Regtransfers/apify-competitor-intelligence

@ Competitor Intelligence

Analyze competitors using Apify Actors to extract data from multiple platforms.

@ When to Use

• You need competitor benchmarks for content, reviews, pricing, ads, audience, or channel performance.
• The task involves selecting Apify Actors to compare competitors across maps, booking, social, or video platforms.
• You need structured competitor data plus synthesized takeaways for strategy or positioning.

@ Prerequisites (No need to check it upfront)

-.env file with APIFY_TOKEN

• Node.js 20.6+ (for native --env-file support)
• mcpc CLI tool: npm install -g @apify/mcpc

@ Workflow

Copy this checklist and track progress:

Task Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Identify competitor analysis type (select Actor)
- [ ] Step 2: Fetch Actor schema via mcpc
- [ ] Step 3: Ask user preferences (format, filename)
- [ ] Step 4: Run the analysis script
- [ ] Step 5: Summarize findings

@ Step 1: Identify Competitor Analysis Type

Select the appropriate Actor based on analysis needs:

User Need; Actor ID; Best For

Competitor business data; compass/crawler-google-places; Location analysis Competitor contact discovery; poidata/google-maps-email-extractor; Email extraction Feature benchmarking; compass/google-maps-extractor; Detailed business data Competitor review analysis; compass/Google-Maps-Reviews-Scraper; Review comparison Hotel competitor data; voyager/booking-scraper; Hotel benchmarking Hotel review comparison; voyager/booking-reviews-scraper; Review analysis Competitor ad strategies; apify/facebook-ads-scraper; Ad creative analysis Competitor page metrics; apify/facebook-pages-scraper; Page performance Competitor content analysis; apify/facebook-posts-scraper; Post strategies Competitor reels performance; apify/facebook-reels-scraper; Reels analysis Competitor audience analysis; apify/facebook-comments-scraper; Comment sentiment Competitor event monitoring; apify/facebook-events-scraper; Event tracking Competitor audience overlap; apify/facebook-followers-following-scraper; Follower analysis Competitor review benchmarking; apify/facebook-reviews-scraper; Review comparison Competitor ad monitoring; apify/facebook-search-scraper; Ad discovery Competitor profile metrics; apify/instagram-profile-scraper; Profile analysis Competitor content monitoring; apify/instagram-post-scraper; Post tracking Competitor engagement analysis; apify/instagram-comment-scraper; Comment analysis Competitor reel performance; apify/instagram-reel-scraper; Reel metrics Competitor growth tracking; apify/instagram-followers-count-scraper; Follower tracking Comprehensive competitor data; apify/instagram-scraper; Full analysis API-based competitor analysis; apify/instagram-api-scraper; API access Competitor video analysis; streamers/youtube-scraper; Video metrics Competitor sentiment analysis; streamers/youtube-comments-scraper; Comment sentiment Competitor channel metrics; streamers/youtube-channel-scraper; Channel analysis TikTok competitor analysis; clockworks/tiktok-scraper; TikTok data Competitor video strategies; clockworks/tiktok-video-scraper; Video analysis Competitor TikTok profiles; clockworks/tiktok-profile-scraper; Profile data

@ Step 2: Fetch Actor Schema

Fetch the Actor's input schema and details dynamically using mcpc:

export $(grep APIFY_TOKEN .env | xargs) && mcpc --json mcp.apify.com --header "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" tools-call fetch-actor-details actor:="ACTOR_ID" | jq -r ".content"

Replace ACTOR_ID with the selected Actor (e.g., compass/crawler-google-places).

This returns:

• Actor description and README
• Required and optional input parameters
• Output fields (if available)

@ Step 3: Ask User Preferences

Before running, ask:

1. Output format:

• Quick answer - Display top few results in chat (no file saved)
• CSV - Full export with all fields
• JSON - Full export in JSON format

2. Number of results: Based on character of use case

@ Step 4: Run the Script

Quick answer (display in chat, no file):

node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "ACTOR_ID" \
  --input 'JSON_INPUT'

CSV:

node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "ACTOR_ID" \
  --input 'JSON_INPUT' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_OUTPUT_FILE.csv \
  --format csv

JSON:

node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "ACTOR_ID" \
  --input 'JSON_INPUT' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_OUTPUT_FILE.json \
  --format json

@ Step 5: Summarize Findings

After completion, report:

• Number of competitors analyzed
• File location and name
• Key competitive insights
• Suggested next steps (deeper analysis, benchmarking)

@ Error Handling

APIFYTOKEN not found - Ask user to create.env with APIFYTOKEN=your_token mcpc not found - Ask user to install npm install -g @apify/mcpc Actor not found - Check Actor ID spelling Run FAILED - Ask user to check Apify console link in error output Timeout - Reduce input size or increase --timeout

@ Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• never treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.