Patch.com Local News, Events & Classifieds Finder: MCP config, n8n workflow and API

{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchQuery": "city council",
  "searchMatch": "allWords",
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "radiusMiles": 25,
  "includeBodyText": false,
  "includeDetails": false,
  "maxDetails": 0,
  "monitorMode": false,
  "maxItems": 3
}

---
name: patch-com-local-news-events-and-classifieds-finder
description: "Hyperlocal Patch.com articles, events and classifieds with headline, summary, full body text, author, dates, town/category metadata, coordinates, media and optional detail-page enrichment. Runs the Apify Actor dataspryva/patch-com-local-news-events-and-classifieds-finder. Use when the user needs Patch.com Local News data with fields such as recordType, headline, town, category, author, publishedDate and an Apify token is available."
compatibility: "Needs network access, curl, and an APIFY_TOKEN environment variable. Runs are billed to the token owner's Apify account."
metadata:
  actor: "dataspryva/patch-com-local-news-events-and-classifieds-finder"
  store-url: "https://apify.com/dataspryva/patch-com-local-news-events-and-classifieds-finder"
---

# Patch.com Local News, Events & Classifieds Finder

Use this skill to fetch Patch.com Local News data with the Apify Actor `dataspryva/patch-com-local-news-events-and-classifieds-finder` and work with the returned rows.

## Before running

1. Check that `APIFY_TOKEN` is set in the environment. Never print it or write it to a file.
2. Build `input.json` from the user's request using the fields below. Keep limits small for a first run.
3. Confirm the search terms or URLs with the user if the request is ambiguous.

## Input fields

| Field | Type | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `mode` | one of `search`, `byTown`, `byCategory`, `byAuthor`, `byTag`, `events`, `classifieds`, `byUrl`, required | What to fetch from Patch.com. |
| `searchQuery` | string | Free-text keyword to search for (mode=search; also applies to mode=events/classifieds and to scope URLs). Leave empty to browse the newest articles matching the other filters. |
| `searchMatch` | one of `allWords`, `exactPhrase` | How multi-word searches match. "All words" requires every word anywhere in the headline/summary/topic (more results). "Exact phrase" requires the words to appear together (the old behavior). |
| `authorName` | string | Exact byline/reporter/poster name (required for mode=byAuthor; on any other mode it is an extra server-side filter). Copy it from this actor's `author` output field, e.g. "Eric Heyl". |
| `tagName` | string | Exact editorial tag (required for mode=byTag; on article modes it is an extra filter). Copy it from this actor's `tags` field, e.g. "Back To School". Only a minority of articles carry tags. |
| `regionSlug` | string | US state/edition to scope results to (required for mode=byTown; optional filter on every other mode). "Across America" is Patch's national edition (code US); "US Territories" is a valid Patch region with no current articles. |
| `townSlug` | string | Patch town/city URL slug (required for mode=byTown; requires regionSlug too). Find it in a Patch URL, e.g. patch.com/california/santamonica - "santamonica". Example: "santamonica" (with regionSlug=california). |
| `category` | string | News category/topic to filter by (required for mode=byCategory; optional filter on mode=search/byTown/byAuthor/byTag). Not applicable to mode=events/classifieds -- use `classifiedCategory` for mode=classifieds instead. |
| `classifiedCategory` | string | Classifieds category to filter by (mode=classifieds only; a completely separate value set from `category`, which is news-only). Leave as "(any category)" to browse every classified category. |
| `sortBy` | one of `relevance`, `newest`, `oldest`, `nearest`, `eventDate` | Order of results. "Nearest first" requires both `nearLat`/`nearLng` AND mode=search/byTown/byCategory/byAuthor/byTag (news); otherwise it falls back to Relevance. "Soonest event first" requires mode=events; on any other mode it also falls back to Relevance. |
| `radiusMiles` | integer | Search radius around `nearLat`/`nearLng`, in miles. News modes only -- see `nearLat` description. Ignored unless both `nearLat` and `nearLng` are set. |
| `includeBodyText` | boolean | Add bodyHtml (the original HTML), bodyText (readable plain text) and bodyLength to each record. Article/event/classified bodies come from Patch's own search payload, so this costs no extra request. |
| `includeDetails` | boolean | Fetch each record's Patch page and add gallery images/captions/credits, author avatar and points, comment/reply counts, breaking/sponsored flags, town grade/weekly views/ZIPs/timezone/county/metro, event venue/type/website, and classified contact state. |
| `maxDetails` | integer | How many records to enrich when `includeDetails` is on. 0 means every emitted record (up to `maxItems`). Ignored when detail enrichment is off. |

Example `input.json` (the Actor's published prefill):

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchQuery": "city council",
  "searchMatch": "allWords",
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "radiusMiles": 25,
  "includeBodyText": false,
  "includeDetails": false,
  "maxDetails": 0,
  "monitorMode": false,
  "maxItems": 3
}
```

## Run

```bash
curl -sS -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/dataspryva~patch-com-local-news-events-and-classifieds-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @input.json > results.json
```

The call waits for the run to finish and returns the dataset items as a JSON array. If the run needs more than 300 seconds the API answers with HTTP 408; then start the run with `POST /v2/acts/dataspryva~patch-com-local-news-events-and-classifieds-finder/runs`, poll `GET /v2/actor-runs/{runId}` until `SUCCEEDED`, and read `GET /v2/datasets/{defaultDatasetId}/items`.

## Output

Each item is one record. Published fields include: `recordType`, `headline`, `town`, `category`, `author`, `publishedDate`, `eventDate`, `url`, `isBreakingNews`, `commentCount`.

Summarise what was found, cite the record URLs when present, and say how many items came back. Do not invent values for empty fields.