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Instagram Reels Scraper - Advanced Data Extraction & Analysis Engine

Enterprise-grade intelligence tool for deep scraping, metadata enrichment, and technical analysis of Instagram Reels content.

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Overview

The Instagram Reels Scraper is a powerful automation actor designed for data scientists, analysts, and developers who require exhaustive metadata and technical insights from Instagram Reels. Moving beyond simple download, this actor performs a deep inspection of the media, providing a complete data footprint including engagement statistics, format breakdowns, and technical specifications for advanced processing and analysis.

Core Capabilities

• Comprehensive Metadata Harvesting: Extract title, description, uploader info, and precise timestamps.
• Advanced Engagement Analytics: Retrieve like and comment counts for performance analysis.
• Granular Media Deconstruction: Access separate video and audio streams with full technical profiles (codec, bitrate, resolution).
• Multi-Format Quality Inspection: Analyze all available video and audio formats, including DASH streams, for the highest quality assets.
• Technical Specification Reporting: Get detailed reports on resolutions, containers, protocols, and dynamic range.

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Input Configuration

{
  "reel_urls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI4WihvBwKC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link",
      "method": "GET"
    }
  ]
}

Input Specifications

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
reel_urls	Array	Yes	List of Instagram Reel URLs to be scraped.
url	String	Yes	A valid Instagram Reel URL. Supports various parameters (e.g., ?utm_source=...).
method	String	Yes	HTTP method for the request. GET is the standard and recommended method.

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Output Structure & Documentation

The actor returns an array of objects, one for each successfully processed URL. The output is a rich JSON object structured for maximum analytical value.

