# Instagram Posts Scraper (`cravl/instagram-posts-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Instagram posts and reels: likes, caption, post date, media, and the exact total comment count. Accepts post URLs or profile URLs to harvest recent posts. No login required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/cravl/instagram-posts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Cravl](https://apify.com/cravl) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 posts

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Posts Scraper

Scrape public Instagram posts and reels in guest mode: no login, no cookies. Get post metadata including the **exact total comment count**, not just the guest-visible subset.

#### What you get per post

- **Metadata**: type (post/reel), owner, like count, post date, caption
- **Media**: CDN URL of the cover image, video flag
- **Exact comment count**: the true total reported by Instagram, including comments hidden from guests

#### Two ways to run

1. **Direct**: pass post/reel URLs (`https://www.instagram.com/reel/CODE/`, `/p/CODE/`): each is fetched and emitted.
2. **Profile harvest**: pass profile URLs (`https://www.instagram.com/username/`): the Actor first reads the profile's recent post grid, then fetches each post (up to `maxPosts`, default 12; the guest grid exposes up to 12).

#### How it works

The Actor runs a lightweight native extraction engine (not a full browser) in guest mode. Instagram renders posts fully only through exit IPs with guest reputation, so **residential proxies are recommended**. Datacenter exits typically receive a login redirect; the Actor reports that honestly as an error instead of returning empty data.

#### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `directUrls` | array | Post/reel URLs and/or profile URLs |
| `maxPosts` | integer | Max posts to fetch per profile URL (1–100, default 12) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Apify proxy settings; residential group recommended |

#### Output

One dataset record per post: `url`, `kind`, `owner`, `likes`, `commentCountExact`, `postDate`, `caption`, `mediaUrl`, `isVideo`, and `error` when a post could not be retrieved.

#### Use cases

- Content performance tracking (likes + exact comment volume per post)
- Feeding post URLs into the Instagram Comments Scraper for full comment threads
- Profile-to-post pipelines for competitor or influencer monitoring
- Detecting video vs. image content mix on a profile

#### Notes

- This Actor returns post metadata only. For individual comment records (author, text, timestamps, replies), use the **Instagram Comments Scraper**.
- `commentCountExact` is the exact total from Instagram's own data; the guest-visible subset is intentionally not reported here.

### Migrating from other Apify Actors

Cravl Actors accept Apify-style inputs and emit familiar field names alongside Cravl-specific fields, so most pipelines migrate with minimal changes.

#### Input compatibility

- `startUrls` (array of URLs, or objects with a `url` key) is accepted as an alias for `directUrls`.
- `resultsLimit` and `maxItems` are accepted as aliases for `maxPosts`.

#### Output compatibility

| Cravl field | Compatible alias | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `owner` | `ownerUsername` | |
| `likes` (text) | `likesCount` | numeric when parseable |
| `commentCountExact` | `commentsCount` | |
| (new) | `shortCode` | derived from the post URL |
| (new) | `inputUrl` | original input URL |

Structure: one item per post. Profile inputs are expanded to their recent posts first.

# Actor input Schema

## `directUrls` (type: `array`):

Post/reel URLs (e.g. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CODE/ or /p/CODE/) and/or profile URLs (e.g. https://www.instagram.com/username/). Profile URLs are expanded to their most recent posts first.

## `maxPosts` (type: `integer`):

When a profile URL is provided, how many of its most recent posts/reels to fetch (the guest grid exposes up to 12).

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

Residential proxies recommended. Instagram guest access requires an exit IP with guest reputation.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Optional alias for directUrls, accepted for compatibility with common Apify Actor inputs. Items may be URLs or objects with a url key.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Optional alias for the primary result limit field. Accepted for compatibility with common Apify Actor inputs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "directUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/martinpraja/"
  ],
  "maxPosts": 12
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

The default dataset contains one record per post or reel with likes, caption, date, media, and the exact total comment count.

# 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 = {
    "directUrls": [
        "https://www.instagram.com/martinpraja/"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("cravl/instagram-posts-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 = { "directUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/martinpraja/"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("cravl/instagram-posts-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 '{
  "directUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/martinpraja/"
  ]
}' |
apify call cravl/instagram-posts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,cravl/instagram-posts-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/g7Rn07AOoe9ZUi0JS/builds/NJaJz04hH9vyu4p85/openapi.json