Node.js SDK

npm install alterlab

yarn add alterlab

pnpm add alterlab

import { AlterLab } from 'alterlab';

// Initialize client
const client = new AlterLab({ apiKey: 'sk_live_...' });

// Scrape a website
const result = await client.scrape('https://example.com');

console.log(result.text);                  // Extracted text
console.log(result.json);                  // Structured JSON
console.log(result.billing.costDollars);   // Cost in USD
console.log(result.billing.tierUsed);      // Which tier succeeded

import { AlterLab } from 'alterlab';

// Basic initialization
const client = new AlterLab({ apiKey: 'sk_live_...' });

// With all options
const client = new AlterLab({
  apiKey: 'sk_live_...',           // Required (or set ALTERLAB_API_KEY env var)
  baseUrl: 'https://alterlab.io',  // Custom API endpoint
  timeout: 120000,                  // Request timeout in ms
  maxRetries: 3,                    // Auto-retry on failures
  retryDelay: 1000,                 // Initial retry delay in ms
});

// From environment variable
// Set ALTERLAB_API_KEY=sk_live_...
const client = new AlterLab(); // Reads from env

// Extract specific fields with JSON Schema
const result = await client.scrape('https://store.com/product/123', {
  extractionSchema: {
    type: 'object',
    properties: {
      name: { type: 'string' },
      price: { type: 'number' },
      inStock: { type: 'boolean' },
      reviews: {
        type: 'array',
        items: { type: 'string' }
      }
    }
  }
});

console.log(result.json);
// { name: "Product", price: 29.99, inStock: true, reviews: [...] }

// Use a pre-built extraction profile
const result = await client.scrape('https://store.com/product/123', {
  extractionProfile: 'product'
});

console.log(result.json);
// { name, price, description, images, availability, ... }

// Available profiles: 'product', 'article', 'job_posting', 'contact'

// Extract using natural language prompt
const result = await client.scrape('https://news.example.com/article', {
  extractionPrompt: 'Extract the article title, author, date, and main content'
});

console.log(result.json);

import { AlterLab } from 'alterlab';

const client = new AlterLab({ apiKey: 'sk_live_...' });

// Limit to cheap tiers only
const result = await client.scrape('https://example.com', {
  costControls: {
    maxTier: 2,           // Don't go above HTTP tier
    prefer: 'cost',       // Optimize for lowest cost
    failFast: true,       // Error instead of escalating
    maxCostDollars: 0.001 // Cap cost at $0.001
  }
});

// Estimate cost before scraping
const estimate = await client.estimateCost('https://linkedin.com');
console.log(`Estimated: $${estimate.estimatedCostDollars.toFixed(4)}`);
console.log(`Confidence: ${estimate.confidence}`);
console.log(`Likely tier: ${estimate.tierName}`);

import { AlterLab } from 'alterlab';

const client = new AlterLab({ apiKey: 'sk_live_...' });

// Start an async job (returns immediately)
const jobId = await client.scrapeAsync('https://example.com', {
  mode: 'js',
  advanced: { screenshot: true }
});

console.log(`Job started: ${jobId}`);

// Option 1: Poll manually
const status = await client.getJobStatus(jobId);
console.log(`Status: ${status.status}`);
console.log(`Progress: ${status.progress}%`);

// Option 2: Wait for completion (blocking)
const result = await client.waitForJob(jobId, {
  pollInterval: 2000,  // Check every 2 seconds
  timeout: 300000      // 5 minute timeout
});

console.log(result.text);

import {
  AlterLab,
  AuthenticationError,
  InsufficientCreditsError,
  RateLimitError,
  ScrapeError,
  TimeoutError,
  ValidationError,
} from 'alterlab';

const client = new AlterLab({ apiKey: 'sk_live_...' });

try {
  const result = await client.scrape('https://example.com');
  console.log(result.text);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof AuthenticationError) {
    console.log('Invalid API key');
  } else if (error instanceof InsufficientCreditsError) {
    console.log(`Balance: $${error.balanceDollars}`);
    console.log('Please top up your balance');
  } else if (error instanceof RateLimitError) {
    console.log(`Rate limited. Retry after ${error.retryAfter}s`);
  } else if (error instanceof ValidationError) {
    console.log(`Invalid request: ${error.message}`);
  } else if (error instanceof ScrapeError) {
    console.log(`Scraping failed: ${error.message}`);
  } else if (error instanceof TimeoutError) {
    console.log('Request timed out');
  }
}

import {
  AlterLab,
  AlterLabConfig,
  ScrapeResult,
  ScrapeOptions,
  BillingDetails,
  CostControls,
  AdvancedOptions,
  UsageStats,
  CostEstimate,
  JobStatus,
} from 'alterlab';

// All types are exported
const options: ScrapeOptions = {
  mode: 'js',
  screenshot: true,
  costControls: {
    maxTier: 3,
    prefer: 'cost',
  },
};

const result: ScrapeResult = await client.scrape('https://example.com', options);

// Full autocomplete for all fields
const billing: BillingDetails = result.billing;
console.log(billing.costDollars);
console.log(billing.tierName);
console.log(billing.escalationPath);