Connecting web scrapers: a guide to Actor-to-Actor integrations
Tags: integration, tutorial, automation, webscraping
Published: 2024-03-13 13:59:26

---
title: Connecting web scrapers: a guide to Actor-to-Actor integrations
published: true
date: 2023-11-12 23:00:00 UTC
tags: Integration, Tutorial, Automation, Webscraping
canonical_url: https://blog.apify.com/connecting-scrapers-apify-integration/
---

If you're an Apify user, you're no doubt familiar with the serverless cloud programs (or micro-apps) we call [**Actors**](https://apify.com/actors).

You're also probably aware that you can [**integrate Actors**](https://apify.com/integrations) and their tasks with your favorite web apps and cloud services. But now it's possible to [**integrate Actors with other Actors**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/actors). That means you can reuse existing Actors instead of building your own to complete certain processes.

Say you have one Actor with a dataset containing URLs and another that takes URLs and downloads them as images. Integrating the two makes the whole process of retrieving and downloading images so much easier than it used to be.

![Connecting two Actors can simplify your workflow](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-1-1.png)

_Connecting two Actors can simplify your workflow_

You may have noticed that some Actors have an Actor-specific integration available. For example, [**Google Maps Scraper**](https://apify.com/compass/crawler-google-places) has the [**AI Text Analyzer for Google Reviews**](https://apify.com/geneea-analytics/reviews-text-nlp-analyzer) as a recommended integration.

![AI Text Analyzer under Google Maps Scraper's integration tab](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-13.png)

_AI Text Analyzer under Google Maps Scraper's integration tab_

But this doesn't mean you're limited to integrating just this one Actor. You can connect any Actor or task with the Apify integration.

In this step-by-step guide, we're going to show you an example by connecting two Actors via the Apify integration.

Prefer video? Watch this instead:
{% embed https://youtu.be/zExnYbvFoBM %}



## **Step 1. Choose an Actor**

Start by going straight to [**Apify Console**](https://console.apify.com/). If you're not an Apify user, you'll need to sign up for a free account before you start.

>🆓[**Sign up for free**](https://console.apify.com/sign-up)

We're going to choose [**Cheerio Scraper**](https://apify.com/apify/cheerio-scraper) with the purpose of connecting it with the [**Download Images from Dataset**](https://apify.com/zuzka/download-images-from-dataset) Actor.

What we want to do is grab all image URLs from the [**Apify Blog**](https://blog.apify.com/) (because it's awesome) with **Cheerio Scraper** (because it's super fast) and then download them into a zip file using **Download Images from Dataset**. So, we're using one Actor to grab the URLs of the images, and with the other, we're downloading the images (not just the URLs) as a zip file.

## **Step 2. Create a task with the Actor**

First, you need to create a task. Tasks are great for organizing your inputs, especially if you want to connect more than two Actors.

In this example, we'll create a task with Cheerio Scraper, which we'll call _Apify Blog Image Grabber._

![Hit "Create new task" at the top of the Actor input page](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-2-1.png)

_Hit "Create new task" at the top of the Actor input page_

Next, we'll put the URL for the Apify Blog in the Start URLs field.

We have no need for _Glob patterns_ or _Link selectors_, so we'll leave those blank. What we do need is code in the _Page function_.

![Edit your scraper's input accordingly](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/step2-1-1.png)

_Edit your scraper's input accordingly_

Here, we're creating a `pageFunction` where we're iterating through all images on the page, getting a URL of each image, and pushing the full image URL to a dataset.

![Our code will push image URLs found on the website to a dataset](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-09-at-10.49.32-1-1-1-1-1.png)

_Our code will push image URLs found on the website to a dataset_

## **Step 3. Choose the Actor to integrate with**

Now go to **Integrations** , click the **Apify integration** , and then choose the Actor you want to integrate it with.

![Connect the Actor you want to integrate](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-5-1.png)

_Connect the Actor you want to integrate_

The first Actors you'll see (in alphabetical order) are integration-ready Actors. You can also find these in [**Apify Store**](https://apify.com/store) under the _Integrations_ category.

![You can find integration-ready Actors in Apify Store](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-09-at-10.53.48-1.png)

_You can find integration-ready Actors in Apify Store_

We'll select _Download Images From Dataset_ and click _Connect_.

## **Step 4. Choose a trigger**

Now you can choose the _Trigger_ that will start the Download Images Actor. We'll stick with _Run succeeded_.

Because we're using an integration, the dataset ID field is already prefilled with the datasetID that Cheerio Scraper will generate.

![Choose a trigger to run the second Actor: note the Dataset ID is prefilled from Cheerio Scraper!](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-7-1.png)

_Choose a trigger to run the second Actor: note the Dataset ID is prefilled from Cheerio Scraper!_

## **Step 5. Save and test settings**

Now you can save the integration settings. Once saved, you can test the integration with the test button. You have multiple test settings. We'll test it with _last run_.

![Test your integrations via the Test button](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-9-1.png)

_Test your integrations via the Test button_

You can see the test results in the _log_ underneath.

If you go back to the integrations tab, you can see how the Actors and tasks are connected.

![View the schema of your Actor connections in the task's Integrations tab](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-10-1.png)

_View the schema of your Actor connections in the task's Integrations tab_

So now, when we start the _Apify Blog Image Grabber_ task and go to our runs, we can see that the image downloader was also triggered.

![See how the relevant Actors are triggered in the Runs tab](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-11-1.png)

_See how the relevant Actors are triggered in the Runs tab_

Since the run is finished, lets look at the results. If we go to _Storage_ and the key-value store, we can see our images archive.

![You can find your pictures in the image-archive file in the run's Key-value store](https://blog.apify.com/content/images/2023/11/image-12-1.png)

You can find your pictures in the image-archive file in the run's Key-value store

Now we can download it to our device.

## **Bonus step: schedule tasks**

If you want to automate your workflow further, you can schedule your integration-infused tasks to run at specific times.

See how to set up a schedule in our video on the topic:
{% embed https://youtu.be/GRFW_Loo2dk %}


## **Which Actors do you want to integrate?**

So, now you know how it works, which Actors will you choose to integrate first? There are well over a thousand pre-built web scraping and automation tools in Apify Store to choose from. Take your pick!

>🛒[**Browse Apify Store**](https://apify.com/store)

## **Create integration-ready Actors**

Don't forget, you can build your own Actors, run them locally on Apify's cloud platform, and publish them in Apify Store to reach people who need your solution and get paid.

If you want to know how to build integration-ready Actors, the [**guidelines in our documentation**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/actors/integration-ready-actors) will show you what to do.

>😱 [**Create integration-ready Actors**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/actors/integration-ready-actors)