Spider-flow is a Java-based web crawling and data extraction platform that provides a centralized environment for managing automated information gathering. It functions as a no-code tool, allowing users to define complex data collection pipelines through a visual, drag-and-drop interface rather than manual programming.
The platform distinguishes itself through a graph-based workflow orchestration system where users link discrete nodes to define navigation and parsing logic. It supports dynamic content crawling by integrating headless browsers to execute JavaScript and render page content that is otherwise inaccessible in static HTML. Users can further customize these workflows by applying XPath, CSS, or regular expression selectors to map data points directly from web components.
The system includes comprehensive capabilities for automated pipeline management, including event-driven task scheduling and real-time monitoring of active jobs. Extracted information is automatically persisted into various relational or document databases through a unified storage interface. The platform also supports a modular plugin architecture, enabling the integration of custom functions and third-party services to extend its core extraction logic.
