apify-competitor-intelligence

SKILL.md

Competitor Intelligence

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

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:

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

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

APIFY_TOKEN not found - Ask user to create .env with APIFY_TOKEN=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