# Stack Exchange Question Monitor - Stack Overflow Tags

Monitor recent Stack Overflow questions by tag. Compare answer-state and activity changes with source links and license metadata. Bounded API results; no full discussions or user profiles.

Canonical product page: https://mayd-it.com/data-tools/actors/stackexchange-question-monitor/

## Example input

```json
{
  "tags": [
    "python"
  ],
  "maxResults": 5,
  "itemsPerQuery": 3
}
```

## Full guide

# Stack Exchange Question Monitor - Stack Overflow Tags

**Track answer-state changes while retaining the exact question, source license and distinction between answers and accepted answers.**

Watch recent activity in Stack Overflow tags. Export question metadata, answer state and saved changes with source links and licenses. No user profiles, post bodies or private content collected.

## Start in under a minute

1. Paste stack overflow tags into the first input field, or use the included sample.
2. Keep the five-result limit for your first run and choose **Start**.
3. Open **Observations**, **Scope and diagnostics**, or the **Readable run report** in Output. Export CSV or JSON from the dataset.

```json
{
  "tags": [
    "python"
  ],
  "maxResults": 5,
  "itemsPerQuery": 3
}
```

No source account, API key, paid proxy or extra subscription is required for these public endpoints. Source availability and rate limits still apply.

## Who this helps

Developer relations, documentation and product-support teams watching relevant questions.

## What you receive

One row per unique confirmed observation. Every row includes a stable `recordId`, title, source URL and observation time.

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `questionId` | Source-reported question id; missing optional values remain null. |
| `tags` | Source-reported tags; missing optional values remain null. |
| `answerCount` | Source-reported answer count; missing optional values remain null. |
| `isAnswered` | Source-reported is answered; missing optional values remain null. |
| `acceptedAnswerId` | Source-reported accepted answer id; missing optional values remain null. |
| `score` | Source-reported score; missing optional values remain null. |
| `views` | Source-reported views; missing optional values remain null. |
| `lastActivityAt` | Source-reported last activity at; missing optional values remain null. |
| `contentLicense` | Source-reported content license; missing optional values remain null. |
| `comparisonStatus` | not_requested, new, changed or unchanged |
| `changedFields` | Fields different from your last saved observation |
| `previous` | Previous saved source values when comparison is enabled |

## Saved comparisons

Enable **Compare with saved observations**, choose a snapshot name, and reuse the same input scope. The first run establishes history; it cannot report changes before that point. Enable **Save only new or changed observations** for later runs if you want a change-only export. An unchanged run can correctly save zero rows.

Only confirmed saved rows advance history. A bounded or failed run never establishes that a missing record was deleted. History is stored in a named key-value store in the running user's account. Use one writer per snapshot: do not overlap runs against the same snapshot. Change the snapshot name when starting a new independent workflow.

## Scope and limitations

First bounded activity-sorted API page per Stack Overflow tag. No pagination, full discussion text or user profiles. isAnswered is preserved separately from answerCount; it does not mean accepted or resolved.

At most ten input values and thirty saved rows per run. Each input performs one bounded public API request. Responses are capped at 8 MiB and share the run deadline. No authentication bypass, image/package download or code execution is performed. HTTP 429 stops further requests; Stack Exchange backoff/quota signals are respected. Source failures appear in SUMMARY and the HTML report, never as paid data rows.

## Pricing

The configured base price is **$0.001 per saved observation**, plus **$0.00005 per start** at the default memory. Five observations cost $0.00505 at that base rate. Applicable plan discounts and the Store pricing panel govern actual charges. Set a maximum charge in Run options. Diagnostics, reports and unchanged skipped rows are not dataset result events.

## Make it recurring

Save an Actor task with your inputs, then attach an Apify Schedule. For change detection, keep the same snapshot and avoid overlapping runs. Add an integration to deliver results to your own spreadsheet or workflow. No external delivery is enabled automatically.

## Examples

1. **Stack Overflow tags: python** — A bounded python observation sample. Review source evidence and export rows or compare them in a later run.
2. **Stack Overflow tags: javascript** — A bounded javascript observation sample. Review source evidence and export rows or compare them in a later run.
3. **Stack Overflow tags: docker** — A bounded docker observation sample. Review source evidence and export rows or compare them in a later run.

## Source and support

[Official source documentation](https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/questions). This independent Mayd IT tool is not affiliated with the source platform. Open an Actor issue with the run ID and expected result, or contact bmay@mayd-it.com. Never include credentials.