LinkedIn Post Scraper - Viral Content & Trending Topics

Scrape viral LinkedIn posts by hashtag, keyword, or profile. Find top-performing content for inspiration, voice training, and competitive research.

Before You Start (Read This First)

Step	What to Do	Why
1	Click Start with default settings	See sample output (free, no setup needed)
2	Decide your search mode	See "Which Mode Should I Use?" below
3	Set up authentication if needed	Some modes require cookies or API tokens

Demo Mode is ON by default. Your first run will return realistic sample data so you can preview the output format before setting up authentication.

Which Mode Should I Use?

Mode	What It Does	Auth Required?	Best For
auto	Combines multiple methods automatically	No (uses residential proxies)	Most users — start here
google_search	Finds LinkedIn posts indexed by Google	No	Finding posts without cookies
profile	Scrapes a specific person's posts	Yes (cookies or OAuth token)	Voice training, competitor analysis
hashtag	Gets posts from a specific hashtag	Yes (cookies)	Trend research
keyword	Searches posts by keyword	Yes (cookies)	Topic research
feed	Scrapes your LinkedIn feed	Yes (cookies)	Personal feed analysis

If you're not sure, use auto mode. It works without cookies.

Quick Start Examples

1. Demo Mode (Free, No Setup)

{
  "demoMode": true
}

Returns sample viral posts so you can see the output format. No charges, no authentication needed.

2. Auto Mode (No Cookies Needed)

{
  "searchType": "auto",
  "hashtags": ["marketing", "leadership"],
  "maxPostsPerSource": 20,
  "demoMode": false
}

Uses residential proxies and multiple methods. No cookies or login required.

3. Google Search Mode (No Cookies Needed)

{
  "searchType": "google_search",
  "profileUsername": "garyvee",
  "maxPostsPerSource": 20,
  "demoMode": false
}

Finds LinkedIn posts indexed by Google. Good for specific people.

4. Profile Scraping (Requires Auth)

{
  "searchType": "profile",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvee/",
  "cookies": "[paste your cookies here - see auth section below]",
  "maxPostsPerSource": 50,
  "activityTypes": ["posts", "articles"],
  "demoMode": false
}

5. Hashtag Scraping (Requires Cookies)

{
  "searchType": "hashtag",
  "hashtags": ["marketing", "AI", "leadership"],
  "cookies": "[paste your cookies here]",
  "maxPostsPerSource": 20,
  "minLikes": 50,
  "demoMode": false
}

How to Get LinkedIn Cookies (When Required)

Only needed for profile, hashtag, keyword, and feed modes. Skip this if using auto or google_search.

Step-by-Step:

1. Install a cookie export extension in Chrome:
   • EditThisCookie (recommended)
   • Or any "Export Cookies" extension
2. Log into LinkedIn in your browser
3. Click the cookie extension icon while on linkedin.com
4. Click "Export" — this copies a JSON array to your clipboard
5. Paste the JSON into the cookies field in this actor

The exported cookies should look like this:

[
  {"name": "li_at", "value": "AQED...", "domain": ".linkedin.com", ...},
  {"name": "JSESSIONID", "value": "ajax:123...", "domain": ".linkedin.com", ...}
]

Common Cookie Issues:

• Cookies expire after a few days — you'll need to re-export them
• Cookies are IP-locked — they may not work from Apify's servers. Use auto mode instead, or try residential proxies
• "Redirected to login" error means cookies are expired. Re-export from your browser

Alternative: LinkedIn OAuth Token (Most Reliable)

If you have a LinkedIn Developer App with w_member_social permission:

{
  "searchType": "profile",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/username/",
  "linkedinAccessToken": "your-oauth-token-here",
  "demoMode": false
}

OAuth tokens work from any IP and don't expire as quickly as cookies.