[
  {
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI4WihvBwKC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link",
    "source": "instagram",
    "data": {
      "identity": {
        "id": "DI4WihvBwKC",
        "webpage_url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI4WihvBwKC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link",
        "title": "Video by photoshop",
        "description": "tiny toggles, BIG changes. Select Details capability in the Object Selection Tool is here to flex the fine print. Link in bio to try it now 🔍🎨"
      },
      "uploader": {
        "uploader": "Adobe Photoshop",
        "uploader_id": "1311592681",
        "uploader_url": null,
        "channel_id": null
      },
      "stats": {
        "view_count": null,
        "like_count": 893,
        "comment_count": 9,
        "repost_count": null,
        "is_live": null
      },
      "timing": {
        "duration_seconds": 20.166,
        "duration_hms": "0:00:20",
        "upload_date": "20250425",
        "timestamp": 1745607634
      },
      "media": {
        "video+sound": null,
        "combined_formats_count": 0,
        "video_only_count": 2,
        "audio_only_count": 1,
        "combined_formats": [],
        "video_only_formats": [
          {
            "format_id": "dash-1427744901930702v",
            "format_note": "DASH video",
            "ext": "mp4",
            "protocol": "https",
            "url": null,
            "filesize": 362511,
            "tbr": 143.811,
            "vcodec": "avc1.4d001e",
            "acodec": "none",
            "width": 360,
            "height": 640,
            "fps": null,
            "asr": null,
            "language": null,
            "quality": "DASH video",
            "note": null,
            "additional": {
              "manifest_url": null,
              "container": "mp4_dash",
              "dynamic_range": "SDR",
              "manifest_stream_number": 0,
              "is_dash_periods": true,
              "video_ext": "mp4",
              "audio_ext": "none",
              "abr": 0,
              "vbr": 143.811,
              "resolution": "360x640",
              "aspect_ratio": 0.56,
              "format": "dash-1427744901930702v - 360x640 (DASH video)"
            }
          },
          {
            "format_id": "dash-731215433078863vd",
            "format_note": "DASH video",
            "ext": "mp4",
            "protocol": "https",
            "url": null,
            "filesize": 1675986,
            "tbr": 664.876,
            "vcodec": "avc1.64001f",
            "acodec": "none",
            "width": 720,
            "height": 1280,
            "fps": null,
            "asr": null,
            "language": null,
            "quality": "DASH video",
            "note": null,
            "additional": {
              "manifest_url": null,
              "container": "mp4_dash",
              "dynamic_range": "SDR",
              "manifest_stream_number": 0,
              "is_dash_periods": true,
              "video_ext": "mp4",
              "audio_ext": "none",
              "abr": 0,
              "vbr": 664.876,
              "resolution": "720x1280",
              "aspect_ratio": 0.56,
              "format": "dash-731215433078863vd - 720x1280 (DASH video)"
            }
          }
        ],
        "audio_only_formats": [
          {
            "format_id": "dash-665045486380932ad",
            "format_note": "DASH audio",
            "ext": "m4a",
            "protocol": "https",
            "url": null,
            "filesize": 168585,
            "tbr": 66.879,
            "vcodec": "none",
            "acodec": "mp4a.40.5",
            "width": null,
            "height": null,
            "fps": null,
            "asr": 48000,
            "language": null,
            "quality": "DASH audio",
            "note": null,
            "additional": {
              "manifest_url": null,
              "container": "m4a_dash",
              "dynamic_range": null,
              "manifest_stream_number": 0,
              "is_dash_periods": true,
              "audio_ext": "m4a",
              "video_ext": "none",
              "vbr": 0,
              "abr": 66.879,
              "resolution": "audio only",
              "aspect_ratio": null,
              "format": "dash-665045486380932ad - audio only (DASH audio)"
            }
          }
        ],
        "Video+Audio": [
          {
            "format_id": "2",
            "format_note": null,
            "ext": "mp4",
            "protocol": "https",
            "url": null,
            "filesize": null,
            "tbr": null,
            "vcodec": null,
            "acodec": null,
            "width": 612,
            "height": 765,
            "fps": null,
            "asr": null,
            "language": null,
            "quality": null,
            "note": null,
            "additional": {
              "video_ext": "mp4",
              "audio_ext": "none",
              "vbr": null,
              "abr": null,
              "resolution": "612x765",
              "dynamic_range": "SDR",
              "aspect_ratio": 0.8,
              "format": "2 - 612x765"
            }
          }
        ],
        "best_video_for_inspection": {
          "format_id": "dash-731215433078863vd",
          "format_note": "DASH video",
          "ext": "mp4",
          "protocol": "https",
          "url": null,
          "filesize": 1675986,
          "tbr": 664.876,
          "vcodec": "avc1.64001f",
          "acodec": "none",
          "width": 720,
          "height": 1280,
          "fps": null,
          "asr": null,
          "language": null,
          "quality": "DASH video",
          "note": null,
          "additional": {
            "manifest_url": null,
            "container": "mp4_dash",
            "dynamic_range": "SDR",
            "manifest_stream_number": 0,
            "is_dash_periods": true,
            "video_ext": "mp4",
            "audio_ext": "none",
            "abr": 0,
            "vbr": 664.876,
            "resolution": "720x1280",
            "aspect_ratio": 0.56,
            "format": "dash-731215433078863vd - 720x1280 (DASH video)"
          }
        },
        "best_audio_for_inspection": {
          "format_id": "dash-665045486380932ad",
          "format_note": "DASH audio",
          "ext": "m4a",
          "protocol": "https",
          "url": null,
          "filesize": 168585,
          "tbr": 66.879,
          "vcodec": "none",
          "acodec": "mp4a.40.5",
          "width": null,
          "height": null,
          "fps": null,
          "asr": 48000,
          "language": null,
          "quality": "DASH audio",
          "note": null,
          "additional": {
            "manifest_url": null,
            "container": "m4a_dash",
            "dynamic_range": null,
            "manifest_stream_number": 0,
            "is_dash_periods": true,
            "audio_ext": "m4a",
            "video_ext": "none",
            "vbr": 0,
            "abr": 66.879,
            "resolution": "audio only",
            "aspect_ratio": null,
            "format": "dash-665045486380932ad - audio only (DASH audio)"
          }
        },
        "subtitles": {},
        "automatic_captions": {}
      },
      "thumbnails": [
        {
          "id": "0",
          "filesize": null,
          "width": 640,
          "height": 800
        },
        {
          "id": "1",
          "filesize": null,
          "width": 750,
          "height": 937
        },
        {
          "id": "2",
          "filesize": null,
          "width": 1080,
          "height": 1350
        }
      ],
      "technical": {
        "fps_candidates": [],
        "resolutions": [
          [
            720,
            1280
          ],
          [
            612,
            765
          ],
          [
            360,
            640
          ]
        ],
        "mime_types": [
          "m4a",
          "mp4"
        ],
        "protocols": [
          "https"
        ]
      },
      "tags": null,
      "categories": null,
      "availability": {
        "is_private": null,
        "is_live": null
      }
    }
  }
]

Output Field Documentation

Top-Level Fields

Field	Description
url	The original input URL that was processed.
source	Identifies the platform source (e.g., "instagram").

