// the monid blog

Notes from the agent-native web.

104 posts · page 3 of 5

Web Scraping News Articles: Three Jobs, Three Endpoints
Search & RAGAug 25, 2026

Web Scraping News Articles: Three Jobs, Three Endpoints

Scraping news is three jobs under one name. Find articles, read one article, watch one company. Each needs a different call and a different budget.

YouTube Scraper: What the Data API Will Not Give You
Social dataAug 25, 2026

YouTube Scraper: What the Data API Will Not Give You

The official API allows 100 searches a day and no money raises it. That ceiling, not price, is why YouTube scrapers exist. Here is what each one returns.

Agentic Browser: When Your Agent Actually Needs One
ProductAug 21, 2026

Agentic Browser: When Your Agent Actually Needs One

Agentic browser names two products: one you sit in front of and one your agent drives. Most jobs need neither. The test is whether the task carries state.

Do You Still Need a Rotating Proxy in 2026?
Search & RAGAug 21, 2026

Do You Still Need a Rotating Proxy in 2026?

A rotating proxy is an input you buy by the gigabyte and hope works. Most teams wanted the outcome instead. Here is how to tell which one you need.

Web Scraping in Python Without Maintaining a Scraper
Search & RAGAug 21, 2026

Web Scraping in Python Without Maintaining a Scraper

Python web scraping is two jobs wearing one name. Python is the best tool for one of them and the wrong place to solve the other. Here is the split.

What Is a SERP API, and Which Kind Do You Need?
Search & RAGAug 21, 2026

What Is a SERP API, and Which Kind Do You Need?

A SERP API is three products under one name: a Google mirror, an independent index, and a read-through fetcher. The difference decides which one is yours.

Web Scraping Tools: Which Kind Do You Actually Need?
Search & RAGAug 21, 2026

Web Scraping Tools: Which Kind Do You Actually Need?

Web scraping tools come in four kinds and they differ on who operates them, not on features. Pick the operator first and the shortlist writes itself.

Runner AI Runs the Store. Monid Feeds It the Market.
EcommerceAug 20, 2026

Runner AI Runs the Store. Monid Feeds It the Market.

One call returned 48 competitors: prices from $3.99 to $59.97 and an incumbent with 136,609 reviews. No store dashboard contains that, and agents need it.

Bing Search API Retired: What Actually Replaces It
Search & RAGAug 20, 2026

Bing Search API Retired: What Actually Replaces It

Microsoft turned the Bing Search APIs off in August 2025 and the endpoints now return 410. What a replacement has to do, and which route fits which job.

Ingesting Mixed Documents for LLM Embedding: PDF to Markdown
Search & RAGAug 20, 2026

Ingesting Mixed Documents for LLM Embedding: PDF to Markdown

PDFs, Office files and HTML all become one clean format before chunking. Where the pipeline actually breaks, and which endpoint handles which format.

Instagram Follower and Engagement Data: Which API in 2026?
Social dataAug 20, 2026

Instagram Follower and Engagement Data: Which API in 2026?

Follower counts are accurate. What trackers build on top is inference. Which endpoints return which fields, and how to tell a real signal from a guess.

LLM Gateway vs MCP Gateway: Four Families, One Word
ProductAug 20, 2026

LLM Gateway vs MCP Gateway: Four Families, One Word

An LLM gateway routes prompts to models. An MCP gateway routes tool calls to vendors. Four gateway families, and which problem each one solves.

MCP vs API for AI Agents: Who Does the Wrapping?
ProductAug 20, 2026

MCP vs API for AI Agents: Who Does the Wrapping?

MCP is not an alternative to APIs, it wraps them. The real question is who does the wrapping, and the answer decides how much code you write.

The Data Layer for n8n: One Key Instead of a Node Per Vendor
ProductAug 20, 2026

The Data Layer for n8n: One Key Instead of a Node Per Vendor

n8n workflows rarely break at the logic. They break at the data source. Build the scraping and enrichment layer so a dead provider is a config change.

OpenRouter Alternatives in 2026: Models, and Then Tools
ProductAug 20, 2026

OpenRouter Alternatives in 2026: Models, and Then Tools

Stripe agreed to buy OpenRouter for over $7 billion. The real alternatives on the model side, and the routing layer nobody is selling yet.

Is OpenRouter an MCP Server? What It Actually Exposes
ProductAug 20, 2026

Is OpenRouter an MCP Server? What It Actually Exposes

Yes, OpenRouter has an MCP server, and it exposes OpenRouter. Here is what it does, what it does not, and how to give the same agent real tools.

A Wrong Enum Returns Zero: Ploid and Prompt-Shaped APIs
Sales & enrichmentAug 20, 2026

A Wrong Enum Returns Zero: Ploid and Prompt-Shaped APIs

A wrong enum returned 0 rows. A wrong range format returned 160,884. Neither raised an error. Why prompt-shaped APIs like Ploid exist, and what they cost.

Proxycurl Shut Down: Where LinkedIn Data Goes Now
Sales & enrichmentAug 20, 2026

Proxycurl Shut Down: Where LinkedIn Data Goes Now

Proxycurl closed in July 2025 to settle with LinkedIn. What a replacement has to return, which endpoints cover which half, and the risk to read first.

Oumomo Generates the Ad. TikTok Data Decides Which One.
Social dataAug 20, 2026

Oumomo Generates the Ad. TikTok Data Decides Which One.

An AI video tool makes whatever you ask. One TikTok search call returned twenty videos with a fifteenfold spread in likes, and that spread is the brief.

Oumomo Remakes the Winner. A TikTok Scraper Tells You Which.
Social dataAug 20, 2026

Oumomo Remakes the Winner. A TikTok Scraper Tells You Which.

Fourteen videos, twenty one days, and one was 65 percent of the account. You cannot see that in the clips. One call puts the catalogue in a table.

What Is an MCP Gateway? Two Products, One Name
ProductAug 20, 2026

What Is an MCP Gateway? Two Products, One Name

An MCP gateway is one endpoint that fronts many tools. Two very different products share the name, and the difference decides which one you need.

Monid Finds the Tweet. Volumn Tells You Who Sent It.
Social dataAug 20, 2026

Monid Finds the Tweet. Volumn Tells You Who Sent It.

A tightened X search returned 19 of 20 keyword-relevant tweets. Only 2 were someone actually asking. Keyword match is not intent, and that gap is the work.

Apify Alternatives: You Probably Want a Different Way to Buy It
Search & RAGAug 19, 2026

Apify Alternatives: You Probably Want a Different Way to Buy It

Every AI answer to this question names Apify. We ran an Apify actor without an Apify account to show what the real alternative is.

Connect Claude to Amazon Search Data: OpenWeb Ninja and Monid
EcommerceAug 19, 2026

Connect Claude to Amazon Search Data: OpenWeb Ninja and Monid

Amazon has no keyword API for sellers. Here is what a search endpoint actually returns, how to hand it to an agent, and which route fits which job.