@pencil-agent/nano-pencil 2.0.0-beta.8 → 2.0.0

package/dist/extensions/builtin/browser/agent-workspace/domain-skills/metacritic/scraping.md

@@ -1,477 +1,477 @@
-# Metacritic — Scraping & Data Extraction
-
-Field-tested against metacritic.com on 2026-04-18. All code blocks validated with live requests.
-
-## Do this first
-
-**Use the backend API — it returns clean JSON with both scores in one call, no HTML parsing.**
-
-Metacritic's internal backend API is publicly accessible with a stable key embedded in every page. It covers games, movies, and TV shows.
-
-```python
-import json
-
-API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
-
-def get_game_scores(slug):
-    """slug = URL slug e.g. 'elden-ring', 'the-last-of-us'"""
-    base = f"https://backend.metacritic.com"
-    product = json.loads(http_get(
-        f"{base}/games/metacritic/{slug}/web"
-        f"?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"
-    ))
-    user_stats = json.loads(http_get(
-        f"{base}/reviews/metacritic/user/games/{slug}/stats/web"
-        f"?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&apiKey={API_KEY}"
-    ))
-    item = product["data"]["item"]
-    crit = item["criticScoreSummary"]
-    user = user_stats["data"]["item"]
-    return {
-        "title": item["title"],
-        "platform": item["platform"],           # lead platform
-        "platforms": item["platforms"],          # list with per-platform scores
-        "metascore": crit["score"],              # int 0–100 or None
-        "critic_reviews": crit["reviewCount"],  # int
-        "critic_sentiment": crit["sentiment"],   # e.g. "Universal acclaim"
-        "user_score": user["score"],             # float 0.0–10.0 or None
-        "user_reviews": user["reviewCount"],     # int
-        "user_sentiment": user["sentiment"],
-        "release_date": item["releaseDate"],     # "YYYY-MM-DD"
-    }
-
-print(get_game_scores("the-last-of-us"))
-# {'title': 'The Last of Us', 'platform': 'PlayStation 3',
-#  'metascore': 95, 'critic_reviews': 98,
-#  'user_score': 9.2, 'user_reviews': 17207, ...}
-```
-
-Use the browser **only** if you need music pages — `metacritic.com/music/*` returns HTTP 403 to `http_get` (Cloudflare blocks those routes). Games, movies, and TV all work with plain HTTP.
-
----
-
-## Fastest approach: JSON-LD (critic score + review count only)
-
-If you only need the Metascore and critic review count and don't need the user score, JSON-LD is the single-call option — no API key, no separate request:
-
-```python
-import json, re
-
-url = "https://www.metacritic.com/game/elden-ring/"   # or /movie/ or /tv/
-html = http_get(url)
-
-block = re.findall(
-    r'<script[^>]*type="application/ld\+json"[^>]*>(.*?)</script>',
-    html, re.DOTALL
-)[0]
-ld = json.loads(block)
-
-agg = ld["aggregateRating"]
-print(ld["name"])                   # "Elden Ring"
-print(agg["ratingValue"])           # 96  (metascore)
-print(agg["reviewCount"])           # 93  (critic reviews count)
-print(ld.get("gamePlatform"))       # ['Xbox One', 'PC', 'PlayStation 4', 'Xbox Series X', 'PlayStation 5']
-print(ld.get("genre"))              # "Action RPG"
-print(ld.get("contentRating"))      # "M"
-print(ld.get("datePublished"))      # "2022-02-25"
-```
-
-**JSON-LD limitations:**
-- Only contains Metascore and critic review count — **no user score, no user review count**.
-- For multi-platform games, `ratingValue` is the lead platform score; all platforms are listed in `gamePlatform` but without individual scores.
-- `@type` is `VideoGame` for games, `Movie` for movies, `TVSeries` for TV shows.
-
----
-
-## Common workflows
-
-### Get scores for a single title (backend API)
-
-```python
-import json
-
-API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
-BASE = "https://backend.metacritic.com"
-
-# Games
-def game_scores(slug):
-    p = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/games/metacritic/{slug}/web?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
-    u = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/user/games/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
-    c = p["data"]["item"]["criticScoreSummary"]
-    us = u["data"]["item"]
-    return {"metascore": c["score"], "critic_reviews": c["reviewCount"],
-            "user_score": us["score"], "user_reviews": us["reviewCount"]}
-
-# Movies
-def movie_scores(slug):
-    p = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/movies/metacritic/{slug}/web?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
-    u = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/user/movies/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
-    c = p["data"]["item"]["criticScoreSummary"]
-    us = u["data"]["item"]
-    return {"metascore": c["score"], "critic_reviews": c["reviewCount"],
-            "user_score": us["score"], "user_reviews": us["reviewCount"]}
-
-# TV shows
-def show_scores(slug):
-    p = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/shows/metacritic/{slug}/web?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
-    u = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/user/shows/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
-    c = p["data"]["item"]["criticScoreSummary"]
-    us = u["data"]["item"]
-    return {"metascore": c["score"], "critic_reviews": c["reviewCount"],
-            "user_score": us["score"], "user_reviews": us["reviewCount"]}
-
-# Verified results:
-print(game_scores("the-last-of-us"))
-# {'metascore': 95, 'critic_reviews': 98, 'user_score': 9.2, 'user_reviews': 17207}
-print(movie_scores("the-godfather"))
-# {'metascore': 100, 'critic_reviews': 16, 'user_score': 9.2, 'user_reviews': 4450}
-print(show_scores("breaking-bad"))
-# {'metascore': 87, 'critic_reviews': 98, 'user_score': 9.4, 'user_reviews': 19070}
-```
-
-### Parallel fetching (multiple titles at once)
-
-10 API calls in 0.68s with 5 workers — no rate-limit errors:
-
-```python
-import json
-from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
-import urllib.request, gzip
-
-API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
-
-def _fetch(url):
-    h = {"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0", "Accept-Encoding": "gzip"}
-    with urllib.request.urlopen(urllib.request.Request(url, headers=h), timeout=15) as r:
-        data = r.read()
-        if r.headers.get("Content-Encoding") == "gzip": data = gzip.decompress(data)
-        return json.loads(data.decode())
-
-def batch_game_scores(slugs, workers=5):
-    """Fetch critic+user scores for multiple game slugs in parallel."""
