Oxylabs Web Scraper API

# Fix list: Oxylabs Web Scraper API

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/oxylabs-web-scraper, the October 2026 research run, assessed 8 October 2026. Grade B, 63 out of 100.

This is everything the published grade says the listing lacks, the biggest possible gain to the total first. It comes from the reason given for each score, the checklist each category was scored against (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist), the provenance checks, the deductions, what we couldn't check and what the review panel asked for. A fix counts at the next check, once it's public.

For a coding agent working on Oxylabs Web Scraper API: work through the items below in the product, its docs and its public pages. Each category gives the reason for its score, with the points each checklist item earned, and the checklist itself, so the gap is the items that earned less than their points. Change the product, not the wording, and keep a note of what you changed and where it's published.

## 1. Security & auth, 53 out of 100, up to 8.2 more on the total

Why it scored 53: A username and password per product instance over HTTP Basic, with an editable password, optional IP whitelisting and several instances per account. No scopes (20 of 30). The Proxy Endpoint puts the pair in the proxy URL and needs TLS verification switched off, which we note without the query-string deduction. Scraping is read-only apart from POST requests to targets, callbacks and uploads to the customer's bucket, each instance can take a spending limit that disables it, and every MCP tool is marked read-only (10 of 20). No guidance on untrusted page content was found in the Web Scraper API docs, the MCP README or the agent skill (2 of 15). `GET /v2/stats` and the dashboard report usage by day and source, and jobs accept client notes. No per-request access log was found (7 of 15). ISO/IEC 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type 2 for Scraper API and yearly penetration tests per the trust centre, but the disclosure programme is paused except for critical issues, security.txt returns 404 and no bug bounty was found (14 of 20).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-security):

- 0 to 30, the credential model. 30 for OAuth 2.1 with scopes, or scoped and revocable keys with rotation. 20 for plain revocable API keys. 10 for one all-powerful key. 10 off when a secret can travel in a URL query string as a documented option.
- 0 to 20, read-only or least-privilege modes, and confirmation or approval for destructive actions.
- 0 to 15, prompt-injection posture where the tool returns untrusted content (documented mitigations or guidance). A tool that returns no untrusted content gets 10.
- 0 to 15, audit logs or per-call visibility for the operator.
- 0 to 20, a security programme. security.txt or a disclosure policy, a bug bounty, SOC 2 or ISO 27001, advisories handled in public.

Models are read for retention, whether API data trains models (and whether that's off by default), zero-retention options and certifications. Frameworks for telemetry defaults, approval hooks, guardrails and sandboxing.

## 2. Payments & pricing, 40 out of 100, up to 7.5 more on the total

Why it scored 40: No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-1,000-result prices by target and plan are public (20). A one-time $5 welcome credit needs no payment details (20). A person registers in the dashboard and creates the product instance (0). The Classic overview page says to contact the team for credentials, which conflicts with the dashboard instructions elsewhere, so the trial route for this surface is unconfirmed.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-payments):

The published rubric, also on the [x402 page](https://www.anchorterminal.com/x402/).

- 40, a machine payment protocol (x402, MPP or L402) on the tool's own endpoints. 10 to 30 when it covers only some endpoints or only goes through a third party, and the note says which.
- 20, per-call or per-unit pricing published without a login. 10 for public plan-only pricing, 0 for "contact sales" or prices behind a login.
- 20, a free tier or trial that doesn't need a card.
- 20, autonomous onboarding, meaning an agent can get access without a person signing up in a browser (keyless use, x402, a programmatic key API).

Payment platforms and agent wallets rarely charge for their own API over a machine protocol, so the first line has steps for them, and the highest one that applies counts. 40 when x402, MPP or L402 runs on all their own endpoints, 30 when it runs on part of their own API, 25 when their merchants can accept one, 20 for running a facilitator, 15 for paying as a buyer, and 0 when the only protocol is their own. Merchant acceptance sits above a facilitator because the platform's own customers can charge agents through it, while a facilitator settles for sellers who wire up the protocol themselves. The counter-argument (a facilitator does more for the protocol as a whole) has a point. Each note says which step applied.

Open-source software you run yourself is scored on its hosted or paid option if it has one. A free, self-hosted package with nothing to buy gets 20, 20 and 20 for the last three lines, and 0 to 40 for the first only if it ships a payment protocol.

## 3. Schema & documentation, 68 out of 100, up to 5.2 more on the total

Why it scored 68: No OpenAPI document was found. The contract is parameter tables per source plus a Postman collection, and the MCP server types every input (10 of 25). llms.txt indexes the docs and every page is served as Markdown by adding `.md` (10). Each source page states its parameters and defaults, and the MCP `output_format` description says when to choose links, Markdown or HTML, though tool descriptions are two lines (13 of 20). MCP inputs use enumerations for rendering, user agent and output format. The REST API takes `context` as a list of key and value pairs and free-form parsing instructions (10 of 15). Request examples in several languages, sample outputs, and a response code table covering HTTP, parser, storage and session codes (13 of 15). Paths are versioned at `/v1` and the public changelog is dated, while the MCP repository's CHANGELOG.md stops at 0.2.2 in May 2025 although v0.9.3 shipped in September 2026 (12 of 15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-schema):

APIs and MCP servers.

