Instagram Transcript Scraper

Extract spoken transcripts from Instagram videos and reels — automatically and at scale. Supports /reel/, /p/, and /tv/ URL formats, produces full-text transcripts and optional per-phrase timestamps, and covers 30+ languages with automatic language detection.

What this actor does

• Auto transcription — tries Instagram's native captions first, then falls back to Whisper AI automatically
• Native captions — reads Instagram's own auto-generated captions directly; instant when available
• Whisper AI — runs local AI speech-to-text on any video with speech, regardless of caption availability
• Timestamped segments — optionally outputs per-phrase start/end times alongside the full transcript
• 30+ languages — automatic language detection or explicit language override for best accuracy
• Multiple videos — process a batch of video URLs in a single run
• Reliable — built-in retry logic and automatic managed session rotation

Authentication

This actor requires Instagram session cookies to access video data (Instagram does not expose video content to logged-out users). You can either:

1. Paste your own cookies — export from a logged-in browser session using a tool such as Cookie-Editor and paste the JSON into the cookies field.
2. Leave the cookies field blank — the actor will automatically use a managed pool of shared Instagram sessions. This is the recommended option for most users.

If your cookies expire mid-run, re-export them from your browser and restart the actor.

Output per video record

Always present

• postUrl — canonical Instagram URL of the video
• shortCode — Instagram shortcode (unique identifier)
• pk — Instagram internal numeric media ID
• id — combined media ID in pk_userId format
• postDescription — video caption text
• thumbnailUrl — CDN URL of the video thumbnail (time-limited; download promptly)
• videoUrl — direct CDN URL to the highest-quality MP4 (time-limited; download promptly)
• pubDate — post creation time in ISO 8601 UTC format (e.g. 2025-05-10T14:32:03Z)
• likeCount — number of likes at scrape time
• commentCount — number of comments at scrape time
• userId — creator's numeric Instagram user ID
• userName — creator's Instagram handle
• userFullName — creator's display name
• avatarUri — CDN URL of the creator's profile picture
• fullText — complete transcript of the video as a single string
• transcriptionMethod — native or whisper, indicating how the transcript was produced
• createdAt — ISO 8601 UTC timestamp of when this record was scraped

Present only when includeSegments is true

• audioUrl — direct CDN URL to the audio-only track (omitted when unavailable)
• segments — array of timestamped transcript segments, each containing:
  • index — zero-based position of this segment
  • start — segment start time in seconds
  • end — segment end time in seconds
  • text — transcript text for this segment

Present only on failed records

• errMsg — error description (private post, deleted video, or unsupported media type)

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
videoUrls	array	required	One or more Instagram video or reel URLs to transcribe. Supports /p/, /reel/, and /tv/ formats
transcriptionMethod	string	auto	auto — tries native captions then Whisper; native — native captions only; whisper — Whisper AI always
whisperModel	string	base	Whisper model size: tiny (fastest), base (balanced), or small (most accurate)
language	string	—	Language code (e.g. en, es, fr). Leave blank for automatic detection. Only active when Whisper is used
includeSegments	boolean	false	When true, adds a segments array with per-phrase timestamps to each result
cookies	string	—	Instagram session cookies in JSON format. Leave blank to use the managed session pool

Example: transcribe a single reel

{
  "videoUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV29mBcMQwp/"],
  "transcriptionMethod": "auto",
  "whisperModel": "base"
}

Example: multiple videos with timestamped segments

{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV29mBcMQwp/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/p/DULBkEngpxg/"
  ],
  "transcriptionMethod": "auto",
  "includeSegments": true
}

Example: force Whisper AI with explicit language and your own cookies

{
  "videoUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV29mBcMQwp/"],
  "transcriptionMethod": "whisper",
  "whisperModel": "small",
  "language": "es",
  "cookies": "[{\"name\":\"sessionid\",\"value\":\"YOUR_SESSION_ID\",\"domain\":\".instagram.com\"}]"
}

Example output

{
  "postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DV29mBcMQwp/",
  "shortCode": "DV29mBcMQwp",
  "pk": "3852537424986049577",
  "id": "3852537424986049577_16278726",
  "postDescription": "On Friday, US President Donald Trump claimed Iran's air force is \"no longer\"...",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com/v/thumbnail.jpg",
  "videoUrl": "https://scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com/v/video.mp4",
  "pubDate": "2025-05-11T05:12:03Z",
  "likeCount": 16799,
  "commentCount": 1159,
  "userId": "16278726",
  "userName": "bbcnews",
  "userFullName": "BBC News",
  "avatarUri": "https://scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/avatar.jpg",
  "fullText": "On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Iran's Air Force is no longer, as a result of military action...",
  "transcriptionMethod": "whisper",
  "createdAt": "2026-06-08T06:09:05.841Z"
}

Transcription methods

Auto (recommended)

Tries Instagram's native captions first. Falls back to Whisper AI automatically when native captions are unavailable. Best balance of speed and coverage for most workloads.