All Input Parameters

Search Settings

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
demoMode	boolean	true	Returns sample data. Uncheck for real scraping.
searchType	string	auto	How to find posts: auto, google_search, profile, hashtag, keyword, feed
profileUrl	string	-	LinkedIn profile URL (for profile mode)
profileUsername	string	-	LinkedIn username (for google_search mode)
hashtags	string[]	-	Hashtags to search (for hashtag and auto modes)
keywords	string[]	-	Keywords to search (for keyword mode)

Authentication (only for modes that require it)

Parameter	Type	Description
cookies	string	LinkedIn cookies as JSON array (see instructions above)
linkedinEmail	string	LinkedIn email for auto-login (alternative to cookies)
linkedinPassword	string	LinkedIn password for auto-login
linkedinAccessToken	string	OAuth 2.0 token (most reliable method)

Filtering & Limits

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
maxPostsPerSource	number	50	Max posts to scrape per hashtag/keyword
minLikes	number	100	Only include posts with at least this many likes
minComments	number	10	Only include posts with at least this many comments
sortBy	string	top	top (most engagement) or recent (newest first)
timeFilter	string	past_week	past_24h, past_week, past_month, or any
activityTypes	string[]	["posts"]	What to scrape: posts, articles, comments, or all

Enhanced Data (Optional)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
includeAuthorInfo	boolean	true	Include author's followers, headline
includeCommentText	boolean	false	Scrape actual comment text (slower)
maxCommentsPerPost	number	10	Max comments per post (1-50)
includeReactionsBreakdown	boolean	false	Breakdown by reaction type (like, celebrate, etc.)

AI Sentiment Analysis (Optional, BYOK)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
enableSentimentAnalysis	boolean	false	Analyze tone and emotions with AI
aiProvider	string	none	openai, anthropic, google, mistral, or cohere
aiApiKey	string	-	Your AI provider API key

Output Format

{
  "posts": [
    {
      "id": "123",
      "url": "https://linkedin.com/feed/update/...",
      "text": "Post content...",
      "likes": 1523,
      "comments": 234,
      "reposts": 89,
      "postedAt": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z",
      "hashtags": ["leadership", "growth"],
      "author": {
        "name": "John Doe",
        "headline": "CEO at Company",
        "profileUrl": "https://linkedin.com/in/johndoe",
        "followers": 50000
      },
      "hasImage": true,
      "hasVideo": false,
      "hasCarousel": false
    }
  ],
  "stats": {
    "totalPosts": 150,
    "avgLikes": 523,
    "avgComments": 45,
    "topAuthors": ["John Doe", "Jane Smith"],
    "topHashtags": ["leadership", "growth", "mindset"]
  }
}

Pricing (Pay-Per-Event)

Event	Price
Per post scraped	$0.04
Demo mode	Free

Example costs:

• 20 posts: 20 x $0.04 = $0.80
• 50 posts: 50 x $0.04 = $2.00
• 100 posts with author info: 100 x $0.04 = $4.00

Troubleshooting

"I'm getting sample/demo data"

Demo Mode is ON by default. Uncheck Demo Mode to scrape real posts. You may also need to provide cookies or use auto/google_search mode.

"Redirected to login" or "auth wall" error

Your cookies are expired or IP-locked. Options:

1. Re-export cookies from your browser (log into LinkedIn first)
2. Switch to auto mode (no cookies needed)
3. Use an OAuth token instead of cookies (most reliable)

"No posts found"

• Check your hashtag/keyword spelling
• Try a more popular hashtag like marketing or leadership
• Lower minLikes to 0 to see all posts
• Try timeFilter: "past_month" for a wider time range

"Session expired" or cookie errors

LinkedIn sessions expire every few days. Re-export your cookies from your browser.

Actor runs but returns few posts

LinkedIn limits how many posts you can see. For better results:

• Use auto or google_search mode (no cookie dependency)
• Lower minLikes and minComments thresholds
• Try sortBy: "recent" instead of "top"

"LinkedIn cookies are required"

You're using hashtag, keyword, or feed mode which requires authentication. Either:

• Switch to auto or google_search mode (no cookies needed)
• Follow the cookie export instructions above
• Provide linkedinAccessToken for OAuth-based access

Use Cases

• Content Inspiration — Find what's working in your niche before writing
• Voice Training — Collect writing styles to train AI content generators
• Trend Research — Track trending topics and content formats
• Competitor Analysis — See what content performs best for competitors
• Influencer Research — Analyze top creators' content strategies

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Built by John Rippy | Actor Arsenal

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