-    BASE = "https://backend.metacritic.com"
-    AK = f"apiKey={API_KEY}"
-
-    def fetch_one(slug):
-        c = _fetch(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/critic/games/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=critic-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&{AK}")
-        u = _fetch(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/user/games/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&{AK}")
-        ci = c["data"]["item"]
-        ui = u["data"]["item"]
-        return {"slug": slug, "metascore": ci["score"], "critic_reviews": ci["reviewCount"],
-                "user_score": ui["score"], "user_reviews": ui["reviewCount"]}
-
-    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=workers) as ex:
-        return list(ex.map(fetch_one, slugs))
-
-results = batch_game_scores([
-    "the-last-of-us", "elden-ring", "god-of-war",
-    "red-dead-redemption-2", "the-witcher-3-wild-hunt"
-])
-# the-last-of-us: meta=95/98critics, user=9.2/17207
-# elden-ring: meta=96/86critics, user=8.4/23344
-# god-of-war: meta=94/118critics, user=9.0/30439
-# red-dead-redemption-2: meta=97/99critics, user=9.0/35306
-# the-witcher-3-wild-hunt: meta=92/79critics, user=9.1/19370
-```
-
-### Search by title
-
-```python
-import json, urllib.parse
-
-API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
-
-def search(query, media_type=None, limit=10):
-    """
-    media_type: None='all', 'games' (mcoTypeId=13), 'movies' (2), 'shows' (1)
-    Returns list of {title, type, slug, premiereYear, metascore, user_score}
-    """
-    type_map = {"games": 13, "movies": 2, "shows": 1}
-    q = urllib.parse.quote(query)
-    type_param = f"&mcoTypeId={type_map[media_type]}" if media_type else "&mcoTypeId=1%2C2%2C3%2C13"
-    url = (
-        f"https://backend.metacritic.com/finder/metacritic/search/{q}/web"
-        f"?offset=0&limit={limit}&sortBy=META_SCORE&sortDirection=DESC"
-        f"{type_param}&componentName=search&componentType=SearchResult"
-        f"&apiKey={API_KEY}"
-    )
-    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
-    items = data["data"]["items"]
-    return [
-        {
-            "title": i["title"],
-            "type": i["type"],          # "game-title", "movie", "tv-show"
-            "slug": i["slug"],
-            "year": i.get("premiereYear"),
-            "metascore": i.get("criticScoreSummary", {}).get("score"),
-            "user_score": i.get("userScore"),  # None in search results (use stats API for this)
-        }
-        for i in items
-    ]
-
-results = search("elden ring", media_type="games")
-# [{'title': 'Elden Ring', 'type': 'game-title', 'slug': 'elden-ring', 'year': 2022, 'metascore': 96, ...}]
-```
-
-**Note:** `userScore` is `None` in search results. Call the stats API with the `slug` to get it.
-
-### Browse/list titles by score
-
-```python
-import json
-
-API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
-
-def browse_games(sort_by="-metaScore", year_min=None, year_max=None, offset=0, limit=24):
-    """
-    sort_by: '-metaScore' | '-releaseDate' | '-popularityCount'
-    Returns up to `limit` games with criticScoreSummary and userScore.
-    Total available: ~14,160 games.