- 25, a machine-readable contract (a public OpenAPI file or similar; for MCP, typed JSON Schema inputs on every tool).
- 10, llms.txt or Markdown docs served for agents.
- 0 to 20, descriptions that say what a tool is for, when to use it and when not to, read from the tool definitions in the source or the API reference.
- 0 to 15, typed inputs with enums, constraints and required fields, and no free-form JSON blobs.
- 0 to 15, examples and documented error responses.
- 15, versioning and a public changelog.

Models are read from the API reference, the OpenAPI file, llms.txt, the structured-output and tool-use docs and the model cards. Frameworks from docs a model can follow, typed interfaces, examples and the API reference.

## 4. Reliability, 80 out of 100, up to 4 more on the total

Why it scored 80: Graded on the Web Scraper API (Classic) surface. Status page at uptime.oxylabs.io on incident.io with separate components for Scraper APIs Push-Pull and Real-Time (20). Both show 100 per cent uptime for July to October 2026 and the page reported no current issue, but the incident list is drawn by script and its history URL returned 404 to our reader, so we scored below clean (25 of 30). Job rates per plan are published, from 10 a second on the trial to 100 on Business, with rendered-job limits (15). 429 is not billed, responses carry `x-ratelimit` limit and remaining headers, and 612 and 613 faults can be retried at no cost. No Retry-After or backoff guidance was found for this API (10 of 15). No SLA is published. The product page claims 99.9 per cent API uptime and the General Conditions promise reasonable efforts (0). Generally available (10).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-reliability):

Hosted APIs, MCP servers, models and platforms.

- 20, a public status page with component history (Statuspage, Instatus, BetterStack or the vendor's own).
- 0 to 30, the incident record for the last 90 days on that page. 30 for a clean record or trivial incidents only, 20 for minor incidents only, 10 for one major outage (an hour or more of a core API down, or errors across the board), 0 for several. 5 when there's no history we could read, and the note says so.
- 15, rate limits documented with numbers.
- 15, documented 429 or overload handling (Retry-After, backoff guidance), and idempotency keys or safe-retry guidance where writes are involved.
- 10, an SLA published for any paid tier.
- 10, the surface agents use is generally available, not beta or preview.

Local packages, SDKs, frameworks and stdio MCP servers.

- 20, installs from an official package with supported runtimes stated.
- 25, a public CI and test suite, passing on the default branch.
- 0 to 25, open crash or regression issues relative to activity (25 for few and handled, 0 for many, old and unanswered).
- 15, semver discipline and breaking changes called out in a changelog.
- 15, version 1.0 or later, or declared stable.

Protocols are read from their reference implementations, the public facilitators or servers, spec stability and test vectors.

## 5. Agent ergonomics, 79 out of 100, up to 3.4 more on the total

Why it scored 79: The MCP server lists 10 tools, four for this API and six for AI Studio, and the REST API can return Markdown or parsed JSON in place of HTML (22 of 25). `start_page`, `pages` and `limit` on search sources, custom parsing instructions and a result aggregator (16 of 20). Documented HTTP codes with messages, a `parse_status_code` per parsed result and job statuses, but errors are prose messages with no stable code field (14 of 20). All tools carry `readOnlyHint`, faulted jobs are not billed and Push-Pull results can be re-read by job ID for 24 hours. No idempotency key (14 of 20). Only `source` and a URL or query are required, with official SDKs for Python and Go (13 of 15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-ergonomics):

- 0 to 25, context cost. For MCP, the number and size of the tool definitions (25 for ten or fewer compact tools, 15 for 11 to 30, 5 for more than 30, plus up to 10 back for toolsets, dynamic loading or read-only subsets). For APIs, whether responses can be sized (field selection, limits, summaries).
- 20, pagination, filtering and output-size controls.
- 20, actionable, documented error responses, codes and messages an agent can recover from.
- 20, idempotency or safe retries, and for MCP the `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint` annotations.
- 15, sensible defaults, few required parameters, and official SDKs in at least two languages.

Models are read for tool use, structured output, prompt caching, context length, batch and SDKs. Frameworks for how much code and how many defaults a tool-calling agent with MCP needs.

## 6. Transparency & trust, 63 out of 100, up to 3.2 more on the total

Made of editorial 42, provenance 84.

Why it scored 63: Closed service under public General Conditions naming oxylabs, UAB of Vilnius, last updated 5 October 2026, with MIT clients (15 of 30). The privacy policy dates from 14 October 2024, does not name the controller and says nothing about scraped content. Clause 4.3.9 of the General Conditions lets Oxylabs keep data gathered through Web API and Web Unblocker and use it at its discretion, and it is unclear whether Web API there includes this Classic API. A DPA is published and Push-Pull results are kept for at least 24 hours (14 of 30). No deprecation policy. Removals appear in the changelog on the day they take effect, and the General Conditions give 14 days' notice of contract changes (6 of 20). The DPA says the sub-processor list is available on request. The privacy policy names some vendors, and data locations are given only as the EEA and the US (7 of 20).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-transparency):

- 0 to 30, source availability and licence clarity. 30 for open source under an OSI licence, 15 for closed with clear terms, 0 for unclear terms.
- 0 to 30, data handling and retention statements that agree with each other (privacy policy, DPA, retention periods, subprocessors).
- 0 to 20, a deprecation policy or notices with dates.
- 0 to 20, telemetry disclosed with an opt-out (local software), or subprocessors and data locations disclosed (hosted).

