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crawlbase merged 2 commits into from
Sep 3, 2026
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docs: deprecate Scraper/Leads/Screenshots API sections, add Smart AI Proxy usage #6

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docs: mark Scraper/Leads/Screenshots API sections deprecated, add Sma…
Sep 2, 2026
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docs: fix Crawling API link in Screenshots deprecation note
Sep 2, 2026
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21 changes: 21 additions & 0 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ During the deprecation period, both properties remain available and are kept in

## Scraper API

> ⚠️ **Deprecated.** The standalone Scraper API has been closed to new sign-ups since October 1, 2024. Existing integrations continue to work and no shutdown is scheduled, but new code should use the Crawling API with the `scraper` parameter instead (same scrapers, simpler endpoint, more parameters). The class below stays available for backward compatibility. See the [scrapers documentation](https://crawlbase.com/docs/scrapers).

First initialize the ScraperAPI class. You can [get your free token here](https://crawlbase.com/signup?signup=github). Please note that only some websites are supported, check the [API documentation](https://crawlbase.com/docs/scraper-api/) for more information.

```php
Expand All @@ -175,6 +177,8 @@ if ($response->statusCode === 200) {

## Leads API

> ⚠️ **Deprecated.** The Leads API has been closed to new sign-ups since October 1, 2024. Existing integrations continue to work and no shutdown is scheduled. There is no direct replacement; for similar workflows use the Crawling API with the [`email-extractor`](https://crawlbase.com/docs/scrapers/email-extractor) scraper (any URL → emails) or the [`google-serp`](https://crawlbase.com/docs/scrapers/google-serp) scraper for domain-scoped contact discovery. The class below stays available for backward compatibility.

First initialize the LeadsAPI class. You can [get your free token here](https://crawlbase.com/signup?signup=github).

```php
Expand All @@ -196,6 +200,8 @@ if ($response->statusCode === 200) {

## Screenshots API usage

> ⚠️ **Deprecated.** The standalone Screenshots API has been closed to new sign-ups since November 1, 2024. Existing integrations continue to work and no shutdown is scheduled, but new code should use the Crawling API with the `screenshot=true` parameter — same JS-rendering pipeline, screenshot parameters on the standard endpoint. The class below stays available for backward compatibility. See the [Crawling API documentation](https://crawlbase.com/docs/crawling-api).

Initialize with your Screenshots API token and call the `get` method.

```php
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -235,6 +241,21 @@ echo 'remaining requests: ' . $response->headers->remaining_requests . PHP_EOL;

Note that `$api.get(url, options)` method accepts an [options](https://crawlbase.com/docs/screenshots-api/parameters)

## Smart AI Proxy usage

The [Smart AI Proxy](https://crawlbase.com/docs/smart-proxy) is a standard rotating HTTP(S) proxy endpoint, so it needs no SDK: point any HTTP client at `smartproxy.crawlbase.com:8012` (HTTP) or `smartproxy.crawlbase.com:8013` (HTTPS) with your token as the proxy username and an empty password. Crawlbase handles proxy rotation, retries and anti-bot bypass on its side.

```php
$ch = curl_init('https://httpbin.org/ip');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXY, 'https://smartproxy.crawlbase.com:8013');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXYUSERPWD, 'YOUR_TOKEN:');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
echo curl_exec($ch);
```

Note: the proxy re-signs HTTPS traffic, so certificate verification must be disabled on the client (as in the example). See the [Smart AI Proxy documentation](https://crawlbase.com/docs/smart-proxy) for all options.

## Storage API usage

Initialize the Storage API using your private token.
Expand Down