-    """
-    params = f"sortBy={sort_by}&mcoTypeId=13&offset={offset}&limit={limit}"
-    if year_min: params += f"&releaseYearMin={year_min}"
-    if year_max: params += f"&releaseYearMax={year_max}"
-    url = f"https://backend.metacritic.com/finder/metacritic/web?{params}&componentName=finder&componentType=Finder&apiKey={API_KEY}"
-    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
-    total = data["data"]["totalResults"]
-    items = data["data"]["items"]
-    return total, [
-        {
-            "title": i["title"],
-            "slug": i["slug"],
-            "year": i.get("premiereYear"),
-            "metascore": i.get("criticScoreSummary", {}).get("score"),
-            "critic_reviews": i.get("criticScoreSummary", {}).get("reviewCount"),
-            "user_score": i.get("userScore", {}).get("score") if isinstance(i.get("userScore"), dict) else i.get("userScore"),
-        }
-        for i in items
-    ]
-
-total, games = browse_games(year_min=2023, year_max=2024)
-print(f"{total} games 2023-2024")   # 953
-for g in games[:3]:
-    print(g)
-# {'title': "Baldur's Gate 3", 'year': 2023, 'metascore': 96, 'user_score': 9.2}
-# {'title': 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom', 'year': 2023, 'metascore': 96, ...}
-```
-
-Finder API totals (confirmed 2026-04-18):
-- Games (mcoTypeId=13): 14,160
-- Movies (mcoTypeId=2): 17,152
-- TV Shows (mcoTypeId=1): 3,392
-
-### Get per-platform scores for multi-platform games
-
-```python
-import json
-
-API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
-
-def game_platforms(slug):
-    url = (
-        f"https://backend.metacritic.com/games/metacritic/{slug}/web"
-        f"?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"
-    )
-    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
-    platforms = data["data"]["item"]["platforms"]
-    return [
-        {
-            "name": p["name"],
-            "slug": p["slug"],
-            "is_lead": p["isLeadPlatform"],
-            "metascore": p["criticScoreSummary"]["score"],        # None if <4 reviews
-            "critic_reviews": p["criticScoreSummary"]["reviewCount"],
-            "release_date": p["releaseDate"],
-        }
-        for p in platforms
-    ]
-
-print(game_platforms("elden-ring"))
-# [{'name': 'Xbox One', 'slug': 'xbox-one', 'is_lead': False, 'metascore': None, ...},
-#  {'name': 'PC', 'slug': 'pc', 'is_lead': False, 'metascore': 94, 'critic_reviews': 63},
-#  {'name': 'PlayStation 4', 'slug': 'playstation-4', 'is_lead': False, 'metascore': None, 'critic_reviews': 1},
-#  {'name': 'Xbox Series X', 'slug': 'xbox-series-x', 'is_lead': False, 'metascore': 96, 'critic_reviews': 19},
-#  {'name': 'PlayStation 5', 'slug': 'playstation-5', 'is_lead': True, 'metascore': 96, 'critic_reviews': 93}]
-```
-
-### Get critic reviews (paginated)
-
-```python
-import json
-
-API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
-
-def get_critic_reviews(slug, media="games", offset=0, limit=10, sort="date"):
-    """sort: 'date' | 'score' | 'publication'"""
-    url = (
-        f"https://backend.metacritic.com/reviews/metacritic/critic/{media}/{slug}/web"
-        f"?offset={offset}&limit={limit}&sort={sort}"
-        f"&componentName=latest-critic-reviews&componentType=CriticReviewList&apiKey={API_KEY}"
-    )
-    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
-    total = data["data"]["totalResults"]   # e.g. 98
-    items = data["data"]["items"]
-    return total, [
-        {
-            "score": r["score"],                # int 0–100
-            "publication": r["publicationName"],
-            "quote": r["quote"],
-            "date": r["date"],
-            "url": r.get("url"),
-        }
-        for r in items
-    ]
-
-total, reviews = get_critic_reviews("the-last-of-us", sort="score")
-print(f"{total} critic reviews")   # 98
-print(reviews[0])
-# {'score': 97, 'publication': 'GamingXP', 'quote': 'Flawless in its ambition...', 'date': '...'}
-```
-
-### Get user reviews (paginated)
-
-```python
-import json
-
-API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
-
-def get_user_reviews(slug, media="games", offset=0, limit=10, order_by="score", order_type="desc"):
-    """order_by: 'score' | 'date' | 'helpfulness'"""
-    url = (
-        f"https://backend.metacritic.com/reviews/metacritic/user/{media}/{slug}/web"
-        f"?offset={offset}&limit={limit}&orderBy={order_by}&orderType={order_type}"
-        f"&componentName=top-user-reviews&componentType=UserReviewList&apiKey={API_KEY}"
-    )
-    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
-    total = data["data"]["totalResults"]   # e.g. 2983 for The Last of Us
-    items = data["data"]["items"]
-    return total, [
-        {
-            "score": r["score"],   # int 0–10
-            "quote": r["quote"],
-            "date": r["date"],
-            "spoiler": r.get("spoiler", False),
-        }
-        for r in items
-    ]
-
-total, reviews = get_user_reviews("the-last-of-us")
-print(f"{total} user reviews")   # 2983
-```
-
-### NUXT_DATA extraction (alternative, no API key)
-
-If you need to avoid the backend API (e.g., the API key rotates), the HTML page embeds all score data in `<script id="__NUXT_DATA__">` as a flat pool with integer cross-references. This is more fragile but requires no API key:
-
-```python
-import json, re
-
-url = "https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-last-of-us/"
-html = http_get(url)
-
-pool = json.loads(
-    re.search(r'<script[^>]*id="__NUXT_DATA__"[^>]*>(.*?)</script>', html, re.DOTALL).group(1)
-)
-
-def deref(pool, idx, depth=0, visited=None):
-    if visited is None: visited = set()
-    if not isinstance(idx, int) or idx in visited or depth > 4: return idx
-    visited.add(idx)
-    val = pool[idx]
-    if isinstance(val, dict):
-        return {k: deref(pool, v, depth+1, visited) if isinstance(v, int) else v for k, v in val.items()}
-    elif isinstance(val, list) and len(val) == 2 and isinstance(val[0], str) and val[0] in ('Ref','Reactive','ShallowReactive','ShallowRef'):
-        return deref(pool, val[1], depth+1, visited)
-    elif isinstance(val, list):
-        return [deref(pool, v, depth+1, visited) if isinstance(v, int) else v for v in val]
-    return val
-
-# Find components
-components_idx = next(
-    pool[i] for i, v in enumerate(pool)
-    if isinstance(v, list) and len(v) > 3 and all(isinstance(x, int) for x in v[:3])
-    and isinstance(pool[v[0]], dict) and 'data' in pool[v[0]] and 'meta' in pool[v[0]]
-)
-
-def find_component(pool, name):
-    for i, val in enumerate(pool):
-        if not isinstance(val, dict) or 'data' not in val or 'meta' not in val: continue
-        meta = pool[val['meta']] if isinstance(val.get('meta'), int) else {}
-        if not isinstance(meta, dict): continue
-        cname = pool[meta.get('componentName')] if isinstance(meta.get('componentName'), int) else ''
-        if cname == name: return deref(pool, val['data'])
-    return None
-
-critic = find_component(pool, 'critic-score-summary')
-user = find_component(pool, 'user-score-summary')
-print("Metascore:", critic['item']['score'])        # 95
-print("Critic reviews:", critic['item']['reviewCount'])  # 98
-print("User score:", user['item']['score'])         # 9.2
-print("User reviews:", user['item']['reviewCount']) # 17207
-```
-
----
-
-## URL slug patterns
-
-Metacritic slugs are lowercased, spaces replaced with hyphens, special chars dropped:
-
-| Title | Slug |
-|-------|------|
-| `The Last of Us` | `the-last-of-us` |
-| `Baldur's Gate 3` | `baldurs-gate-3` |
-| `Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree` | `elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree` |
-| `Breaking Bad` | `breaking-bad` |
-| `The Godfather` | `the-godfather` |
-
-Derive slug from the page URL: everything between the media-type path and the trailing slash.
