or untrusted Actor to fail-closed on cost rather than learning about it on the invoice._

  ```bash
  apify-pp run apidojo/twitter-scraper-lite --input @q.json --max-cost 0.50 --max-cu 100
  ```
- **`ab run`** — Run the same input through two competing Actors, normalize via unified schema, report cost-per-novel-item and overlap percentage.

  _Reach for this whenever the user wonders 'is the cheaper Actor good enough' before committing to a recurring schedule._

  ```bash
  apify-pp ab run apidojo/tweet-scraper kaitoeasyapi/twitter-x-data-tweet-scraper-pay-per-result-cheapest --input shared.json --judge novelty --json
  ```

### Newsletter workflows
- **`digest`** — Render a markdown digest from local store: dedupe by URL + title-similarity, rank by engagement+recency+novelty, fill a Go template.

  _Use this as the last step of any newsletter / weekly report workflow; output is ready to paste into Beehiiv or pipe to a writer agent._

  ```bash
  apify-pp digest --topic "AI dev tools" --since 24h --template weekly.tmpl
  ```
- **`workflow run`** — Run a YAML-declared workflow that chains run → normalize → novelty → digest → publish across multiple Actors.

  _Use this when the user wants a recurring 'fire one command, get the newsletter' pipeline rather than orchestrating Actor calls by hand._

  ```bash
  apify-pp workflow run ./weekly-newsletter.yaml --json
  ```

### GitOps
- **`schedules apply`** — Declarative cron + Actor input bundle with terraform-style plan/apply/diff against the live Apify schedule API.

  _Reach for this when the user manages 3+ schedules and wants them version-controlled._

  ```bash
  apify-pp schedule apply ./schedules.yaml --dry-run && apify-pp schedule diff
  ```

### Repeatability
- **`preset save`** — Capture known-good Actor input JSON from a prior run and replay with overrides.

  _Use this to stop hand-rebuilding input JSON every time you re-run a recurring scrape._

  ```bash
  apify-pp preset save twitter weekly-ai --from-run abc123 && apify-pp call twitter --preset weekly-ai --override [email protected]
  ```

## Command Reference

**actor-builds** — The API endpoints described in this section enable you to manage, and delete Apify Actor builds.

Note that if any returned build object contains usage in dollars, your effective
unit pricing at the time of query has been used for computation of this dollar equivalent, and hence it should be
used only for informative purposes.

You can learn more about platform usage in the [documentation](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/usage-and-resources#usage).

- `apify-pp-cli actor-builds delete` — Delete the build. The build that is the current default build for the Actor cannot be deleted. Only users with build...
- `apify-pp-cli actor-builds get` — Gets a list of all builds for a user. The response is a JSON array of objects, where each object contains basic...
- `apify-pp-cli actor-builds get-actorbuilds` — Gets an object that contains all the details about a specific build of an Actor. By passing the optional...

**actor-runs** — The API endpoints described in this section enable you to manage, and delete Apify Actor runs.

If any returned run object contains usage in dollars, your effective unit pricing at the time of query
has been used for computation of this dollar equivalent, and hence it should be used only for informative purposes.

For completed runs, aggregated fields such as `stats` or dollar usage totals are eventually consistent and update within a few seconds. For values that must match finalized totals, wait about 10 seconds after the run completed, then fetch the run again.

You can learn more about platform usage in the [documentation](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/usage-and-resources#usage).

- `apify-pp-cli actor-runs delete` — Delete the run. Only finished runs can be deleted. Only the person or organization that initiated the run can delete it.
- `apify-pp-cli actor-runs get` — Gets a list of all runs for a user. The response is a list of objects, where each object contains basic information...
- `apify-pp-cli actor-runs get-actorruns` — This is not a single endpoint, but an entire group of endpoints that lets you retrieve the run or any of its default...
- `apify-pp-cli actor-runs put` — This endpoint can be used to update both the run's status message and to configure its general resource access...

**actor-tasks** — The API endpoints described in this section enable you to create, manage, delete, and run Apify Actor tasks.
For more information, see the