# Vendor facets — Apify. Apify's own MCP server (mcp.apify.com) exposes Store Actors as tools —
# many of them scrapers of third-party sites built without the site owner. An Actor developer can
# also run its own MCP server in Standby mode, but it is served at <owner>--<actor>.apify.actor,
# Apify's domain, so the best a provider reaches is `platform` (0.25) on mcp_server.
vendor: apify
name: Apify
website: https://apify.com
areas:
- mcp-hosting
registry_keys: []
rubric_schema_version: 0.22.0
generated: '2026-09-25'
features_refreshed: '2026-09-25'
basis: capability
summary: >-
  Apify is an Actor marketplace with a hosted MCP server that lets agents discover and run Actors; an
  Actor that scrapes or wraps a company's site or API earns that company nothing. A provider that builds
  its own Actor with an MCP endpoint in Standby mode writes its own tools, but they are served on apify.actor,
  so a declared server grades `platform` (0.25 of 12 agent-readiness points). Apify's Agent Skills, plugins
  and llms.txt describe Apify.
features:
- id: apify-mcp
  name: Apify MCP server
  description: >-
    Hosted MCP server at https://mcp.apify.com (OAuth or API token) that discovers and runs Store Actors
    as tools, with inferred output schemas.
  source: https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md
  tier: all
- id: standby-mcp
  name: Standby Actors serving an MCP endpoint
  description: >-
    An Actor can run a persistent HTTP server in Standby mode and expose MCP at its Standby URL plus webServerMcpPath,
    on <owner>--<actor>.apify.actor.
  source: https://docs.apify.com/actors/development/programming-interface/standby.md
  tier: all
- id: web-server-schema
  name: Actor web server schema (OpenAPI)
  description: Attach an OpenAPI description to an Actor to power an Endpoints tab in Apify Console and
    Store.
  source: https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt
  tier: all
- id: monetization
  name: Actor publishing and pay-per-event monetization
  description: Publish Actors to Apify Store and charge per event, per result or by rental.
  source: https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt
  tier: all
- id: apify-skills
  name: Apify plugins and Agent Skills
  description: >-
    Apify-authored skills and plugins for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and others for discovering, running
    and building Actors.
  source: https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt
  tier: open-source
maps:
- feature: standby-mcp
  check: mcp_server
  layer: agent_readiness
  grade: platform
  credit: 0.25
  conditional: true
  condition: >-
    Only if the provider builds the Actor itself and declares its apify.actor MCP endpoint in its own
    mcp/ manifest. A third party's Actor about the provider's site or API earns the provider nothing.
  provider_must: Build the Actor, run it in Standby mode with an MCP path, and declare that endpoint.
  note: >-
    The tools are provider-written, which argues for more than `platform`; but the endpoint is on Apify's
    domain behind Apify token auth, and 0.22.0 reads the domain. Hosting the same server on the provider's
    own host is the path to a higher grade.
  points: 12
  baseline_pass_rate: 0.22
- feature: standby-mcp
  check: mcp_endpoint_discoverable
  since: 0.23.0
  layer: composite
  credit: 1.0
  conditional: true
  condition: >-
    Only for a provider-built Standby Actor with an MCP path that the provider declares. The Standby URL
    (<owner>--<actor>.apify.actor plus webServerMcpPath) is concrete and stable, so it grades `addressable`
    even though calls need an Apify token.
  provider_must: Publish the concrete Standby MCP URL in its own mcp/ manifest.
  facet: discoverability
  points: 4
earns_nothing:
- feature: apify-mcp
  check: mcp_server
  why: mcp.apify.com is Apify's server over Apify's Actor catalogue; it is not any provider's MCP server.
- feature: web-server-schema
  check: contract_present
  why: >-
    The OpenAPI describes an Actor endpoint on apify.actor, not the provider's API, and lives on Apify's
    surface.
- feature: apify-skills
  check: agent_skills
  why: The skills teach agents to use Apify; they are not provider-authored skills for the provider's
    API.
- feature: apify-mcp
  check: protected_resource_metadata
  why: >-
    OAuth runs against Apify's authorization server for mcp.apify.com; nothing is served on the provider's
    host.
- feature: monetization
  check: agentic_commerce
  why: >-
    Pay-per-event billing runs through Apify's platform billing; the dimension reads a ucp.json/acp.json
    on the provider's .well-known, which Apify does not produce.
out_of_reach:
  checks:
  - spec_presence
  - llms_txt_published
  - agent_card
  - well_known_catalog
  - dynamic_client_registration
  - auth_clarity
  note: Apify hosts and sells Actors; nothing it ships lands on the provider's own domain.
unscored_practice:
- feature: monetization
  why: >-
    A provider selling pay-per-event access to its own Actor is a real agent-facing commercial channel
    no 0.22.0 check reads.
surface:
  agent_readiness:
    reachable: 3.0
    total: 139
hard_rule: >-
  A model, not a score. Adopting this vendor changes a provider's Kin Score only when the provider publishes
  the resulting artifacts on its own surface; nothing here writes a score, and no sponsorship or partnership
  can.
method: searched
source:
- https://docs.apify.com/actors/development/programming-interface/standby.md
- https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md
- https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt
measured:
  cohort:
    method: vendors-catalog.json detections (CNAME / header / URL shape / markup), never a name match
    detected: 0
    in_baseline: 0
  control:
    basis: providers earning contract_present + documentation_present + api_reference_present, minus the
      cohort
    n: 5216
  metric: >-
    cohort_pct / control_pct = mean share of the check's points earned (derived and platform credit weighted),
    x100
  measured_on: '2026-09-25'
  status: 'not measurable: 0 detected customers clear the baseline (need 20)'
simulation:
  simulated_on: '2026-09-25'
  rubric: 0.23.0
  population: providers publishing a contract (contract_present earned), replayable exactly
  providers: 8977
  providers_unreplayable: 987
  providers_moved: 0
  conditional_rows: excluded (they depend on what the API already does)
  composite_lift:
    median: 0.0
    p75: 0.0
    p90: 0.0
    max: 0.0
    mean_among_movers: 0.0
  agent_readiness_lift:
    median: 0.0
    p75: 0.0
    p90: 0.0
    max: 0.0
    mean_among_movers: 0.0
  facet_lift_median_among_movers: {}
  composite_band_moves: {}
  agent_readiness_band_moves: {}
  method: >-
    each provider's own kin/checks file, the vendor's maps at their stated credit, the scorer's composite
    formula; from -> to, nothing written