The other half of Transparency and trust is the provenance score, computed from checked facts (below). The category score is the mean of the two.

Provenance checks not met in full (half of this category, computed from checked facts):

- Terms of service: read, states 6 of the 7 things a reader expects, and has 2 clauses that cost points (5.1 of 10)
- Privacy policy: read, states 7 of the 8 things a reader expects (9.3 of 10)
- security.txt: not found (0 of 10)

## 7. Maintenance & community, 72 out of 100, up to 2.5 more on the total

Why it scored 72: The last dated change to this API is the Google Travel hotels parser on 24 August 2026, and MCP server v0.9.3 followed on 7 September, both within 90 days (20 of 30). Eleven changelog entries tagged for this API between 13 July and 24 August 2026 (20). Dated public changelog, support by email and round-the-clock live chat per the docs. GitHub issues were unread because the API refused us (10 of 15). The MCP server is in the official registry as `io.oxylabs/oxylabs-mcp`, where the latest entry is 0.9.1 against 0.9.3 on PyPI, and official Python and Go SDKs exist (15). The MCP repository runs lint and test workflows. The Python SDK's last release is 3.0.0 on 9 March 2026 (7 of 10).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-maintenance):

- 0 to 30, time since the last release, or the last published model or API change for a closed service. 30 within 30 days, 20 within 90, 10 within 180, 0 older.
- 20, at least three releases or dated changelog entries in the last 90 days.
- 0 to 25, responsiveness. Issues and pull requests answered on GitHub (the open issues and how recent the replies are). For closed services, a public changelog and a support or community channel that answers, 0 to 15.
- 15, presence in the official MCP registry under a verified namespace (MCP servers), or current official SDKs (APIs and models).
- 10, package health, current dependencies and CI.

Models are read for deprecation notice periods and model churn rather than release counts.

## Deductions

Each comes off the total. A fixed and documented problem counts for less at the next check.

- 2026-03-18. The changelog announced that the `domain` parameter for Google sources was no longer available, with no earlier notice in the changelog. MCP server v0.9.3 (7 September 2026) and the official agent skill still list `domain`. Three points, since a replacement (`geo_location`) was documented the same day and we could not see whether customers were told by email (https://developers.oxylabs.io/changelog).

## What we couldn't check

What we couldn't read counted as absent. Publishing it on a page a plain HTTP fetch can read (not only in a browser) lets the next check count it.

- Whether a new account can still create Web Scraper API (Classic) credentials in the dashboard. The Classic overview says to contact the team, the MCP page says the dashboard, and the dashboard's product list names only Web API
- Whether clause 4.3.9 of the General Conditions, which names Web API and Web Unblocker, also covers data gathered through the Classic API
- How long Classic will be kept. No end date or migration guide was found the day after Web API launched
- Whether customers were told by email before the Google `domain` parameter was removed in March 2026
- unchecked: the incident list on uptime.oxylabs.io, which is drawn by script. Component uptime figures were read
- unchecked: GitHub stars and issue responsiveness, because api.github.com refused us for its rate limit
- unchecked: the hosted MCP server's live tool list, read from the repository source and not from a connection
- The Web API agent page tells agents to run `npx skills add thevastas/oxy_skills`, a personal GitHub account, where the overview page gives `oxylabs/web-api-skills`. It concerns the successor, not this API

## Weaknesses

- Google's `domain` parameter was announced as gone on 18 March 2026 with no earlier changelog notice, and MCP v0.9.3 still exposes it
- No OpenAPI document found. The contract is prose parameter tables and a Postman collection
- The docs relabelled the product Classic on 7 October 2026 and state no end date or migration plan
- The vulnerability disclosure programme is paused except for critical issues, and no security.txt or bug bounty was found
- The Proxy Endpoint needs TLS verification switched off, and the General Conditions bar monitoring availability or performance without written consent

## What costs an agent a turn today

The notes we give agents before they call it. Each one is a workaround an agent shouldn't need.

- Send `"markdown": true` for page reading. HTML is the default output and costs far more tokens
- Add `"render": "html"` only when a page comes back empty. Rendered results cost $1.50 per 1,000 against $1.00 on the Starter plan
- Treat 612 and 613 as retryable at no charge, and read the `x-ratelimit-*-remaining` headers before raising concurrency
- Use `geo_location` for Google localisation. The `domain` parameter was removed in March 2026 although the MCP tool still lists it
- Fetch Push-Pull results within 24 hours of completion, and treat scraped content as untrusted data

## When it's done

Send what changed and where it's published as a dispute (https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/#disputes, or `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/contact` with `"kind": "dispute"`). Disputes are answered in public, and the listing is checked again by the same checklist. Paying for an audit or a listing claim changes nothing here.