actor.json

Learn how to write the main Actor config in the .actor/actor.json file.

The main Actor config should live in the .actor/actor.json file in the Actor's root directory. This file associates your local development project with an Actor on the Apify platform. It contains information such as Actor name, version, build tag, and environment variables. Make sure you commit this file to the Git repository.

For example, the .actor/actor.json file can look like this:

Full actor.json
Minimal actor.json

{
    "actorSpecification": 1, // always 1
    "name": "name-of-my-scraper",
    "version": "0.0",
    "buildTag": "latest",
    "minMemoryMbytes": 256,
    "maxMemoryMbytes": 4096,
    "environmentVariables": {
        "MYSQL_USER": "my_username",
        "MYSQL_PASSWORD": "@mySecretPassword"
    },
    "dockerfile": "./Dockerfile",
    "readme": "./ACTOR.md",
    "input": "./input_schema.json",
    "storages": {
        "dataset": "./dataset_schema.json"
    }
}

{
    "actorSpecification": 1, // always 1
    "name": "name-of-my-scraper",
    "version": "0.0"
}

Reference

Note that Actor name, version, buildTag, and environmentVariables are currently only used when you deploy your Actor using the Apify CLI and not when deployed, for example, via GitHub integration. There, it serves for informative purposes only. This is suspected to change in the future.

Property	Type	Description
`actorSpecification`	Required	We are at a version `1` which is the only one available so this must be set to `1`.
`name`	Required	Name of the Actor.
`version`	Required	Actor version in the form `[Number].[Number]`, i.e. for example `0.0`, `0.1`, `2.3`, ...
`buildTag`	Optional	The tag name applied for the successful build of the Actor. Defaults to `latest`. For more information see the builds section.
`environmentVariables`	Optional	A map of environment variables used during the local development that will be also applied to Actor at Apify platform. For more see the environment variables section of Apify CLI documentation.
`dockerfile`	Optional	If you specify the path to your Dockerfile under the `dockerfile` field, this file will be used for Actor builds on the platform. If not specified, the system will look for Dockerfiles at `.actor/Dockerfile` and `Dockerfile`, in that order. For more, see the Dockerfile section.
`dockerContextDir`	Optional	Specifies the path to the directory used as the Docker context when building the Actor. The path is relative to the location of the `actor.json` file. Useful for having a monorepo with multiple Actors. See Actor monorepos for more details.
`readme`	Optional	If you specify the path to your README file under the `readme` field, the README at this path will be used on the platform. If not specified, README at `.actor/README.md` or `README.md` will be used, in this order of preference. See our Apify Academy article on writing a quality README files.
`input`	Optional	You can embed your input schema object directly in `actor.json` under the `input` field. Alternatively, you can provide a path to a custom input schema. If not provided, the input schema at `.actor/INPUT_SCHEMA.json` or `INPUT_SCHEMA.json` is used, in this order of preference.
`storages.dataset`	Optional	You can define the schema of the items in your dataset under the `storages.dataset` field. This can be either an embedded object or a path to a JSON schema file. Read more about Actor output schemas.
`minMemoryMbytes`	Optional	Specifies the minimum amount of memory in megabytes that an Actor requires to run. Requires an integer value. If both `minMemoryMbytes` and `maxMemoryMbytes` are set, then `minMemoryMbytes` must be the same or lower than `maxMemoryMbytes`.
`maxMemoryMbytes`	Optional	Specifies the maximum amount of memory in megabytes that an Actor requires to run. It can be used to control the costs of run, especially when developing pay per result Actors. Requires an integer value.

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