# Scrapfly Documentation

## Table of Contents

### Dashboard

- [Intro](https://scrapfly.io/docs)
- [Project](https://scrapfly.io/docs/project)
- [Account](https://scrapfly.io/docs/account)
- [Workspace & Team](https://scrapfly.io/docs/workspace-and-team)
- [Billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/billing)

### Products

#### MCP Server

- [Getting Started](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/getting-started)
- [Tools & API Spec](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/tools)
- [Authentication](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/authentication)
- [Examples & Use Cases](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/examples)
- [FAQ](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/faq)
##### Integrations

- [Overview](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations)
- [Claude Desktop](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/claude-desktop)
- [Claude Code](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/claude-code)
- [ChatGPT](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/chatgpt)
- [Cursor](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/cursor)
- [Cline](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/cline)
- [Windsurf](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/windsurf)
- [Zed](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/zed)
- [Roo Code](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/roo-code)
- [VS Code](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/vscode)
- [LangChain](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/langchain)
- [LlamaIndex](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/llamaindex)
- [CrewAI](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/crewai)
- [OpenAI](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/openai)
- [n8n](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/n8n)
- [Make](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/make)
- [Zapier](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/zapier)
- [Vapi AI](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/vapi)
- [Agent Builder](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/agent-builder)
- [Custom Client](https://scrapfly.io/docs/mcp/integrations/custom-client)


#### Web Scraping API

- [Getting Started](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/getting-started)
- [API Specification]()
- [Monitoring](https://scrapfly.io/docs/monitoring)
- [Customize Request](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/custom)
- [Debug](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/debug)
- [Anti Scraping Protection](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/anti-scraping-protection)
- [Proxy](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/proxy)
- [Proxy Mode](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/proxy-mode)
- [Proxy Mode - Screaming Frog](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/proxy-mode/screaming-frog)
- [Proxy Mode - Apify](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/proxy-mode/apify)
- [(Auto) Data Extraction](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/extraction)
- [Javascript Rendering](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/javascript-rendering)
- [Javascript Scenario](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/javascript-scenario)
- [SSL](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/ssl)
- [DNS](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/dns)
- [Cache](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/cache)
- [Session](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/session)
- [Webhook](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/webhook)
- [Screenshot](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/screenshot)
- [Errors](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/errors)
- [Timeout](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/understand-timeout)
- [Throttling](https://scrapfly.io/docs/throttling)
- [Troubleshoot](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/troubleshoot)
- [Billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/billing)
- [FAQ](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/faq)

#### Crawler API

- [Getting Started](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/getting-started)
- [API Specification]()
- [Retrieving Results](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/results)
- [WARC Format](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/warc-format)
- [Data Extraction](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/extraction-rules)
- [Webhook](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/webhook)
- [Billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/billing)
- [Errors](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/errors)
- [Troubleshoot](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/troubleshoot)
- [FAQ](https://scrapfly.io/docs/crawler-api/faq)

#### Screenshot API

- [Getting Started](https://scrapfly.io/docs/screenshot-api/getting-started)
- [API Specification]()
- [Accessibility Testing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/screenshot-api/accessibility)
- [Webhook](https://scrapfly.io/docs/screenshot-api/webhook)
- [Billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/screenshot-api/billing)
- [Errors](https://scrapfly.io/docs/screenshot-api/errors)

#### Extraction API

- [Getting Started](https://scrapfly.io/docs/extraction-api/getting-started)
- [API Specification]()
- [Rules Template](https://scrapfly.io/docs/extraction-api/rules-and-template)
- [LLM Extraction](https://scrapfly.io/docs/extraction-api/llm-prompt)
- [AI Auto Extraction](https://scrapfly.io/docs/extraction-api/automatic-ai)
- [Webhook](https://scrapfly.io/docs/extraction-api/webhook)
- [Billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/extraction-api/billing)
- [Errors](https://scrapfly.io/docs/extraction-api/errors)
- [FAQ](https://scrapfly.io/docs/extraction-api/faq)

#### Proxy Saver

- [Getting Started](https://scrapfly.io/docs/proxy-saver/getting-started)
- [Fingerprints](https://scrapfly.io/docs/proxy-saver/fingerprints)
- [Optimizations](https://scrapfly.io/docs/proxy-saver/optimizations)
- [SSL Certificates](https://scrapfly.io/docs/proxy-saver/certificates)
- [Protocols](https://scrapfly.io/docs/proxy-saver/protocols)
- [Pacfile](https://scrapfly.io/docs/proxy-saver/pacfile)
- [Secure Credentials](https://scrapfly.io/docs/proxy-saver/security)
- [Billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/proxy-saver/billing)

#### Cloud Browser API

- [Getting Started](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/getting-started)
- [Proxy & Geo-Targeting](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/proxy)
- [Unblock API](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/unblock)
- [File Downloads](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/file-downloads)
- [Session Resume](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/session-resume)
- [Human-in-the-Loop](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/human-in-the-loop)
- [Debug Mode](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/debug-mode)
- [Bring Your Own Proxy](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/bring-your-own-proxy)
- [Browser Extensions](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/extensions)
##### Integrations

- [Puppeteer](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/puppeteer)
- [Playwright](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/playwright)
- [Selenium](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/selenium)
- [Vercel Agent Browser](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/agent-browser)
- [Browser Use](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/browser-use)
- [Stagehand](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/stagehand)

- [Billing](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/billing)
- [Errors](https://scrapfly.io/docs/cloud-browser-api/errors)


### Tools

- [Antibot Detector](https://scrapfly.io/docs/tools/antibot-detector)

