# Instagram Reels Transcript Scraper (`axlymxp/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Transcribe Instagram reels to text without login. Paste reel links or creator usernames and get timestamped transcripts with plays, likes, captions, music and language. Whisper speech-to-text, full creator history, translation to English. Pay only for transcribed reels.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/axlymxp/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [axly](https://apify.com/axlymxp) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, AI, Videos
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Instagram Reels Transcript Scraper

Turn Instagram reels into text. Paste reel links or creator usernames and get a **timestamped transcript of what is said
in each reel**, together with the reel's plays, likes, comments, caption, music and posting date. No Instagram login, no
cookies, no API keys: the actor reads public reels and transcribes the audio itself with Whisper.

**Who it is for**

- **Content marketers and agencies**: study the hooks and scripts of top-performing reels in your niche.
- **Brand and social-listening teams**: search what creators actually *say* about a product, not only their captions.
- **AI and RAG pipelines**: feed reel speech into LLMs, summarizers and search indexes as clean text.
- **Researchers**: build spoken-content datasets from public creators.
- **Creators**: repurpose your own reels into blog posts, threads and subtitles.

### What you get

| Field | Example | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `url`, `shortcode` | `https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX7lzTOJ1p6/` | |
| `ownerUsername`, `ownerFullName`, `ownerIsVerified` | `natgeo`, `National Geographic`, `true` | |
| `takenAt` | `2026-10-25T17:02:48Z` | UTC |
| `playCount`, `likeCount`, `commentCount` | `1233244`, `20470`, `508` | plays are filled for reels found through a creator |
| `durationSeconds`, `audioSeconds` | `51.15` | |
| `transcript` | `[{"start": 0.0, "end": 6.06, "text": "I am just a girl on a healthy hair journey…"}]` | timed segments, or one string (see **Transcript format**) |
| `hook` | `I am just a girl on a healthy hair journey…` | the opening line (segments starting in the first 3 seconds) |
| `language`, `languageProbability`, `isTranslated` | `es`, `0.98`, `true` | auto-detected per reel |
| `wordCount`, `hasSpeech` | `142`, `true` | |
| `caption`, `hashtags`, `mentions` | | the post text |
| `musicTitle`, `musicArtist`, `isOriginalAudio` | `Original audio`, `lyssamariexo`, `true` | |
| `coauthors`, `taggedUsers`, `location`, `productType` | | |
| `thumbnailUrl`, `videoUrl` | | Instagram CDN links, they expire after a few days |
| `error`, `errorReason` | `no_speech` | set when a reel could not be transcribed |

Reels without speech (music only), photo posts, private or removed posts are listed with an `error` code so you can see what
happened to every input, and you are not charged for them.

### How to use it

1. Paste **reel links** (`/reel/…`, `/reels/…`, `/p/…`, `/tv/…`, or bare shortcodes) into **Reel or post URLs**, and/or
2. add **creators** (`natgeo`, `@natgeo` or a profile URL). The actor lists each creator's reels newest first, through
   the full history, and transcribes up to **Max reels per creator**. Use **Only reels posted after** to keep a date window.
3. Run. Results stream into the dataset; export as JSON, CSV, Excel or via the API.

#### Input options

| Option | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `reelUrls` | – | reel/post/IGTV links or shortcodes |
| `usernames` | – | creators to pull reels from |
| `maxReelsPerProfile` | 20 | newest reels per creator |
| `newerThan` | – | creators only: skip reels posted before this date |
| `maxReels` | 100 | cap for the whole run |
| `language` | auto | spoken language code (`en`, `es`, `pt`, `de`, `hi` …) when you know it |
| `translateToEnglish` | false | English translation of non-English speech |
| `outputFormat` | `segments` | `segments`, `text` or `both` |
| `maxAudioMinutes` | 20 | longer videos are skipped (listed with `error: too_long`) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | none | not needed; the actor switches to Apify proxies on its own when Instagram refuses an IP |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "reelUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX7lzTOJ1p6/"],
  "usernames": ["hubermanlab"],
  "maxReelsPerProfile": 15,
  "newerThan": "2026-09-01",
  "outputFormat": "both"
}
```

#### Example output

