# Quick start Copy for LLM Learn how to create and run Actors using the Apify SDK for Python. *** ## Step 1: Create Actors[](#step-1-create-actors) To create and run Actors in [Apify Console](https://docs.apify.com/platform/console), refer to the [Console documentation](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/development/quick-start/web-ide). To create a new Apify Actor on your computer, you can use the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/cli), and select one of the [Python Actor templates](https://apify.com/templates?category=python). For example, to create an Actor from the "Getting started with Python" template, you can use the [`apify create` command](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/cli/docs/reference#apify-create-actorname). ``` apify create my-first-actor --template python-start ``` This will create a new folder called `my-first-actor`, download and extract the "Getting started with Python" Actor template there, create a virtual environment in `my-first-actor/.venv`, and install the Actor dependencies in it. ![actor create command run](/sdk/python/assets/images/apify-create-24c1fe5b3ac9fe16a87f7fa00731f303.gif) ## Step 2: Run Actors[](#step-2-run-actors) To run the Actor, you can use the [`apify run` command](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/cli/docs/reference#apify-run): ``` cd my-first-actor apify run ``` This command: * Activates the virtual environment in `.venv` (if no other virtual environment is activated yet) * Starts the Actor with the appropriate environment variables for local running * Configures it to use local storages from the `storage` folder The Actor input, for example, will be in `storage/key_value_stores/default/INPUT.json`. ## Step 3: Understand Actor structure[](#step-3-understand-actor-structure) All Python Actor templates follow the same structure. The `.actor` directory contains the [Actor configuration](https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/development/actor-config), such as the Actor's definition and input schema, and the Dockerfile necessary to run the Actor on the Apify platform. The Actor's runtime dependencies are specified in the `requirements.txt` file, which follows the [standard requirements file format](https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/reference/requirements-file-format/). The Actor's source code is in the `src` folder. This folder contains two important files: * `main.py` - which contains the main function of the Actor * `__main__.py` - which is the entrypoint of the Actor package, executing the Actor's main function via [`asyncio.run()`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio-runner.html#asyncio.run). - main.py - \_\_main\_\_.py ``` from apify import Actor async def main() -> None: async with Actor: actor_input = await Actor.get_input() Actor.log.info('Actor input: %s', actor_input) await Actor.set_value('OUTPUT', 'Hello, world!') ``` ``` import asyncio from .main import main if __name__ == '__main__': asyncio.run(main()) ``` If you want to modify the Actor structure, you need to make sure that your Actor is executable as a module, via `python -m src`, as that is the command started by `apify run` in the Apify CLI. We recommend keeping the entrypoint for the Actor in the `src/__main__.py` file. ## Next steps[](#next-steps) Now that you can create and run an Actor locally, explore the rest of the SDK's features and its framework integrations. ### Concepts[](#concepts) To learn more about the features of the Apify SDK and how to use them, check out the Concepts section in the sidebar: * [Actor lifecycle](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/actor-lifecycle.md) * [Actor input](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/actor-input.md) * [Storages](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/storages.md) * [Actor events & state persistence](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/actor-events.md) * [Proxy management](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/proxy-management.md) * [Interacting with other Actors](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/interacting-with-other-actors.md) * [Creating webhooks](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/webhooks.md) * [Accessing Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/access-apify-api.md) * [Logging](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/logging.md) * [Actor configuration](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/actor-configuration.md) * [Pay-per-event monetization](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/concepts/pay-per-event.md) ### Guides[](#guides) To see how you can integrate the Apify SDK with popular scraping libraries and frameworks, check out these guides: * [Scraping with BeautifulSoup and HTTPX](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/beautifulsoup-httpx.md) * [Scraping with Parsel and Impit](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/parsel-impit.md) * [Browser automation with Playwright](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/playwright.md) * [Browser automation with Selenium](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/selenium.md) * [Building crawlers with Crawlee](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/crawlee.md) * [Building crawlers with Scrapy](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/scrapy.md) * [Adaptive scraping with Scrapling](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/scrapling.md) * [LLM-ready scraping with Crawl4AI](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/crawl4ai.md) * [Browser AI agents with Browser Use](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/browser-use.md) For other aspects of Actor development, explore these guides: * [Project management with uv](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/uv.md) * [Input validation with Pydantic](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/input-validation.md) * [Running a web server](https://docs.apify.com/sdk/python/sdk/python/docs/guides/running-webserver.md)