BasicCrawler

A basic web crawler providing a framework for crawling websites.

The BasicCrawler provides a low-level functionality for crawling websites, allowing users to define their own page download and data extraction logic. It is designed mostly to be subclassed by crawlers with specific purposes. In most cases, you will want to use a more specialized crawler, such as HttpCrawler, BeautifulSoupCrawler, ParselCrawler, or PlaywrightCrawler. If you are an advanced user and want full control over the crawling process, you can subclass the BasicCrawler and implement the request-handling logic yourself.

The crawling process begins with URLs provided by a RequestProvider instance. Each request is then handled by a user-defined request_handler function, which processes the page and extracts the data.

The BasicCrawler includes several common features for crawling, such as:

automatic scaling based on the system resources,
retries for failed requests,
session management,
statistics tracking,
request routing via labels,
proxy rotation,
direct storage interaction helpers,
and more.

Hierarchy

BasicCrawler
- PlaywrightCrawler
- AbstractHttpCrawler

Index

Properties

log
router
statistics

Methods

init

__init__(*, configuration, event_manager, storage_client, request_manager, session_pool, proxy_configuration, http_client, request_handler, max_request_retries, max_requests_per_crawl, max_session_rotations, max_crawl_depth, use_session_pool, retry_on_blocked, concurrency_settings, request_handler_timeout, statistics, abort_on_error, configure_logging, _context_pipeline, _additional_context_managers, _logger): None

A default constructor.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyconfiguration: Configuration | None = None
  The configuration object. Some of its properties are used as defaults for the crawler.
- optionalkeyword-onlyevent_manager: EventManager | None = None
  The event manager for managing events for the crawler and all its components.
- optionalkeyword-onlystorage_client: BaseStorageClient | None = None
  The storage client for managing storages for the crawler and all its components.
- optionalkeyword-onlyrequest_manager: RequestManager | None = None
  Manager of requests that should be processed by the crawler.
- optionalkeyword-onlysession_pool: SessionPool | None = None
  A custom SessionPool instance, allowing the use of non-default configuration.
- optionalkeyword-onlyproxy_configuration: ProxyConfiguration | None = None
  HTTP proxy configuration used when making requests.
- optionalkeyword-onlyhttp_client: BaseHttpClient | None = None
  HTTP client used by BasicCrawlingContext.send_request method.
- optionalkeyword-onlyrequest_handler: Callable[[TCrawlingContext], Awaitable[None]] | None = None
  A callable responsible for handling requests.
- optionalkeyword-onlymax_request_retries: int = 3
  Maximum number of attempts to process a single request.
- optionalkeyword-onlymax_requests_per_crawl: int | None = None
  Maximum number of pages to open during a crawl. The crawl stops upon reaching this limit. Setting this value can help avoid infinite loops in misconfigured crawlers. None means no limit. Due to concurrency settings, the actual number of pages visited may slightly exceed this value.
- optionalkeyword-onlymax_session_rotations: int = 10
  Maximum number of session rotations per request. The crawler rotates the session if a proxy error occurs or if the website blocks the request.
- optionalkeyword-onlymax_crawl_depth: int | None = None
  Specifies the maximum crawl depth. If set, the crawler will stop processing links beyond this depth. The crawl depth starts at 0 for initial requests and increases with each subsequent level of links. Requests at the maximum depth will still be processed, but no new links will be enqueued from those requests. If not set, crawling continues without depth restrictions.
- optionalkeyword-onlyuse_session_pool: bool = True
  Enable the use of a session pool for managing sessions during crawling.
- optionalkeyword-onlyretry_on_blocked: bool = True
  If True, the crawler attempts to bypass bot protections automatically.
- optionalkeyword-onlyconcurrency_settings: ConcurrencySettings | None = None
  Settings to fine-tune concurrency levels.
- optionalkeyword-onlyrequest_handler_timeout: timedelta = timedelta(minutes=1)
  Maximum duration allowed for a single request handler to run.
- optionalkeyword-onlystatistics: Statistics | None = None
  A custom Statistics instance, allowing the use of non-default configuration.
- optionalkeyword-onlyabort_on_error: bool = False
  If True, the crawler stops immediately when any request handler error occurs.
- optionalkeyword-onlyconfigure_logging: bool = True
  If True, the crawler will set up logging infrastructure automatically.
- optionalkeyword-only_context_pipeline: ContextPipeline[TCrawlingContext] | None = None
  Enables extending the request lifecycle and modifying the crawling context. Intended for use by subclasses rather than direct instantiation of BasicCrawler.
- optionalkeyword-only_additional_context_managers: Sequence[AbstractAsyncContextManager] | None = None
  Additional context managers used throughout the crawler lifecycle. Intended for use by subclasses rather than direct instantiation of BasicCrawler.
- optionalkeyword-only_logger: logging.Logger | None = None
  A logger instance, typically provided by a subclass, for consistent logging labels. Intended for use by subclasses rather than direct instantiation of BasicCrawler.
Returns None