### SDK

- [Golang](https://scrapfly.io/docs/sdk/golang)
- [Python](https://scrapfly.io/docs/sdk/python)
- [TypeScript](https://scrapfly.io/docs/sdk/typescript)
- [Scrapy](https://scrapfly.io/docs/sdk/scrapy)

### Integrations

- [Getting Started](https://scrapfly.io/docs/integration/getting-started)
- [LangChain](https://scrapfly.io/docs/integration/langchain)
- [LlamaIndex](https://scrapfly.io/docs/integration/llamaindex)
- [CrewAI](https://scrapfly.io/docs/integration/crewai)
- [Zapier](https://scrapfly.io/docs/integration/zapier)
- [Make](https://scrapfly.io/docs/integration/make)
- [n8n](https://scrapfly.io/docs/integration/n8n)

### Academy

- [Overview](https://scrapfly.io/academy)
- [Web Scraping Overview](https://scrapfly.io/academy/scraping-overview)
- [Tools](https://scrapfly.io/academy/tools-overview)
- [Reverse Engineering](https://scrapfly.io/academy/reverse-engineering)
- [Static Scraping](https://scrapfly.io/academy/static-scraping)
- [HTML Parsing](https://scrapfly.io/academy/html-parsing)
- [Dynamic Scraping](https://scrapfly.io/academy/dynamic-scraping)
- [Hidden API Scraping](https://scrapfly.io/academy/hidden-api-scraping)
- [Headless Browsers](https://scrapfly.io/academy/headless-browsers)
- [Hidden Web Data](https://scrapfly.io/academy/hidden-web-data)
- [JSON Parsing](https://scrapfly.io/academy/json-parsing)
- [Data Processing](https://scrapfly.io/academy/data-processing)
- [Scaling](https://scrapfly.io/academy/scaling)
- [Walkthrough Summary](https://scrapfly.io/academy/walkthrough-summary)
- [Scraper Blocking](https://scrapfly.io/academy/scraper-blocking)
- [Proxies](https://scrapfly.io/academy/proxies)

---

# Scaling

 Web scraping consists of many different technologies that can lead to potential performance bottlenecks. Let's take a look at some common ones and how to approach scraper scaling in practice.

## Async

 For scaling HTTP connections asynchronous or threaded programming is vital for avoiding IO blocks.

 Almost every language has some form of async or threading support. For example `asyncio` in python and `async/await` in Javascript.

> Scrapfly supports built-in, easy concurrency in both [Python SDK](https://scrapfly.io/docs/sdk/python) and [Typescript SDK](https://scrapfly.io/docs/sdk/typescript).

 For example, we can pit async and synchronous scrapers in this Python example to observe the performance difference:

 ```
# synchronous
from time import time
import httpx


def test():
    c = httpx.Client()
    urls = [
        "https://httpbin.org/delay/2"
        for i in range(30)
    ]
    start = time()
    for url in urls:
        response = c.get(url)

    print(f"finished in {time() - start:.2f} seconds")
    # !!!
    # finished in 72.40 seconds

test()
```

 

   

 

 

 ```
# asynchronous
from time import time
import asyncio
import httpx

async def test():
    c = httpx.AsyncClient()
    urls = [
        "https://httpbin.org/delay/2"
        for i in range(30)
    ]
    start = time()
    results = await asyncio.gather(
        *[c.get(url) for url in urls]
    )
    print(f"finished in {time() - start:.2f} seconds")
    # !!!
    # finished in 3.80 seconds

asyncio.run(test())
```

 

   

 

 

 

 For this example, we're using a simulated [httpbin.dev/delay/2](https://httpbin.dev/delay/2) endpoint which simulates 2 second response time. This is an average response time for a commercial website and it's a great demonstration of how powerful async programming can be.

> Fast scraping can result in scraper blocking! It's important to distribute scrape traffic through multiple proxies and scraper fingerprints. (Scrapfly does this automatically)

## Processing

 When it comes to data processing the challenges shift from IO blocking to CPU-bound tasks. Modern CSS selectors and XPath engines are very fast and can parse HTML documents in seconds by distributing processing through **multiple processes** can significantly speed up the process. For that see our [ Introduction to Multi Processing](https://scrapfly.io/blog/posts/web-scraping-speed/#multi-process-parsing) blog article.

 The general rule of thumb is to use a single process per CPU core. So, if your server/computer has 12 cores splitting up scraper processing into 12 processes will yield the most optimal results.

 Finally, not all data processors are built equally and some can be significantly faster than others. For example, the [lxml](https://scrapfly.io/blog/posts/intro-to-parsing-html-xml-python-lxml/) library can be up to 10 times faster than [BeautifulSoup](https://scrapfly.io/blog/posts/web-scraping-with-python-beautifulsoup/) when it comes to HTML processing.

## Headless Browsers

 Scaling headless browsers is similar to scaling processing but as web browsers are immensely complex handling errors, failure and unexpected behavior is the biggest challenge. For this reason headless browser services like self-hosted [Selenium-Grid](https://scrapfly.io/blog/posts/intro-to-web-scraping-using-selenium-grid/) or Scrapfly's [Javascript Rendering](https://scrapfly.io/docs/scrape-api/javascript-rendering) are the most approachable solutions.

## Next - Summary

 This concludes what we have in our Scraping Walkthrough Academy though let's wrap it up with a summary and where to go from here.

 [<](https://scrapfly.io/academy/proxies "Previous Page") [>](https://scrapfly.io/academy/walkthrough-summary "Next Page")