-
-```python
-import re
-
-def slug_from_url(url):
-    # Works for /game/, /movie/, /tv/
-    m = re.search(r'/(?:game|movie|tv)/([^/]+)/', url)
-    return m.group(1) if m else None
-
-slug_from_url("https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-last-of-us/")  # "the-last-of-us"
-```
-
----
-
-## Anti-bot measures
-
-- **Cloudflare** is in front of both `metacritic.com` and `backend.metacritic.com` (confirmed via `CF-Ray` and `Server: cloudflare` headers).
-- **Frontend pages** (`metacritic.com/*`): Require a non-empty User-Agent. `Mozilla/5.0` works. `python-requests/...` or empty UA returns HTTP 403.
-- **Backend API** (`backend.metacritic.com`): Same rule — any non-empty User-Agent works, including `curl/7.84.0` and `python-requests/2.31.0`. Only truly empty UA gets 403.
-- **Music pages** (`metacritic.com/music/*`): HTTP 403 even with valid User-Agent — Cloudflare blocks that path category. The backend API for music also 404s. Use the browser via CDP for music pages.
-- **Cache**: Frontend pages are Cloudflare-cached (10 minute TTL, `Cache-Control: public, max-age=600`). Backend API responses are not cached (`CF-Cache-Status: MISS`).
-- **No CAPTCHA** observed during testing with any of the approaches above.
-- **No rate limit** hit during testing: 10 sequential calls at 3.6 calls/sec, 10 parallel calls in 0.68s — all succeeded.
-- **PerimeterX**: Not detected in response headers or HTML.
-
----
-
-## Gotchas
-
-- **API key is embedded in every Metacritic page HTML** — find it by searching for `apiKey=` in `backend.metacritic.com` URLs. The key `1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u` was confirmed active as of 2026-04-18. If it rotates, fetch any Metacritic page and extract it: `re.search(r'apiKey=([A-Za-z0-9]+)', html).group(1)`.
-
-- **userScore is None in search results** — the `/finder/metacritic/search/` endpoint returns `userScore: null` for all results. Call the stats API separately with the slug to get user score + review count.
-
-- **Metascore None means < 4 reviews** — the backend API returns `score: null` (not 0) when a title has fewer than 4 critic reviews. Always check `if score is not None` before using.
-
-- **Multi-platform games: JSON-LD shows lead platform score** — for a game on PS5 and Xbox, `aggregateRating.ratingValue` in JSON-LD is the lead platform's score (the platform marked `isLeadPlatform: True` in the backend API). All platforms are listed in `gamePlatform` but without individual scores. Use the product API's `platforms` array for per-platform breakdown.
-
-- **Music is blocked** — `metacritic.com/music/*` returns HTTP 403 even with a real browser User-Agent. The backend API for albums (`/albums/metacritic/...`) also returns 404. Music data requires a real browser session via CDP.
-
-- **NUXT_DATA pool deref is fragile** — the pool structure is a flat array where every value is either a primitive or an integer index pointing elsewhere in the array. Component locations shift between page loads but the component names (`critic-score-summary`, `user-score-summary`) are stable.
-
-- **`http_get` default UA is `Mozilla/5.0`** — this works for Metacritic. No need to override it.
-
-- **Backend API `componentName` and `componentType` params are required** — omitting them returns HTTP 400. Use the exact values shown in the code examples above.
-
-- **Finder `userScore` format**: In finder/browse results, `userScore` is `{"score": 9.1}` (a dict with just `score`). In the stats API, it's a full object with `reviewCount`, `sentiment`, etc. In search results, it's `null`.
-
-- **Media type URL paths**: games=`/games/`, movies=`/movies/`, TV shows=`/shows/`. There is no `/tv/` path in the backend API (the frontend uses `/tv/` but the API uses `/shows/`).
-
-- **Finder API does not support free-text search** — the `q=` param is silently ignored and returns 0 results. Use the `/finder/metacritic/search/{query}/web` endpoint for title search.