add_requests

async add_requests(*, requests, batch_size, wait_time_between_batches, wait_for_all_requests_to_be_added, wait_for_all_requests_to_be_added_timeout): None

Add requests to the underlying request provider in batches.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyrequests: Sequence[str | Request]
  A list of requests to add to the queue.
- optionalkeyword-onlybatch_size: int = 1000
  The number of requests to add in one batch.
- optionalkeyword-onlywait_time_between_batches: timedelta = timedelta(0)
  Time to wait between adding batches.
- optionalkeyword-onlywait_for_all_requests_to_be_added: bool = False
  If True, wait for all requests to be added before returning.
- optionalkeyword-onlywait_for_all_requests_to_be_added_timeout: timedelta | None = None
  Timeout for waiting for all requests to be added.
Returns None

error_handler

error_handler(*, handler): ErrorHandler[TCrawlingContext]

Decorator for configuring an error handler (called after a request handler error and before retrying).
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyhandler: ErrorHandler[TCrawlingContext | BasicCrawlingContext]
Returns ErrorHandler[TCrawlingContext]

export_data

async export_data(*, path, dataset_id, dataset_name): None

Export data from a dataset.

This helper method simplifies the process of exporting data from a dataset. It opens the specified dataset and then exports the data based on the provided parameters. If you need to pass options specific to the output format, use the export_data_csv or export_data_json method instead.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlypath: str | Path
  The destination path.
- optionalkeyword-onlydataset_id: str | None = None
  The ID of the dataset.
- optionalkeyword-onlydataset_name: str | None = None
  The name of the dataset.
Returns None

export_data_csv

async export_data_csv(*, path, dataset_id, dataset_name, dialect, delimiter, doublequote, escapechar, lineterminator, quotechar, quoting, skipinitialspace, strict): None

Export data from a dataset to a CSV file.

This helper method simplifies the process of exporting data from a dataset in csv format. It opens the specified dataset and then exports the data based on the provided parameters.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlypath: str | Path
  The destination path.
- optionalkeyword-onlydataset_id: str | None = None
  The ID of the dataset.
- optionalkeyword-onlydataset_name: str | None = None
  The name of the dataset.
- keyword-onlydialect: str
  Specifies a dialect to be used in CSV parsing and writing.
- keyword-onlydelimiter: str
  A one-character string used to separate fields. Defaults to ','.
- keyword-onlydoublequote: bool
  Controls how instances of quotechar inside a field should be quoted. When True, the character is doubled; when False, the escapechar is used as a prefix. Defaults to True.
- keyword-onlyescapechar: str
  A one-character string used to escape the delimiter if quoting is set to QUOTE_NONE and the quotechar if doublequote is False. Defaults to None, disabling escaping.
- keyword-onlylineterminator: str
  The string used to terminate lines produced by the writer. Defaults to '\r\n'.
- keyword-onlyquotechar: str
  A one-character string used to quote fields containing special characters, like the delimiter or quotechar, or fields containing new-line characters. Defaults to '"'.
- keyword-onlyquoting: int
  Controls when quotes should be generated by the writer and recognized by the reader. Can take any of the QUOTE_* constants, with a default of QUOTE_MINIMAL.
- keyword-onlyskipinitialspace: bool
  When True, spaces immediately following the delimiter are ignored. Defaults to False.
- keyword-onlystrict: bool
  When True, raises an exception on bad CSV input. Defaults to False.
Returns None

export_data_json

async export_data_json(*, path, dataset_id, dataset_name, skipkeys, ensure_ascii, check_circular, allow_nan, cls, indent, separators, default, sort_keys): None

Export data from a dataset to a JSON file.

