# Instagram Hashtag Username Scraper (`api-empire/instagram-hashtag-username-scraper`) Actor

📸 Instagram Hashtag Username Scraper collects active usernames from posts under any hashtag — fast, accurate & scalable. 🔎 Perfect for influencer outreach, brand monitoring, UGC sourcing & lead gen. ✅ Filters, deduping & CSV/JSON export. Use with public data and consent.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-hashtag-username-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [API Empire](https://apify.com/api-empire) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.99 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Instagram Hashtag Username Scraper

Apify Actor that collects hashtag posts and outputs rows: `search_keyword`, `user_pk`, `username`, `id`, `code`, `caption`.

Uses the same HTTP strategy as the local script: **`requests.Session`**, `cookies.update({"sessionid": …})`, `GET https://www.instagram.com/`, then `GET …/fbsearch/web/top_serp/` (not `httpx`, so behavior matches a typical `main.py` + `extract_posts.py` setup).

### Input

- **urls** — Tag URLs (`/explore/tags/name/`) or plain hashtags (required).
- **sessionId** — **Required.** Your Instagram `sessionid` cookie (or env `INSTAGRAM_SESSION_ID`). Paste it when you start a run. Without it, Instagram typically returns no results.
- **proxyConfiguration** — Recommended on Apify cloud: Instagram often returns no posts from raw datacenter IPs even with a valid session; the actor will switch routes automatically when the first response is empty (if proxy is enabled).
- **maxItemsPerQuery** — Cap per hashtag (default 100).

### Run locally

```bash
cd Instagram-Hashtag-Username-Scraper
apify run
````

### Notes

Data from public SERP only. You are responsible for compliance with Instagram’s terms and applicable law.

### What are other Instagram scraping tools?

If you want to scrape specific Instagram data, you can use any of the dedicated scrapers below for faster and more targeted results.

| Scraper Name | Scraper Name |
|---|---|
| [Instagram B2b Email Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-b2b-email-scraper) | [Instagram Posts Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-posts-scraper) |
| [Instagram B2b Lead Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-b2b-lead-scraper) | [Instagram Profile Email Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-email-scraper) |
| [Instagram B2b Phone Number Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-b2b-phone-number-scraper) | [Instagram Profile Email Scraper By Keyword](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-email-scraper-by-keyword) |
| [Instagram Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-comments-scraper) | [Instagram Profile Lead Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-lead-scraper) |
| [Instagram Dm Automation](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-dm-automation) | [Instagram Profile Lead Scraper By Keyword](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-lead-scraper-by-keyword) |
| [Instagram Email Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-email-scraper) | [Instagram Profile Phone Number Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-phone-number-scraper) |
| [Instagram Followers And Following Scrapper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-followers-and-following-scrapper) | [Instagram Profile Phone Number Scraper By Keyword](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-phone-number-scraper-by-keyword) |
| [Instagram Followers Count Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-followers-count-scraper) | [Instagram Profile Post Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-post-scraper) |
| [Instagram Followers Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-followers-scraper) | [Instagram Profile Reels Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-reels-scraper) |
| [Instagram Following Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-following-scraper) | [Instagram Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-profile-scraper) |
| [Instagram Hashtag Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-hashtag-scraper) | [Instagram Reels Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-reels-scraper) |
| [Instagram Highlights Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-highlights-scraper) | [Instagram Related Hashtag Stats Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-related-hashtag-stats-scraper) |
| [Instagram Lead Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-lead-scraper) | [Instagram Related Person Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-related-person-scraper) |
| [Instagram Likes Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-likes-scraper) | [Instagram Single Reels Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-single-reels-scraper) |
| [Instagram Location Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-location-scraper) | [Instagram Story Details Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-story-details-scraper) |
| [Instagram Mentions Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-mentions-scraper) | [Instagram Tagged Mentions Posts Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-tagged-mentions-posts-scraper) |
| [Instagram Phone Number Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-phone-number-scraper) | [Instagram Tagged Posts Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-tagged-posts-scraper) |
| [Instagram Post Details Scraper](https://apify.com/api-empire/instagram-post-details-scraper) |  |

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

📝 Add one hashtag per line — or paste full Instagram tag links.

✅ Examples: nature, #travel, or a link from the tag page you already love.

🚀 Run once and let the actor walk through your whole list automatically.

## `maxItemsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

📊 Set the maximum number of posts to collect for each tag in your list.

💡 Start small to test, then raise the cap when you’re happy with the results.

## `sessionId` (type: `string`):

🍪 This lets the actor act **as you** while you’re logged in — so you only see what your account can normally see.

👉 Copy the `sessionid` cookie from your browser (instagram.com) and paste it here when you start a run.

🤫 Treat it like a password — don’t share it or commit it to code.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

🛡️ Apify can route traffic through managed proxies for more stable runs in the cloud.

🎛️ Toggle and tune here if you see throttling or need extra reliability at scale.

💚 Great for teams running many tags or large batches.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nature/"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 100,
  "sessionId": "",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "urls": [
        "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nature/"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("api-empire/instagram-hashtag-username-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "urls": ["https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nature/"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("api-empire/instagram-hashtag-username-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nature/"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call api-empire/instagram-hashtag-username-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=api-empire/instagram-hashtag-username-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Instagram Hashtag Username Scraper",
        "description": "📸 Instagram Hashtag Username Scraper collects active usernames from posts under any hashtag — fast, accurate & scalable. 🔎 Perfect for influencer outreach, brand monitoring, UGC sourcing & lead gen. ✅ Filters, deduping & CSV/JSON export. Use with public data and consent.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "pebutJNqNkB1Djw9J"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/api-empire~instagram-hashtag-username-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-api-empire-instagram-hashtag-username-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/api-empire~instagram-hashtag-username-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-api-empire-instagram-hashtag-username-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/api-empire~instagram-hashtag-username-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-api-empire-instagram-hashtag-username-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "required": [
                    "urls",
                    "sessionId"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "urls": {
                        "title": "🏷️ Hashtags to explore (bulk)",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "📝 Add one hashtag per line — or paste full Instagram tag links.\n\n✅ Examples: nature, #travel, or a link from the tag page you already love.\n\n🚀 Run once and let the actor walk through your whole list automatically.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "maxItemsPerQuery": {
                        "title": "🎯 How many posts per hashtag?",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 10000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "📊 Set the maximum number of posts to collect for each tag in your list.\n\n💡 Start small to test, then raise the cap when you’re happy with the results.",
                        "default": 100
                    },
                    "sessionId": {
                        "title": "🔑✅ Your Instagram session (required)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "🍪 This lets the actor act **as you** while you’re logged in — so you only see what your account can normally see.\n\n👉 Copy the `sessionid` cookie from your browser (instagram.com) and paste it here when you start a run.\n\n🤫 Treat it like a password — don’t share it or commit it to code.",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "🌍 Proxy & connection options",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "🛡️ Apify can route traffic through managed proxies for more stable runs in the cloud.\n\n🎛️ Toggle and tune here if you see throttling or need extra reliability at scale.\n\n💚 Great for teams running many tags or large batches."
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```