Mastodon Instance Scraper

Scrape Mastodon instance public timelines and instance metadata. Extract toots, boosts, favourites, reply counts, author details, media attachments, and instance statistics using the Mastodon public API.

Features

• Scrape public timelines from any Mastodon instance
• Collect instance metadata (user count, status count, version, rules)
• Automatic pagination for large timeline collections
• Filter for local-only or media-only toots
• HTML content cleaned to plain text
• Extract reblog/boost information
• Collect author follower/following counts
• Tag and media attachment extraction

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
instanceUrls	array	Yes	-	List of Mastodon instance base URLs (e.g. https://mastodon.social)
maxToots	integer	No	100	Maximum toots per instance. Set 0 for single page (40 toots)
includeInstanceInfo	boolean	No	true	Also fetch instance metadata from /api/v1/instance
onlyLocal	boolean	No	false	Only fetch toots from local instance users
onlyMedia	boolean	No	false	Only fetch toots containing media attachments
proxyConfiguration	object	No	Apify Proxy	Proxy settings for requests

Output Fields

Toot Items (type: "toot")

Field	Type	Description
type	string	Always "toot" for toot items
tootId	string	Unique Mastodon toot ID
tootContent	string	Plain text content of the toot
contentHtml	string	Original HTML content
author	string	Display name of the toot author
authorHandle	string	Author's handle (user@instance or local username)
authorUrl	string	URL to the author's profile
authorFollowers	number	Author's follower count
authorFollowing	number	Number of accounts the author follows
authorStatusesCount	number	Total toots by the author
authorBot	boolean	Whether the account is a bot
boostCount	number	Number of boosts (reblogs)
favouriteCount	number	Number of favourites (likes)
repliesCount	number	Number of replies
createdAt	string	ISO timestamp of toot creation
language	string	Language code of the toot
sensitive	boolean	Whether marked as sensitive content
visibility	string	Toot visibility level
tootUrl	string	Direct URL to the toot
tags	array	Hashtags used in the toot
mediaAttachments	array	Media files attached (type, url, description)
reblog	object	Reblogged toot info if this is a boost
instanceUrl	string	Source instance URL
scrapedAt	string	ISO timestamp of data collection

Instance Info Items (type: "instanceInfo")

Field	Type	Description
type	string	Always "instanceInfo"
instanceName	string	Name of the Mastodon instance
description	string	Instance description
userCount	number	Total registered users
statusCount	number	Total toots on the instance
domainCount	number	Number of federated domains
version	string	Mastodon software version
registrations	boolean	Whether new registrations are open
adminContact	string	Admin contact email
rules	array	Instance rules as text strings

Example Output

{
    "type": "toot",
    "tootId": "111234567890",
    "tootContent": "Just discovered a great open-source project! #opensource #foss",
    "author": "Jane Developer",
    "authorHandle": "jane@fosstodon.org",
    "boostCount": 12,
    "favouriteCount": 45,
    "repliesCount": 3,
    "createdAt": "2024-12-15T14:30:00.000Z",
    "tags": ["opensource", "foss"],
    "mediaAttachments": [],
    "instanceUrl": "https://fosstodon.org",
    "scrapedAt": "2024-12-20T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Use Cases

• Fediverse analytics: Monitor activity across multiple Mastodon instances
• Community research: Study engagement patterns in specific Mastodon communities
• Content discovery: Find trending toots and popular hashtags
• Instance comparison: Compare instance sizes, activity levels, and policies
• Bot detection: Identify automated accounts across the fediverse
• Media monitoring: Track media-rich posts across instances

Cost Estimate

This actor uses the Utility pricing tier at $0.0003 per result. Example costs:

Toots Scraped	Estimated Cost
100	$0.03
1,000	$0.30
10,000	$3.00

Mastodon public APIs are generally permissive, so proxy costs are minimal. Compute costs are low due to the lightweight Cheerio-based approach.

Notes

• Only public toots are accessible through this scraper
• Rate limits vary by instance; the scraper handles pagination automatically
• Some instances may block API access from certain IP ranges
• The Mastodon API v1 is used for maximum compatibility across instances