CRAN R Packages Metadata Scraper

CRAN R Packages Metadata Scraper

Scrape CRAN R package metadata by package name, up to a million per run. Every package comes with its title, version, author, dependencies, and publication date. No API key or registration. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

CRAN hosts over 20,000 R packages, but browsing the web interface or querying the official API one package at a time is slow and manual. This Actor reads the CRAN crandb database directly, so you can fetch metadata for a list of package names in a single run. It returns a flat dataset ready for analysis, dependency mapping, or package discovery.

Who uses it	What they scrape CRAN for
R developers	Audit the dependencies and maintainers of the packages their project relies on.
Data science team leads	Build an internal catalog of approved R packages with version and author details.
Bioinformatics researchers	Track the latest versions and publication dates of domain-specific CRAN packages.
Software compliance officers	Check the license and author fields across a list of R packages before procurement.

What it does

This Actor collects CRAN R package metadata by package name and returns each package as a flat row.

• 📋 Batch by package name: provide a list of CRAN package names and the Actor fetches metadata for each one.
• 🔢 Capped runs: set a maximum number of packages to collect per run, up to 1,000,000.
• 📄 Flat row output: each package returns as one row with title, version, author, maintainer, dependencies, license, and publication date.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with CRAN data

📦 Audit project dependencies.

An R developer feeds a list of package names from their DESCRIPTION file and gets back the current version, license, and maintainer for each dependency.

🧪 Build a research software catalog.

A bioinformatics core facility scrapes metadata for 200 domain-specific CRAN packages to populate an internal tool registry with version and author details.

📊 Monitor package updates.

A data science team lead runs the Actor weekly on their stack of 50 packages and diffs the version column to spot new releases.

🔍 Discover package maintainers.

A compliance officer pulls the author and maintainer fields for a list of candidate packages to verify provenance before approval.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads the public CRAN crandb database with no registration or authentication.
Batch lookups	Fetch metadata for hundreds or thousands of packages in one run.
Fixed schema	Every package returns the same fields, so your downstream scripts never break.
Export anywhere	Save results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML for use in R, Python, or BI tools.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets CRAN the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	CRAN R Packages Metadata Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When CRAN changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a list of CRAN package names and cap the total packages collected per run. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "packageNames": [
    "ggplot2",
    "dplyr",
    "data.table",
    "shiny",
    "Rcpp",
    "stringr",
    "tidyr",
    "jsonlite",
    "httr"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "packageNames": [
    "ggplot2",
    "dplyr",
    "data.table",
    "shiny",
    "Rcpp",
    "stringr",
    "tidyr",
    "jsonlite",
    "httr"
  ],
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.003 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.30
1,000 results	$3.00
10,000 results	$30.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the CRAN R Packages Metadata Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to CRAN through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/cran-r-packages-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting fewer results than the number of package names I provided?

Check the maxItems setting. The Actor stops after collecting that many packages, even if your input list is longer. Increase maxItems to fetch more.

Some packages are missing from the output.

The package name may be misspelled or the package may have been archived on CRAN. Verify the exact name on the CRAN website and try again.

The run takes a long time for a large package list.

The Actor queries the CRAN crandb database once per package. For lists of thousands of names, expect a few minutes of runtime. You can split the list across multiple runs if needed.

I see an error about an invalid package name.

CRAN package names are case-sensitive and must match exactly. Check for typos, extra spaces, or incorrect capitalization in your input list.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What CRAN metadata fields does this Actor return?	It returns the package name, title, version, author, maintainer, description, license, dependencies, suggests, imports, and publication date from the CRAN crandb database.
Do I need an API key or CRAN account?	No. The Actor reads the public CRAN crandb database directly, so no registration, API key, or authentication is required.
How many packages can I scrape in one run?	You can set the maximum packages per run up to 1,000,000. The Actor will stop after collecting that many, even if your package name list is longer.
Can I scrape all CRAN packages?	Yes, if you provide a complete list of package names and set a high enough maxItems value. The Actor fetches metadata for each name you supply.
What format does the output come in?	You can export the dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform.
Does this Actor download the R package source code?	No, it only fetches metadata from the CRAN crandb database. It does not download or inspect the package tarball or source files.
How do I get the list of all CRAN package names?	You can obtain the full package list from the CRAN web interface or by using the available.packages() function in R, then pass that list to this Actor.
Can I filter packages by author or license?	The Actor fetches metadata for every package name you provide. You can filter the resulting dataset by author, license, or any other field after the run completes.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The R Foundation. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.