This helper method simplifies the process of exporting data from a dataset in json format. It opens the specified dataset and then exports the data based on the provided parameters.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlypath: str | Path
  The destination path
- optionalkeyword-onlydataset_id: str | None = None
  The ID of the dataset.
- optionalkeyword-onlydataset_name: str | None = None
  The name of the dataset.
- keyword-onlyskipkeys: bool
  If True (default: False), dict keys that are not of a basic type (str, int, float, bool, None) will be skipped instead of raising a TypeError.
- keyword-onlyensure_ascii: bool
  Determines if non-ASCII characters should be escaped in the output JSON string.
- keyword-onlycheck_circular: bool
  If False (default: True), skips the circular reference check for container types. A circular reference will result in a RecursionError or worse if unchecked.
- keyword-onlyallow_nan: bool
  If False (default: True), raises a ValueError for out-of-range float values (nan, inf, -inf) to strictly comply with the JSON specification. If True, uses their JavaScript equivalents (NaN, Infinity, -Infinity).
- keyword-onlycls: type[json.JSONEncoder]
  Allows specifying a custom JSON encoder.
- keyword-onlyindent: int
  Specifies the number of spaces for indentation in the pretty-printed JSON output.
- keyword-onlyseparators: tuple[str, str]
  A tuple of (item_separator, key_separator). The default is (', ', ': ') if indent is None and (',', ': ') otherwise.
- keyword-onlydefault: Callable
  A function called for objects that can't be serialized otherwise. It should return a JSON-encodable version of the object or raise a TypeError.
- keyword-onlysort_keys: bool
  Specifies whether the output JSON object should have keys sorted alphabetically.
Returns None

failed_request_handler

failed_request_handler(*, handler): FailedRequestHandler[TCrawlingContext]

Decorator for configuring a failed request handler (called after max retries are reached).
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyhandler: FailedRequestHandler[TCrawlingContext | BasicCrawlingContext]
Returns FailedRequestHandler[TCrawlingContext]

get_data

async get_data(*, dataset_id, dataset_name, offset, limit, clean, desc, fields, omit, unwind, skip_empty, skip_hidden, flatten, view): DatasetItemsListPage

Retrieve data from a dataset.

This helper method simplifies the process of retrieving data from a dataset. It opens the specified dataset and then retrieves the data based on the provided parameters.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlydataset_id: str | None = None
  The ID of the dataset.
- optionalkeyword-onlydataset_name: str | None = None
  The name of the dataset.
- keyword-onlyoffset: int
  Skips the specified number of items at the start.
- keyword-onlylimit: int
  The maximum number of items to retrieve. Unlimited if None.
- keyword-onlyclean: bool
  Returns only non-empty items and excludes hidden fields. Shortcut for skip_hidden and skip_empty.
- keyword-onlydesc: bool
  Set to True to sort results in descending order.
- keyword-onlyfields: list[str]
  Fields to include in each item. Sorts fields as specified if provided.
- keyword-onlyomit: list[str]
  Fields to exclude from each item.
- keyword-onlyunwind: str
  Unwinds items by a specified array field, turning each element into a separate item.
- keyword-onlyskip_empty: bool
  Excludes empty items from the results if True.
- keyword-onlyskip_hidden: bool
  Excludes fields starting with '#' if True.
- keyword-onlyflatten: list[str]
  Fields to be flattened in returned items.
- keyword-onlyview: str
  Specifies the dataset view to be used.
Returns DatasetItemsListPage

get_dataset

async get_dataset(*, id, name): Dataset

Return the dataset with the given ID or name. If none is provided, return the default dataset.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyid: str | None = None
- optionalkeyword-onlyname: str | None = None
Returns Dataset

get_key_value_store

async get_key_value_store(*, id, name): KeyValueStore

Return the key-value store with the given ID or name. If none is provided, return the default KVS.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyid: str | None = None
- optionalkeyword-onlyname: str | None = None
Returns KeyValueStore

get_request_manager

async get_request_manager(): RequestManager

Return the configured request provider. If none is configured, open and return the default request queue.
Returns RequestManager

router

router(*, router): None

Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyrouter: Router[TCrawlingContext]
Returns None

run

async run(*, requests, purge_request_queue): FinalStatistics

Run the crawler until all requests are processed.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyrequests: Sequence[str | Request] | None = None
  The requests to be enqueued before the crawler starts.
- optionalkeyword-onlypurge_request_queue: bool = True
  If this is True and the crawler is not being run for the first time, the default request queue will be purged.
Returns FinalStatistics

stop

stop(*, reason): None

Set flag to stop crawler.

