Facebook Groups Posts Scraper

A powerful Apify actor that scrapes posts from Facebook groups with intelligent proxy fallback, pagination support, and comprehensive data extraction.

Why Choose Us?

• Intelligent Proxy Management: Automatically falls back from no proxy → datacenter → residential proxy if requests are blocked
• Pagination Support: Fetches multiple pages to ensure comprehensive data collection
• Bulk Processing: Process multiple groups in a single run
• Detailed Logging: Real-time progress updates and error tracking
• Robust Error Handling: Automatic retries and fallback mechanisms
• Structured Output: Clean, consistent JSON format matching your requirements

Key Features

• ✅ Scrapes Facebook group posts with full metadata
• ✅ Extracts user information, engagement metrics, and attachments
• ✅ Supports multiple sort orders (TOP_POSTS, RECENT_POSTS, MOST_REACTED)
• ✅ Automatic proxy fallback with 3 retry attempts
• ✅ Pagination support for large groups
• ✅ Handles bulk input (URLs, usernames, keywords)
• ✅ Detailed logging throughout the scraping process
• ✅ Incremental data saving to dataset

Input

JSON Input Example

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/germtheory.vs.terraintheory"
    }
  ],
  "sortOrder": "TOP_POSTS",
  "maxPosts": 1000,
  "maxComments": 0,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Input Fields

• startUrls (required): Array of Facebook group URLs, usernames, or keywords

  • Can be full URLs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/groupname
  • Can be usernames: groupname
  • Can be partial paths: groups/groupname

• sortOrder (optional): How to sort the posts

  • Options: "TOP_POSTS", "RECENT_POSTS", "MOST_REACTED"
  • Default: "TOP_POSTS"

• maxPosts (optional): Maximum number of posts to scrape per group

  • Minimum: 10
  • Maximum: 10000
  • Default: 1000

• maxComments (optional): Maximum number of comments per post (for future expansion)

  • Default: 0

• proxyConfiguration (optional): Proxy settings

  • useApifyProxy: Set to true to use Apify proxy, false for no proxy
  • By default, starts with no proxy and automatically falls back if blocked

Output

Output Format

Each post in the dataset contains:

{
  "facebookUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/germtheory.vs.terraintheory",
  "id": "UzpfSTYyNzcwMjkzNDpWSzoyNTI2MDY2NzIwMDI1MDI4Mw==",
  "feedbackId": "ZmVlZGJhY2s6MjUyNjA2NjcyMDAyNTAyODM=",
  "user": {
    "id": "pfbid02j3T4LrDdrwsEELmooGdPYVqVZbdoHZDiFEKgKX5txQYZSw2D7Symo7FBLgcdxqPjl",
    "name": "Sasha Singh",
    "profileUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=...",
    "profilePic": "https://scontent.fdac142-1.fna.fbcdn.net/..."
  },
  "date": "2025-11-08T15:43:29.000Z",
  "url": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/germtheory.vs.terraintheory/posts/25260667200250283/",
  "text": "Post text content here...",
  "attachments": [],
  "likesCount": 1334,
  "commentsCount": 120,
  "source_group": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/germtheory.vs.terraintheory"
}

Output Fields

• facebookUrl: The Facebook group URL
• id: Unique post identifier
• feedbackId: Feedback identifier for the post
• user: User information object
  • id: User ID (pfbid format)
  • name: User's display name
  • profileUrl: Link to user's profile
  • profilePic: Profile picture URL
• date: Post creation date in ISO format
• url: Direct link to the post
• text: Post text content
• attachments: Array of attachment objects (photos, videos, links)
• likesCount: Number of likes/reactions
• commentsCount: Number of comments
• source_group: Source group URL

🚀 How to Use the Actor (via Apify Console)

1. Log in at https://console.apify.com and go to Actors
2. Find your actor (facebook-groups-posts-scraper) and click it
3. Configure inputs:
   • Add Facebook group URLs in the startUrls field
   • Select sortOrder (TOP_POSTS, RECENT_POSTS, or MOST_REACTED)
   • Set maxPosts per group (minimum 10)
   • Configure proxyConfiguration if needed
4. Click Run to start the actor
5. Monitor logs in real time to see progress
6. Access results in the OUTPUT tab
7. Export results to JSON or CSV

Proxy Configuration

The actor implements intelligent proxy fallback:

1. Default: Starts with no proxy (direct connection)
2. If blocked: Automatically falls back to datacenter proxy
3. If still blocked: Falls back to residential proxy with 3 retry attempts
4. Sticky: Once a proxy works, it's used for all remaining requests

All proxy switches are logged clearly in the actor logs.

Best Use Cases

• Market Research: Monitor discussions and trends in specific Facebook groups
• Content Analysis: Analyze post engagement and user interactions
• Social Media Monitoring: Track mentions and discussions about topics
• Community Insights: Understand group dynamics and popular content
• Data Collection: Gather structured data from public Facebook groups

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I scrape private groups?
A: No, this actor only scrapes publicly available content from Facebook groups.

Q: What happens if a group is blocked?
A: The actor automatically tries different proxy types and logs all attempts. If all attempts fail, it moves to the next group.

Q: How many posts can I scrape?
A: You can set maxPosts from 10 to 10,000 per group. The actor uses pagination to reach your target.

Q: Does it scrape comments?
A: Currently, it extracts comment counts. Full comment scraping can be added in future versions.

Q: How long does scraping take?
A: Depends on the number of groups and posts. The actor processes groups sequentially with delays to avoid rate limiting.

Q: What if Facebook blocks my requests?
A: The actor automatically falls back through proxy types (no proxy → datacenter → residential) and retries up to 3 times.

Support and Feedback

For issues, questions, or feature requests, please contact support or open an issue in the actor repository.

Cautions

• Data is collected only from publicly available sources
• No data is taken from private accounts or password-protected content
• The end user is responsible for ensuring legal compliance (spam laws, privacy, data protection, etc.)
• Respect Facebook's Terms of Service and rate limits
• Use responsibly and ethically