+# Metacritic — Scraping & Data Extraction
+
+Field-tested against metacritic.com on 2026-04-18. All code blocks validated with live requests.
+
+## Do this first
+
+**Use the backend API — it returns clean JSON with both scores in one call, no HTML parsing.**
+
+Metacritic's internal backend API is publicly accessible with a stable key embedded in every page. It covers games, movies, and TV shows.
+
+```python
+import json
+
+API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
+
+def get_game_scores(slug):
+    """slug = URL slug e.g. 'elden-ring', 'the-last-of-us'"""
+    base = f"https://backend.metacritic.com"
+    product = json.loads(http_get(
+        f"{base}/games/metacritic/{slug}/web"
+        f"?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"
+    ))
+    user_stats = json.loads(http_get(
+        f"{base}/reviews/metacritic/user/games/{slug}/stats/web"
+        f"?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&apiKey={API_KEY}"
+    ))
+    item = product["data"]["item"]
+    crit = item["criticScoreSummary"]
+    user = user_stats["data"]["item"]
+    return {
+        "title": item["title"],
+        "platform": item["platform"],           # lead platform
+        "platforms": item["platforms"],          # list with per-platform scores
+        "metascore": crit["score"],              # int 0–100 or None
+        "critic_reviews": crit["reviewCount"],  # int
+        "critic_sentiment": crit["sentiment"],   # e.g. "Universal acclaim"
+        "user_score": user["score"],             # float 0.0–10.0 or None
+        "user_reviews": user["reviewCount"],     # int
+        "user_sentiment": user["sentiment"],
+        "release_date": item["releaseDate"],     # "YYYY-MM-DD"
+    }
+
+print(get_game_scores("the-last-of-us"))
+# {'title': 'The Last of Us', 'platform': 'PlayStation 3',
+#  'metascore': 95, 'critic_reviews': 98,
+#  'user_score': 9.2, 'user_reviews': 17207, ...}
+```
+
+Use the browser **only** if you need music pages — `metacritic.com/music/*` returns HTTP 403 to `http_get` (Cloudflare blocks those routes). Games, movies, and TV all work with plain HTTP.
+
+---
+
+## Fastest approach: JSON-LD (critic score + review count only)
+
+If you only need the Metascore and critic review count and don't need the user score, JSON-LD is the single-call option — no API key, no separate request:
+
+```python
+import json, re
+
+url = "https://www.metacritic.com/game/elden-ring/"   # or /movie/ or /tv/
+html = http_get(url)
+
+block = re.findall(
+    r'<script[^>]*type="application/ld\+json"[^>]*>(.*?)</script>',
+    html, re.DOTALL
+)[0]
+ld = json.loads(block)
+
+agg = ld["aggregateRating"]
+print(ld["name"])                   # "Elden Ring"
+print(agg["ratingValue"])           # 96  (metascore)
+print(agg["reviewCount"])           # 93  (critic reviews count)
+print(ld.get("gamePlatform"))       # ['Xbox One', 'PC', 'PlayStation 4', 'Xbox Series X', 'PlayStation 5']
+print(ld.get("genre"))              # "Action RPG"
+print(ld.get("contentRating"))      # "M"
+print(ld.get("datePublished"))      # "2022-02-25"
+```
+
+**JSON-LD limitations:**
+- Only contains Metascore and critic review count — **no user score, no user review count**.
+- For multi-platform games, `ratingValue` is the lead platform score; all platforms are listed in `gamePlatform` but without individual scores.
+- `@type` is `VideoGame` for games, `Movie` for movies, `TVSeries` for TV shows.
+
+---
+
+## Common workflows
+
+### Get scores for a single title (backend API)
+
+```python
+import json
+
+API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
+BASE = "https://backend.metacritic.com"
+
+# Games
+def game_scores(slug):
+    p = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/games/metacritic/{slug}/web?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
+    u = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/user/games/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
+    c = p["data"]["item"]["criticScoreSummary"]
+    us = u["data"]["item"]
+    return {"metascore": c["score"], "critic_reviews": c["reviewCount"],
+            "user_score": us["score"], "user_reviews": us["reviewCount"]}
+
+# Movies
+def movie_scores(slug):
+    p = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/movies/metacritic/{slug}/web?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
+    u = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/user/movies/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
+    c = p["data"]["item"]["criticScoreSummary"]
+    us = u["data"]["item"]
+    return {"metascore": c["score"], "critic_reviews": c["reviewCount"],
+            "user_score": us["score"], "user_reviews": us["reviewCount"]}
+
+# TV shows
+def show_scores(slug):
+    p = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/shows/metacritic/{slug}/web?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
+    u = json.loads(http_get(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/user/shows/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&apiKey={API_KEY}"))
+    c = p["data"]["item"]["criticScoreSummary"]
+    us = u["data"]["item"]
+    return {"metascore": c["score"], "critic_reviews": c["reviewCount"],
+            "user_score": us["score"], "user_reviews": us["reviewCount"]}
+
+# Verified results:
+print(game_scores("the-last-of-us"))
+# {'metascore': 95, 'critic_reviews': 98, 'user_score': 9.2, 'user_reviews': 17207}
+print(movie_scores("the-godfather"))
+# {'metascore': 100, 'critic_reviews': 16, 'user_score': 9.2, 'user_reviews': 4450}
+print(show_scores("breaking-bad"))
+# {'metascore': 87, 'critic_reviews': 98, 'user_score': 9.4, 'user_reviews': 19070}
+```
+
+### Parallel fetching (multiple titles at once)
+
+10 API calls in 0.68s with 5 workers — no rate-limit errors:
+
+```python
+import json
+from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
+import urllib.request, gzip
+
+API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
+
+def _fetch(url):
+    h = {"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0", "Accept-Encoding": "gzip"}
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(urllib.request.Request(url, headers=h), timeout=15) as r:
+        data = r.read()
+        if r.headers.get("Content-Encoding") == "gzip": data = gzip.decompress(data)
+        return json.loads(data.decode())
+
+def batch_game_scores(slugs, workers=5):
+    """Fetch critic+user scores for multiple game slugs in parallel."""