This stops current crawler run regardless of whether all requests were finished.
Parameters
- optionalkeyword-onlyreason: str = 'Stop was called externally.'
  Reason for stopping that will be used in logs.
Returns None

Properties

log

log: logging.Logger

The logger used by the crawler.

router

router: Router[TCrawlingContext]

The router used to handle each individual crawling request.

statistics

statistics: Statistics[StatisticsState]

Statistics about the current (or last) crawler run.

Hierarchy

Index

Methods

Properties

Methods

__init__

Parameters

optionalkeyword-onlyconfiguration: Configuration | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlyevent_manager: EventManager | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlystorage_client: BaseStorageClient | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlyrequest_manager: RequestManager | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlysession_pool: SessionPool | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlyproxy_configuration: ProxyConfiguration | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlyhttp_client: BaseHttpClient | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlyrequest_handler: Callable[[TCrawlingContext], Awaitable[None]] | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlymax_request_retries: int = 3

optionalkeyword-onlymax_requests_per_crawl: int | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlymax_session_rotations: int = 10

optionalkeyword-onlymax_crawl_depth: int | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlyuse_session_pool: bool = True

optionalkeyword-onlyretry_on_blocked: bool = True

optionalkeyword-onlyconcurrency_settings: ConcurrencySettings | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlyrequest_handler_timeout: timedelta = timedelta(minutes=1)

optionalkeyword-onlystatistics: Statistics | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlyabort_on_error: bool = False

optionalkeyword-onlyconfigure_logging: bool = True

optionalkeyword-only_context_pipeline: ContextPipeline[TCrawlingContext] | None = None

optionalkeyword-only_additional_context_managers: Sequence[AbstractAsyncContextManager] | None = None

optionalkeyword-only_logger: logging.Logger | None = None

Returns None

add_requests

Parameters

optionalkeyword-onlyrequests: Sequence[str | Request]

optionalkeyword-onlybatch_size: int = 1000

optionalkeyword-onlywait_time_between_batches: timedelta = timedelta(0)

optionalkeyword-onlywait_for_all_requests_to_be_added: bool = False

optionalkeyword-onlywait_for_all_requests_to_be_added_timeout: timedelta | None = None

Returns None

error_handler

Parameters

optionalkeyword-onlyhandler: ErrorHandler[TCrawlingContext | BasicCrawlingContext]

Returns ErrorHandler[TCrawlingContext]

export_data

Parameters

optionalkeyword-onlypath: str | Path

optionalkeyword-onlydataset_id: str | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlydataset_name: str | None = None

Returns None

export_data_csv

Parameters

optionalkeyword-onlypath: str | Path

optionalkeyword-onlydataset_id: str | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlydataset_name: str | None = None

keyword-onlydialect: str

keyword-onlydelimiter: str

keyword-onlydoublequote: bool

keyword-onlyescapechar: str

keyword-onlylineterminator: str

keyword-onlyquotechar: str

keyword-onlyquoting: int

keyword-onlyskipinitialspace: bool

keyword-onlystrict: bool

Returns None

export_data_json

Parameters

optionalkeyword-onlypath: str | Path

optionalkeyword-onlydataset_id: str | None = None

optionalkeyword-onlydataset_name: str | None = None

keyword-onlyskipkeys: bool

keyword-onlyensure_ascii: bool

keyword-onlycheck_circular: bool

keyword-onlyallow_nan: bool

keyword-onlycls: type[json.JSONEncoder]

keyword-onlyindent: int

keyword-onlyseparators: tuple[str, str]

keyword-onlydefault: Callable

keyword-onlysort_keys: bool

Returns None

failed_request_handler

Parameters

init