Native captions only

Reads Instagram's built-in auto-generated captions. Fastest option — no audio download needed. May not be available on older posts, non-Reel content, or videos without speech.

Whisper AI

Always downloads the video and runs local AI speech-to-text. Consistent coverage for any video with speech, independent of Instagram's captioning availability.

Model	Size	Speed	Accuracy	Best for
tiny	39 MB	Fastest	Basic	Quick previews, speed-critical pipelines
base	74 MB	Fast	Good	Most use cases
small	244 MB	Moderate	Very good	Accented speech, technical or specialized content

Instagram CDN URLs expire

The videoUrl, audioUrl, thumbnailUrl, and avatarUri fields contain time-limited CDN links that expire within hours to days of the scrape. Download or store any media you need during the run — do not treat these as permanent URLs.

Known limitations

• Public videos only — private accounts, restricted posts, and login-gated content cannot be scraped.
• Audio quality matters — Whisper accuracy degrades on videos with heavy background music, multiple overlapping speakers, or very low recording quality.
• Native captions not always available — Instagram does not generate captions for all videos. Short clips, older posts, or music-only audio fall back to Whisper automatically in auto mode.

Use cases

• AI agents and LLM pipelines — feed Instagram video speech into RAG systems, summarizers, or classifiers
• Content research — extract and analyze what creators are saying across a topic or niche
• Social media monitoring — capture spoken claims in video content for brand or news tracking
• Subtitle generation — produce timestamped captions for repurposed video content
• Competitive intelligence — batch-transcribe competitor or industry video content
• Multilingual analysis — transcribe non-English video content with automatic language detection
• Accessibility — build searchable archives of spoken video content

FAQ

Do I need an Instagram account to use this actor? No. The actor uses a managed pool of shared Instagram sessions automatically. You can optionally paste your own cookies into the cookies field for more reliable access.

Will this work on private accounts? No. Private account videos are not accessible without following the account. Only publicly available videos can be transcribed.

Can I process multiple videos in one run? Yes. Provide as many URLs as you need in the videoUrls array. The actor processes them sequentially with automatic pauses between requests.

What if a video has no speech (music only or silent)? Whisper will return an empty or near-empty transcript. Native captions will not exist. The actor returns the record with an empty fullText field.

How accurate is the Whisper transcription? The base model works well for clear, single-speaker audio. For accented speech, fast speech, or specialized vocabulary, use small. Setting the language field explicitly improves accuracy for non-English content.

Are the video and audio URLs in the output permanent? No. Instagram CDN URLs are signed and expire within hours or days. Download media during the run if you need to store it.

How fresh is the data? Data is scraped live at the time of the run. Transcripts and metadata reflect the current state of each video at the moment of scraping.

Is this actor affiliated with Instagram or Meta? No. This is an independent third-party tool that automates interaction with the public Instagram website. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with Meta Platforms, Inc.

Other Instagram Scrapers

Want to get other data from Instagram? Check out our complete suite of Instagram scrapers:

Actor	Description
Instagram Post Scraper	Scrape public posts, reels, IGTV, and carousel posts from direct URLs — no login or cookies required
Instagram Comment Scraper	Scrape comments from any Instagram post or reel
Instagram Profile Scraper	Extract profile data, bio, follower counts, and more
Instagram Followers & Following Scraper	Scrape followers and following lists from any profile
Instagram Tagged Posts Scraper	Collect posts where a user has been tagged
Instagram Hashtag Scraper	Scrape posts and profiles by hashtag
Instagram Story Downloader	Download stories from Instagram profiles
Instagram Downloader API	Download photos, videos, and reels from Instagram
Instagram Keyword Scraper	Search and scrape posts by keyword
Instagram Keyword Search Scraper	Search Instagram accounts and posts by keyword