+    BASE = "https://backend.metacritic.com"
+    AK = f"apiKey={API_KEY}"
+
+    def fetch_one(slug):
+        c = _fetch(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/critic/games/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=critic-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&{AK}")
+        u = _fetch(f"{BASE}/reviews/metacritic/user/games/{slug}/stats/web?componentName=user-score-summary&componentType=ScoreSummary&{AK}")
+        ci = c["data"]["item"]
+        ui = u["data"]["item"]
+        return {"slug": slug, "metascore": ci["score"], "critic_reviews": ci["reviewCount"],
+                "user_score": ui["score"], "user_reviews": ui["reviewCount"]}
+
+    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=workers) as ex:
+        return list(ex.map(fetch_one, slugs))
+
+results = batch_game_scores([
+    "the-last-of-us", "elden-ring", "god-of-war",
+    "red-dead-redemption-2", "the-witcher-3-wild-hunt"
+])
+# the-last-of-us: meta=95/98critics, user=9.2/17207
+# elden-ring: meta=96/86critics, user=8.4/23344
+# god-of-war: meta=94/118critics, user=9.0/30439
+# red-dead-redemption-2: meta=97/99critics, user=9.0/35306
+# the-witcher-3-wild-hunt: meta=92/79critics, user=9.1/19370
+```
+
+### Search by title
+
+```python
+import json, urllib.parse
+
+API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
+
+def search(query, media_type=None, limit=10):
+    """
+    media_type: None='all', 'games' (mcoTypeId=13), 'movies' (2), 'shows' (1)
+    Returns list of {title, type, slug, premiereYear, metascore, user_score}
+    """
+    type_map = {"games": 13, "movies": 2, "shows": 1}
+    q = urllib.parse.quote(query)
+    type_param = f"&mcoTypeId={type_map[media_type]}" if media_type else "&mcoTypeId=1%2C2%2C3%2C13"
+    url = (
+        f"https://backend.metacritic.com/finder/metacritic/search/{q}/web"
+        f"?offset=0&limit={limit}&sortBy=META_SCORE&sortDirection=DESC"
+        f"{type_param}&componentName=search&componentType=SearchResult"
+        f"&apiKey={API_KEY}"
+    )
+    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
+    items = data["data"]["items"]
+    return [
+        {
+            "title": i["title"],
+            "type": i["type"],          # "game-title", "movie", "tv-show"
+            "slug": i["slug"],
+            "year": i.get("premiereYear"),
+            "metascore": i.get("criticScoreSummary", {}).get("score"),
+            "user_score": i.get("userScore"),  # None in search results (use stats API for this)
+        }
+        for i in items
+    ]
+
+results = search("elden ring", media_type="games")
+# [{'title': 'Elden Ring', 'type': 'game-title', 'slug': 'elden-ring', 'year': 2022, 'metascore': 96, ...}]
+```
+
+**Note:** `userScore` is `None` in search results. Call the stats API with the `slug` to get it.
+
+### Browse/list titles by score
+
+```python
+import json
+
+API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
+
+def browse_games(sort_by="-metaScore", year_min=None, year_max=None, offset=0, limit=24):
+    """
+    sort_by: '-metaScore' | '-releaseDate' | '-popularityCount'
+    Returns up to `limit` games with criticScoreSummary and userScore.
+    Total available: ~14,160 games.
