Agent skill · software engineering · jeremylongshore
apify-hello-world
Run your first Apify Actor and retrieve results via apify-client. Use when starting a new Apify integration, testing connectivity, or learning the Actor call/dataset retrieval pattern. Trigger with "apify hello world", "apify example", "run an apify actor", "apify quick start", "first apify scrape".
Why this skill is useful
Provides specific commands and patterns for integrating with the Apify platform that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires npm installed locally. Requires apify account access. About 3k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 2,604 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Apify Hello World Overview Run a public Actor from the Apify Store, wait for it to finish, and retrieve the scraped data. This demonstrates the fundamental call-wait-collect pattern used in every Apify integration. Prerequisites npm install apify-client completed APIFYTOKEN environment variable set See apify-install-auth if not ready Authentication Every call authenticates with a personal API token passed to the client constructor: new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFYTOKEN }). Keep the token in the APIFYTOKEN environment variable — never hard-code it in the script. Full setup (where to generate the token, how to export it) lives in the apify-install-auth skill. Core Pattern: Call Actor, Get Data This is the whole workflow at a high level: authenticate, .call() an Actor, then read its default dataset. For sync-vs-async execution, pagination, downloads, key-value store retrieval, run-configuration options, and a table of popular starter Actors, see run & retrieval patterns. Instructions Step 1: Create the Script Use Write (or Edit an existing file) to create hello-apify.ts (or .js) with the Core Pattern code above. Use Read to confirm the file contents before running. Step 2: Run It Step 3: Understand the Output The Actor runs on Apify's cloud infrastructure. See the Output section below for the run-object fields returned when it finishes. Output A successful run returns a run object plus a populated dataset. The fields you read most: Field Meaning ------- --------- run.id Unique run identifier run.status SUCCEEDED, FAILED, TIMED-OUT, or ABORTED run.defaultDatasetId ID of the dataset containing scrape results run.defaultKeyValueStoreId ID of the KV store with metadata/artifacts run.statusMessage Human-readable detail (essential when status is not SUCCEEDED) client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems() returns { items }, where each item is one scraped record (shape depends on the Actor). …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills jeremylongshore/apify-hello-world