```json
{
  "shortcode": "DX7lzTOJ1p6",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX7lzTOJ1p6/",
  "sourceType": "url",
  "ownerUsername": "lyssamariexo",
  "takenAt": "2026-05-04T21:05:19Z",
  "likeCount": 292,
  "commentCount": 24,
  "durationSeconds": 51.15,
  "language": "en",
  "languageProbability": 0.998,
  "hook": "I am just a girl on a healthy hair journey of over eight years and one of the things that I've realized is that those people",
  "transcript": [
    {"start": 0.0, "end": 6.06, "text": "I am just a girl on a healthy hair journey of over eight years and one of the things that I've realized is that those people"}
  ],
  "transcriptText": "I am just a girl on a healthy hair journey of over eight years and one of the things …",
  "wordCount": 214,
  "hasSpeech": true,
  "error": null
}
```

### Scheduling and integrations

Schedule the actor (e.g. daily with `usernames` + `newerThan`) to collect every new reel of the creators you follow, and
pipe the dataset to Google Sheets, Slack, Make, Zapier or your own webhook. A run interrupted mid-way resumes where it
stopped when started again with the same input, without duplicate rows.

### Use with AI assistants (MCP)

Apify's MCP server exposes this actor as a tool, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients can call it directly:
*"Transcribe the last 10 reels of @hubermanlab and summarize the advice"*. Use `outputFormat: "text"` for compact LLM input.

### FAQ

**Do I need an Instagram account or cookies?** No. The actor only reads public reels, logged out.

**How accurate are the transcripts?** The actor runs OpenAI's Whisper (base model) on the reel audio. Clear speech in
English and other major languages transcribes well; heavy music, crosstalk or slang lowers accuracy. Set `language` when
you know it, which helps short clips.

**Which languages?** Whisper detects ~100 languages. `translateToEnglish` returns English text for any of them.

**Why does a reel say `no_speech`?** Music-only or silent reels have nothing to transcribe. These rows are free.

**Can it read private accounts or stories?** No, only public posts. Private accounts return a `profile_not_found` row.

**How many reels per creator?** The whole public reel history is reachable; set `maxReelsPerProfile` and `newerThan` to
control how far back to go.

**Is this legal?** The actor reads publicly available posts without logging in. You are responsible for how you use the
data, in particular personal data under GDPR/CCPA and Instagram's terms.

**Something failed?** Rows carry an `error` code and reason. If you see many `blocked` rows, re-run later or set a
residential `proxyConfiguration`; open an issue on the actor page and we will look at it.

# Actor input Schema

## `reelUrls` (type: `array`):

Instagram reel, video post or IGTV links (`/reel/…`, `/reels/…`, `/p/…`, `/tv/…`) or bare shortcodes such as `DX7lzTOJ1p6`. Profile URLs pasted here are treated as creators.

## `usernames` (type: `array`):

`natgeo`, `@natgeo` or `https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/`. The actor lists the creator's reels newest first (full history, not only the latest 12) and transcribes up to **Max reels per creator**. Private accounts come back as a free error row.

## `maxReelsPerProfile` (type: `integer`):

How many of each creator's most recent reels to transcribe.

## `newerThan` (type: `string`):

Creators only: skip reels posted before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for no date limit.

## `maxReels` (type: `integer`):

Upper bound for the whole run (URLs + creators). You pay only for reels that return a transcript.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Optional 2-letter code (`en`, `es`, `pt`, `de`, `fr`, `hi`, …). Leave empty to auto-detect per reel; set it when you know the language to avoid misdetection on short clips.

## `translateToEnglish` (type: `boolean`):

Output an English translation of non-English speech instead of the original-language transcript (same price).

## `outputFormat` (type: `string`):

`segments`: `transcript` is an array of `{start, end, text}` (seconds). `text`: one joined string. `both`: `transcript` holds the segments and `transcriptText` the joined string.

## `maxAudioMinutes` (type: `integer`):

Long-form videos above this length are listed free with `error: too_long` instead of being transcribed.

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

Not needed: the actor connects directly and falls back to Apify proxies on its own. Set your own proxy only if you see `blocked` rows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "reelUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX7lzTOJ1p6/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS46KJNjva9/"
  ],
  "usernames": [
    "natgeo"
  ],
  "maxReelsPerProfile": 20,
  "maxReels": 100,
  "translateToEnglish": false,
  "outputFormat": "segments",
  "maxAudioMinutes": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "reelUrls": [
        "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX7lzTOJ1p6/",
        "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS46KJNjva9/"
    ],
    "usernames": [
        "natgeo"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("axlymxp/instagram-reel-transcript-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 = {
    "reelUrls": [
        "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX7lzTOJ1p6/",
        "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS46KJNjva9/",
    ],
    "usernames": ["natgeo"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("axlymxp/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "reelUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX7lzTOJ1p6/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS46KJNjva9/"
  ],
  "usernames": [
    "natgeo"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call axlymxp/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,axlymxp/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/dKkjsb8TlgLp0L4Bp/builds/tX1U8925gN4FvTJE4/openapi.json