+    """
+    params = f"sortBy={sort_by}&mcoTypeId=13&offset={offset}&limit={limit}"
+    if year_min: params += f"&releaseYearMin={year_min}"
+    if year_max: params += f"&releaseYearMax={year_max}"
+    url = f"https://backend.metacritic.com/finder/metacritic/web?{params}&componentName=finder&componentType=Finder&apiKey={API_KEY}"
+    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
+    total = data["data"]["totalResults"]
+    items = data["data"]["items"]
+    return total, [
+        {
+            "title": i["title"],
+            "slug": i["slug"],
+            "year": i.get("premiereYear"),
+            "metascore": i.get("criticScoreSummary", {}).get("score"),
+            "critic_reviews": i.get("criticScoreSummary", {}).get("reviewCount"),
+            "user_score": i.get("userScore", {}).get("score") if isinstance(i.get("userScore"), dict) else i.get("userScore"),
+        }
+        for i in items
+    ]
+
+total, games = browse_games(year_min=2023, year_max=2024)
+print(f"{total} games 2023-2024")   # 953
+for g in games[:3]:
+    print(g)
+# {'title': "Baldur's Gate 3", 'year': 2023, 'metascore': 96, 'user_score': 9.2}
+# {'title': 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom', 'year': 2023, 'metascore': 96, ...}
+```
+
+Finder API totals (confirmed 2026-04-18):
+- Games (mcoTypeId=13): 14,160
+- Movies (mcoTypeId=2): 17,152
+- TV Shows (mcoTypeId=1): 3,392
+
+### Get per-platform scores for multi-platform games
+
+```python
+import json
+
+API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
+
+def game_platforms(slug):
+    url = (
+        f"https://backend.metacritic.com/games/metacritic/{slug}/web"
+        f"?componentName=product&componentType=Product&apiKey={API_KEY}"
+    )
+    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
+    platforms = data["data"]["item"]["platforms"]
+    return [
+        {
+            "name": p["name"],
+            "slug": p["slug"],
+            "is_lead": p["isLeadPlatform"],
+            "metascore": p["criticScoreSummary"]["score"],        # None if <4 reviews
+            "critic_reviews": p["criticScoreSummary"]["reviewCount"],
+            "release_date": p["releaseDate"],
+        }
+        for p in platforms
+    ]
+
+print(game_platforms("elden-ring"))
+# [{'name': 'Xbox One', 'slug': 'xbox-one', 'is_lead': False, 'metascore': None, ...},
+#  {'name': 'PC', 'slug': 'pc', 'is_lead': False, 'metascore': 94, 'critic_reviews': 63},
+#  {'name': 'PlayStation 4', 'slug': 'playstation-4', 'is_lead': False, 'metascore': None, 'critic_reviews': 1},
+#  {'name': 'Xbox Series X', 'slug': 'xbox-series-x', 'is_lead': False, 'metascore': 96, 'critic_reviews': 19},
+#  {'name': 'PlayStation 5', 'slug': 'playstation-5', 'is_lead': True, 'metascore': 96, 'critic_reviews': 93}]
+```
+
+### Get critic reviews (paginated)
+
+```python
+import json
+
+API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
+
+def get_critic_reviews(slug, media="games", offset=0, limit=10, sort="date"):
+    """sort: 'date' | 'score' | 'publication'"""
+    url = (
+        f"https://backend.metacritic.com/reviews/metacritic/critic/{media}/{slug}/web"
+        f"?offset={offset}&limit={limit}&sort={sort}"
+        f"&componentName=latest-critic-reviews&componentType=CriticReviewList&apiKey={API_KEY}"
+    )
+    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
+    total = data["data"]["totalResults"]   # e.g. 98
+    items = data["data"]["items"]
+    return total, [
+        {
+            "score": r["score"],                # int 0–100
+            "publication": r["publicationName"],
+            "quote": r["quote"],
+            "date": r["date"],
+            "url": r.get("url"),
+        }
+        for r in items
+    ]
+
+total, reviews = get_critic_reviews("the-last-of-us", sort="score")
+print(f"{total} critic reviews")   # 98
+print(reviews[0])
+# {'score': 97, 'publication': 'GamingXP', 'quote': 'Flawless in its ambition...', 'date': '...'}
+```
+
+### Get user reviews (paginated)
+
+```python
+import json
+
+API_KEY = "1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u"
+
+def get_user_reviews(slug, media="games", offset=0, limit=10, order_by="score", order_type="desc"):
+    """order_by: 'score' | 'date' | 'helpfulness'"""
+    url = (
+        f"https://backend.metacritic.com/reviews/metacritic/user/{media}/{slug}/web"
+        f"?offset={offset}&limit={limit}&orderBy={order_by}&orderType={order_type}"
+        f"&componentName=top-user-reviews&componentType=UserReviewList&apiKey={API_KEY}"
+    )
+    data = json.loads(http_get(url))
+    total = data["data"]["totalResults"]   # e.g. 2983 for The Last of Us
+    items = data["data"]["items"]
+    return total, [
+        {
+            "score": r["score"],   # int 0–10
+            "quote": r["quote"],
+            "date": r["date"],
+            "spoiler": r.get("spoiler", False),
+        }
+        for r in items
+    ]
+
+total, reviews = get_user_reviews("the-last-of-us")
+print(f"{total} user reviews")   # 2983
+```
+
+### NUXT_DATA extraction (alternative, no API key)
+
+If you need to avoid the backend API (e.g., the API key rotates), the HTML page embeds all score data in `<script id="__NUXT_DATA__">` as a flat pool with integer cross-references. This is more fragile but requires no API key:
+
+```python
+import json, re
+
+url = "https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-last-of-us/"
+html = http_get(url)
+
+pool = json.loads(
+    re.search(r'<script[^>]*id="__NUXT_DATA__"[^>]*>(.*?)</script>', html, re.DOTALL).group(1)
+)
+
+def deref(pool, idx, depth=0, visited=None):
+    if visited is None: visited = set()
+    if not isinstance(idx, int) or idx in visited or depth > 4: return idx
+    visited.add(idx)
+    val = pool[idx]
+    if isinstance(val, dict):
+        return {k: deref(pool, v, depth+1, visited) if isinstance(v, int) else v for k, v in val.items()}
+    elif isinstance(val, list) and len(val) == 2 and isinstance(val[0], str) and val[0] in ('Ref','Reactive','ShallowReactive','ShallowRef'):
+        return deref(pool, val[1], depth+1, visited)
+    elif isinstance(val, list):
+        return [deref(pool, v, depth+1, visited) if isinstance(v, int) else v for v in val]
+    return val
+
+# Find components
+components_idx = next(
+    pool[i] for i, v in enumerate(pool)
+    if isinstance(v, list) and len(v) > 3 and all(isinstance(x, int) for x in v[:3])
+    and isinstance(pool[v[0]], dict) and 'data' in pool[v[0]] and 'meta' in pool[v[0]]
+)
+
+def find_component(pool, name):
+    for i, val in enumerate(pool):
+        if not isinstance(val, dict) or 'data' not in val or 'meta' not in val: continue
+        meta = pool[val['meta']] if isinstance(val.get('meta'), int) else {}
+        if not isinstance(meta, dict): continue
+        cname = pool[meta.get('componentName')] if isinstance(meta.get('componentName'), int) else ''
+        if cname == name: return deref(pool, val['data'])
+    return None
+
+critic = find_component(pool, 'critic-score-summary')
+user = find_component(pool, 'user-score-summary')
+print("Metascore:", critic['item']['score'])        # 95
+print("Critic reviews:", critic['item']['reviewCount'])  # 98
+print("User score:", user['item']['score'])         # 9.2
+print("User reviews:", user['item']['reviewCount']) # 17207
+```
+
+---
+
+## URL slug patterns
+
+Metacritic slugs are lowercased, spaces replaced with hyphens, special chars dropped:
+
+| Title | Slug |
+|-------|------|
+| `The Last of Us` | `the-last-of-us` |
+| `Baldur's Gate 3` | `baldurs-gate-3` |
+| `Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree` | `elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree` |
+| `Breaking Bad` | `breaking-bad` |
+| `The Godfather` | `the-godfather` |
+
+Derive slug from the page URL: everything between the media-type path and the trailing slash.
