W3C Standards Catalog Scraper

W3C Standards Catalog Scraper

Scrape the W3C standards catalog, every specification, draft, note, and working group, up to a million per run. Each record comes with its title, URL, maturity status, and group shortname. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

W3C publishes the web standards that browsers implement, but the official catalog has no bulk export and the API is limited. This reads the public W3C pages directly, filtered by maturity status or group shortname, and returns each match in one fixed schema.

Who uses it	What they scrape W3C for
Web developers	Which CSS or HTML features are stable enough to ship
Standards engineers	The full list of active working groups and their deliverables
Compliance teams	Which W3C recommendations apply to a product
Researchers	How web standards evolve over time

What it does

This Actor collects W3C specifications and working groups from the public catalog and returns each one as a flat row.

• 📋 Specifications mode: enumerate every W3C standard, draft, note, and retired spec.
• 👥 Groups mode: enumerate every W3C working group and community group.
• 🔍 Status filter: keep only Recommendations, Working Drafts, Group Notes, or any maturity level.
• 🏷️ Group shortname filter: narrow to one group like css, webapps, or html.
• 🕒 Version history: optionally pull the full per-spec version history for change tracking.

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

What you can do with W3C data

📈 Track standards maturity.

A web developer runs the Actor weekly with the status filter set to Candidate Recommendation to see which CSS features are close to shipping.

🗂️ Build a standards inventory.

A compliance team collects all W3C Recommendations and exports them to Excel to map against their product requirements.

👥 Monitor working groups.

A standards engineer pulls the groups directory to find every active group and its shortname for internal tooling.

🕒 Audit version history.

A researcher enables includeVersions to get the full change log for a specification and study how it evolved.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads the public W3C pages directly, no registration or rate limits.
One fixed schema	Every record has the same fields, ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
Up to a million records	Collect the entire catalog in a single run.
Filtered before export	Status and group filters run during collection, so your dataset stays clean.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets W3C the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	W3C Standards Catalog Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When W3C 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 from the W3C catalog, choose specifications or groups, and filters run as each record is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "mode": "specifications"
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200,
  "mode": "specifications"
}

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 W3C Standards Catalog 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 W3C 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/w3c-standards-catalog-scraper"

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

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your filters. If you set a status or group shortname that does not match any record, the dataset will be empty. Try clearing the filters and running again.

The run is slow when I enable version history.

Version history adds an extra lookup per specification, which can significantly slow down the run. Disable it if you do not need the full change log.

I got fewer records than maxItems.

The Actor stops when it has collected the requested number of records or when it reaches the end of the catalog. If the catalog has fewer records than maxItems, you will get all of them.

Some fields are empty in the output.

Not every W3C page has the same metadata. For example, a specification may not have a version history or a group shortname. Empty fields are expected for some records.

Can I scrape a specific specification by URL?

No, this Actor enumerates the catalog and does not accept direct URLs. Use the filters to narrow down to the specifications you need.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What does this Actor scrape?	It scrapes the W3C standards catalog, including specifications, drafts, notes, and working groups, from the public W3C website.
Do I need a W3C account or API key?	No. The Actor reads the public W3C pages directly, so no login or API key is required.
Can I filter by maturity status?	Yes. Use the status filter to keep only Recommendations, Working Drafts, Group Notes, or any of the other maturity levels.
Can I filter by working group?	Yes. Set the group shortname filter to a value like css, webapps, or html to collect only that group's specifications.
What is the difference between specifications and groups mode?	Specifications mode returns individual standards, drafts, and notes. Groups mode returns the W3C working groups and community groups themselves.
Does it include version history?	By default, no. Enable the includeVersions option to pull the per-spec version history, which adds an extra lookup per record and makes the run slower.
How many records can I collect?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 records per run, which is more than the entire W3C catalog.
What export formats are supported?	You can export the results to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset.
Is this the official W3C API?	No, this is an independent scraper that reads the public W3C pages. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by W3C.
Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically?	Yes, you can set up a schedule in Apify to run it daily, weekly, or at any interval you need.

🆘 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 World Wide Web Consortium. 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.