Claude says the Apify tools aren’t available
Connect the plugin’s apify connector: the Connectors tab, or /mcp in
Claude Code, then sign in with Apify. You do this once. If you also use Apify’s own connector,
you’ll see two sets of Apify tools; that’s harmless, and you can turn the other off while using
the plugin.
Claude answered from a web search instead
Ask it as a check: “Can you check what silicone baking mats cost on Alibaba?” rather than “What do they go for?”. On claude.ai a general question can go to Claude’s web search; asking it to check or look up something reads it live with MarketMage.
Claude asks before every tool call
That’s claude.ai’s approval box. In Customize → Connectors → apify → Tool permissions, set Read-only tools and Write/delete tools to Always allow. MarketMage still waits for your yes in the chat before any paid run over $0.05 or anything that repeats, and every run has a spending limit.
A product page couldn’t be read
Some large retailers block automated reads of product pages; check those by barcode instead. A store that can’t be read is named in the run’s summary, with the reason, and isn’t charged. The data tools never solve captchas themselves: a page that still shows one is reported as not read (how sites are read).
A run stopped early
It reached its cap: the results show what was read. Ask for the rest and Claude gives a new estimate first. Runs started in the chat carry an Apify spending limit a little above their estimate, never above a budget you set.
A digest didn’t arrive
Every digest is stored in the run, and your briefing reads it: ask “Catch me up” or “What changed in my watch today?”. The briefing also names any watch that failed or didn’t run on schedule. If you asked for a digest in Slack, Discord, Teams or email and it didn’t come, check that setting on the watch’s page in the Apify Console.
A watch stopped running
Your Apify account may have reached its usage limit. On Apify’s free plan, once the month’s $5 of credit is used, Apify blocks the account until the next monthly cycle: watches don’t run, so no new digest is made, and nothing is charged. On a paid plan, the same happens at the usage limit you set. Check Billing in the Apify Console. Then wait for the next cycle, ask Claude “What am I watching?” to pause the watches you need least, or raise the limit (Billing → Limits → Edit limit) on a paid plan. If the account isn’t blocked, check the watch’s schedule is still enabled on its page in the Apify Console.
A digest says a watcher was not run
The watch’s maximum cost per run is too low to start one item of it; the digest gives the figure that would fit. Raise it on the watch’s page in the Apify Console, or ask Claude to.
A search is taking minutes
Marketplace searches through the data service usually take 1 to 4 minutes for Walmart, eBay, Home Depot and Lowe’s, and up to about 12 minutes for Etsy, Target and Best Buy (and for Walmart or eBay when a page can’t be read); Target and Best Buy by barcode 3 to 5. Alibaba searches usually take 1 to 4 minutes, up to about 12. The AliExpress single-unit check can take several minutes, so Claude answers first and adds the AliExpress part when it lands. Trustpilot takes about 2 to 3 minutes a business. Claude says so before starting and follows the run until it finishes.
An export failed with an access error
Share the sheet with
cleanpull-sheets-1@cleanpull-sheets.iam.gserviceaccount.com as Editor, then ask
again. Some Google Workspace accounts block sharing outside the organisation; there, use your own
Google credentials in Google Sheets Sync’s settings in the Apify Console instead. The service
account keeps its access until you remove it from the sheet’s sharing:
how.
Claude won’t use the chat channel or key I pasted
By design. Keys and chat-channel addresses are only ever added on the watch’s page in the Apify Console, where Apify stores them encrypted. If you pasted one in a chat, create a new one and delete the old one.
What to send support
- What you asked Claude, what you expected and what happened.
-
For a run: the data tool and the run ID from the Apify Console (its address ends in
/runs/<run ID>), and the run’s status message. - For a watch: its name (
cw-…).
Please don’t send account keys, passwords or chat-channel addresses; we never need them. See support.