+
+```python
+import re
+
+def slug_from_url(url):
+    # Works for /game/, /movie/, /tv/
+    m = re.search(r'/(?:game|movie|tv)/([^/]+)/', url)
+    return m.group(1) if m else None
+
+slug_from_url("https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-last-of-us/")  # "the-last-of-us"
+```
+
+---
+
+## Anti-bot measures
+
+- **Cloudflare** is in front of both `metacritic.com` and `backend.metacritic.com` (confirmed via `CF-Ray` and `Server: cloudflare` headers).
+- **Frontend pages** (`metacritic.com/*`): Require a non-empty User-Agent. `Mozilla/5.0` works. `python-requests/...` or empty UA returns HTTP 403.
+- **Backend API** (`backend.metacritic.com`): Same rule — any non-empty User-Agent works, including `curl/7.84.0` and `python-requests/2.31.0`. Only truly empty UA gets 403.
+- **Music pages** (`metacritic.com/music/*`): HTTP 403 even with valid User-Agent — Cloudflare blocks that path category. The backend API for music also 404s. Use the browser via CDP for music pages.
+- **Cache**: Frontend pages are Cloudflare-cached (10 minute TTL, `Cache-Control: public, max-age=600`). Backend API responses are not cached (`CF-Cache-Status: MISS`).
+- **No CAPTCHA** observed during testing with any of the approaches above.
+- **No rate limit** hit during testing: 10 sequential calls at 3.6 calls/sec, 10 parallel calls in 0.68s — all succeeded.
+- **PerimeterX**: Not detected in response headers or HTML.
+
+---
+
+## Gotchas
+
+- **API key is embedded in every Metacritic page HTML** — find it by searching for `apiKey=` in `backend.metacritic.com` URLs. The key `1MOZgmNFxvmljaQR1X9KAij9Mo4xAY3u` was confirmed active as of 2026-04-18. If it rotates, fetch any Metacritic page and extract it: `re.search(r'apiKey=([A-Za-z0-9]+)', html).group(1)`.
+
+- **userScore is None in search results** — the `/finder/metacritic/search/` endpoint returns `userScore: null` for all results. Call the stats API separately with the slug to get user score + review count.
+
+- **Metascore None means < 4 reviews** — the backend API returns `score: null` (not 0) when a title has fewer than 4 critic reviews. Always check `if score is not None` before using.
+
+- **Multi-platform games: JSON-LD shows lead platform score** — for a game on PS5 and Xbox, `aggregateRating.ratingValue` in JSON-LD is the lead platform's score (the platform marked `isLeadPlatform: True` in the backend API). All platforms are listed in `gamePlatform` but without individual scores. Use the product API's `platforms` array for per-platform breakdown.
+
+- **Music is blocked** — `metacritic.com/music/*` returns HTTP 403 even with a real browser User-Agent. The backend API for albums (`/albums/metacritic/...`) also returns 404. Music data requires a real browser session via CDP.
+
+- **NUXT_DATA pool deref is fragile** — the pool structure is a flat array where every value is either a primitive or an integer index pointing elsewhere in the array. Component locations shift between page loads but the component names (`critic-score-summary`, `user-score-summary`) are stable.
+
+- **`http_get` default UA is `Mozilla/5.0`** — this works for Metacritic. No need to override it.
+
+- **Backend API `componentName` and `componentType` params are required** — omitting them returns HTTP 400. Use the exact values shown in the code examples above.
+
+- **Finder `userScore` format**: In finder/browse results, `userScore` is `{"score": 9.1}` (a dict with just `score`). In the stats API, it's a full object with `reviewCount`, `sentiment`, etc. In search results, it's `null`.
+
+- **Media type URL paths**: games=`/games/`, movies=`/movies/`, TV shows=`/shows/`. There is no `/tv/` path in the backend API (the frontend uses `/tv/` but the API uses `/shows/`).
+
+- **Finder API does not support free-text search** — the `q=` param is silently ignored and returns 0 results. Use the `/finder/metacritic/search/{query}/web` endpoint for title search.