Data Object: data

The data object contains the complete extracted information, organized into logical sections.

1. Identity & Content (identity)

Field	Description
id	The unique Instagram ID for the Reel.
webpage_url	The canonical URL of the Reel.
title	The title of the Reel content.
description	The descriptive text or caption accompanying the Reel.

2. Creator Information (uploader)

Field	Description
uploader	The display name of the content creator.
uploader_id	The unique numerical identifier for the creator's account.
uploader_url	Reserved for future use.
channel_id	Reserved for future use.

3. Engagement Statistics (stats)

Field	Description
like_count	The number of likes the Reel has received.
comment_count	The number of comments on the Reel.
view_count, repost_count, is_live	Fields are present for future compatibility; typically null for Reels.

4. Temporal Data (timing)

Field	Description
duration_seconds	The length of the video in seconds, with millisecond precision.
duration_hms	The duration formatted in HH:MM:SS.
upload_date	The publication date in YYYYMMDD format.
timestamp	The Unix timestamp of the upload.

5. Media Analysis (media) - Core Feature

This section provides a complete technical breakdown of all available media streams.

Summary Counts

Field	Description
video_only_count	Number of available video-only streams (e.g., DASH video).
audio_only_count	Number of available audio-only streams (e.g., DASH audio).
combined_formats_count	Number of available combined video+audio streams.

Format Arrays Each format object contains extensive technical data. Key fields include:

• format_id: Unique identifier for the format.
• format_note: Description (e.g., "DASH video").
• ext: File extension (mp4, m4a).
• width/height: Resolution in pixels.
• vcodec/acodec: Video and audio codecs (e.g., avc1.64001f, mp4a.40.5).
• tbr: Total average bitrate in Kbps.
• filesize: Size of the stream in bytes.
• additional: A nested object with further details like resolution, aspect_ratio, vbr (video bitrate), abr (audio bitrate), and dynamic_range (SDR).

Convenience Objects

Field	Description
best_video_for_inspection	An object containing the highest quality video-only format.
best_audio_for_inspection	An object containing the highest quality audio-only format.

6. Thumbnails (thumbnails)

An array of available thumbnail images.

Field	Description
id	Index of the thumbnail.
width/height	Resolution of the thumbnail image.

7. Technical Summary (technical)

Field	Description
resolutions	A list of all unique [width, height] pairs found.
mime_types	A list of all MIME types/container formats found (e.g., mp4, m4a).
protocols	The network protocols used (e.g., https).

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Technical Features

Deep Media Inspection

• Stream Deconstruction: Isolates and analyzes individual video and audio streams from DASH manifests.
• Codec & Bitrate Analysis: Provides precise technical details on video (e.g., AVC/H.264 profiles) and audio (e.g., AAC) encoding.
• Quality Tier Identification: Automatically categorizes and lists all available resolutions and bitrates.

Comprehensive Data Enrichment

• Temporal Precision: Captures upload time with Unix timestamp and formatted date.
• Engagement Metrics: Focuses on actionable data points like likes and comments.
• Creator Attribution: Links content to specific user accounts with unique IDs.

Reliability & Integrity

• Structured Data Output: Data is highly normalized and structured for easy database ingestion and analysis.
• Null-Safe Design: Handles missing data gracefully, ensuring schema consistency.
• Source Identification: Clearly tags the source of the scraped data.

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Enterprise Applications

Data Analytics & Market Research

• Trend Analysis: Correlate content performance (likes/comments) with metadata and upload time.
• Competitor Intelligence: Profile the content strategies and production quality of competitors.
• Content Auditing: Build a searchable database of scraped content with full technical and descriptive tags.

AI & Machine Learning

• Model Training: Source high-quality, well-described video clips for training computer vision and NLP models.
• Quality Assessment: Use technical metadata (bitrate, codec, resolution) to train models on video quality perception.

Content Management & Archival

• Digital Asset Management (DAM): Populate systems with rich, technical metadata for advanced search and filtering (e.g., "find all 1280x720 H.264 videos").
• Compliance Archiving: Create verifiable archives of social content with complete data provenance.

Developer Integration

• API Backend: Power applications that require in-depth Instagram data without direct scraping logic.
• Content Aggregation Platforms: Feed normalized and enriched data into content pipelines for publishers and creators.