Apify Install & Auth

Overview

Set up the Apify ecosystem: the apify-client JS library (for calling Actors remotely), the apify SDK (for building Actors), the Apify CLI (for deploying), and Crawlee (for crawling). Each package serves a different purpose — install only what the task needs, then wire up a single API token.

Package Map

Package	npm	Purpose
`apify-client`	`npm i apify-client`	Call Actors, manage datasets/KV stores from external apps
`apify`	`npm i apify`	Build Actors (includes `Actor.init()`, `Actor.pushData()`)
`crawlee`	`npm i crawlee`	Crawler framework (Cheerio, Playwright, Puppeteer crawlers)
`apify-cli`	`npm i -g apify-cli`	CLI for `apify login`, `apify run`, `apify push`

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+ (required by SDK v3+)
Apify account at https://console.apify.com
API token from Settings > Integrations in Apify Console

Instructions

Step 1: Install Packages

# For CALLING existing Actors from your app:
npm install apify-client

# For BUILDING your own Actors:
npm install apify crawlee

# For CLI deployment:
npm install -g apify-cli

Step 2: Configure Authentication

Pick one. Read any existing .env first so you do not clobber it, then Write the token in.

# Option A: Environment variable (recommended for apps)
export APIFY_TOKEN="apify_api_YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"

# Option B: .env file (add .env to .gitignore)
echo 'APIFY_TOKEN=apify_api_YOUR_TOKEN_HERE' >> .env

# Option C: CLI login (for interactive development)
apify login
# Paste your token when prompted

The APIFY_TOKEN env var is auto-detected by both apify-client and the apify SDK. For every place a token can be supplied (constructor option, header, precedence) plus the full platform env-var list, see authentication reference.

Step 3: Verify Connection

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });

// List your Actors to confirm auth works
const { items } = await client.actors().list();
console.log(`Authenticated. You have ${items.length} Actors.`);

Step 4: Verify CLI (if installed)

apify login --token YOUR_TOKEN
apify info  # Shows your account info

Output

A working, authenticated Apify setup:

The needed packages installed in node_modules (verify with npm ls apify-client).
APIFY_TOKEN available to the process — via a Write to .env, an exported shell var, or apify login credentials in ~/.apify/auth.json.
The Step 3 snippet printing Authenticated. You have N Actors. — proof the token reaches the API.
apify info showing your account (only when the CLI was installed in Step 1).

If the verify snippet throws instead of printing the count, jump to Error Handling below.

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
`401 Unauthorized`	Invalid or expired token	Regenerate token in Console > Settings > Integrations
`Cannot find module 'apify-client'`	Package not installed	`npm install apify-client`
`APIFY_TOKEN is not set`	Missing env var	Export `APIFY_TOKEN` or pass `token` to constructor
`apify: command not found`	CLI not installed globally	`npm install -g apify-cli`

Examples

The essential singleton-client skeleton:

// src/apify/client.ts
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
import 'dotenv/config';

let client: ApifyClient | null = null;

export function getClient(): ApifyClient {
  if (!client) {
    if (!process.env.APIFY_TOKEN) {
      throw new Error('APIFY_TOKEN environment variable is required');
    }
    client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
  }
  return client;
}

For the full worked set — the .env.example template, the verify snippet, and CLI verification — see worked examples.

Resources

Next Steps

With the client authenticated, proceed to apify-hello-world to make your first Actor call and push results to a dataset. If you are building your own Actor instead of calling one, the apify SDK and Crawlee installed above are your starting point — deploy with apify push.

apify-install-auth