Instagram Keyword Posts Scraper

Search public Instagram posts, carousels, and Reels by keyword. Batch up to 10 phrases and export structured records that retain the phrase responsible for each match.

Watch the demo

YouTube video coming soon.

What this Actor does

The Actor sends each phrase to Instagram keyword content search, follows continuation pages internally, removes repeated media IDs within that phrase, and writes one analysis-ready dataset row for each retained result. If the same media item appears for two different phrases, it is kept once for each phrase so attribution is not lost.

No Instagram account, cookie, proxy setting, or search token is requested in the input form.

Choose the right Instagram discovery Actor

• Use Instagram Keyword Posts Scraper to discover public photos, carousels, and Reels around one or more free-form phrases.
• Use Instagram Reels Search when the work is specifically Reel research and you need Reel-focused video and audio fields.
• Use Instagram Hashtag Posts & Reels Scraper when your starting point is one or more hashtags rather than a free-form phrase.
• Use Instagram User Search when you want to find accounts rather than content.

Quickstart

1. Add one or more phrases such as specialty coffee or marathon training.
2. Choose the maximum number of results to save for each phrase.
3. Start the Actor, then open the dataset or export it as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Input

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
searchQueries	array of strings	Yes	—	Add 1–10 non-empty phrases. Exact duplicate phrases are removed after whitespace normalization.
maxResultsPerQuery	integer	No	50	Maximum unique rows saved for each phrase. Accepted range: 1–500. Available results can be lower.

Example:

{
  "searchQueries": [
    "specialty coffee india",
    "marathon training india"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50
}

Output

Every dataset item contains:

• query, id, shortCode, url, and normalized mediaType
• Caption and source posting time when available
• Like, comment, view, and play counts when returned by the source
• Creator username, ID, full name, and verification state
• Thumbnail, image, video, and normalized carousel media references when available
• Optional location data
• retrievalMode and the UTC collectedAt timestamp

IDs are stored as strings to avoid precision loss. Missing optional source fields remain null or an empty array rather than being guessed.

Example result:

{
  "query": "specialty coffee",
  "id": "1234567890",
  "shortCode": "ABC123",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/",
  "mediaType": "carousel",
  "caption": "A sample post caption",
  "takenAt": "2026-09-14T08:30:00Z",
  "likeCount": 42,
  "commentCount": 3,
  "viewCount": null,
  "playCount": null,
  "username": "sample_creator",
  "userId": "987654321",
  "fullName": "Sample Creator",
  "isVerified": false,
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://example.com/thumbnail.jpg",
  "imageUrls": ["https://example.com/image.jpg"],
  "videoUrl": null,
  "carouselMedia": [],
  "location": null,
  "retrievalMode": "native_keyword",
  "collectedAt": "2026-09-14T09:00:00Z"
}

The example is illustrative. Fields and available values depend on each public post.

Use cases

• Content and creative research: compare which photos, carousels, and Reels surface for several topic phrases.
• Creator discovery: identify public creators whose content appears for a niche, campaign, or product category.
• Campaign and category research: review captions, engagement signals, and media references for a bounded set of keyword results.
• Topic-labelled datasets: export each result with its source phrase for grouping, analysis, or downstream automation.

Pagination, limits, and duplicate handling

• Phrases run serially to preserve input order and keep request volume bounded.
• Continuation tokens are handled automatically.
• The runtime stops on a missing or repeated continuation token.
• Each phrase is capped at 50 request attempts.
• A run is capped at 100 request attempts across all phrases.
• A page receives exactly one request. Rate limits, server failures, and network failures are recorded immediately instead of being retried.
• maxResultsPerQuery is applied after duplicate removal.
• Deduplication uses the exact pair query + Instagram media ID.

These safety limits mean a request for 500 results is a ceiling, not a guarantee. The OUTPUT key-value-store record explains why each phrase stopped: natural end, result cap, repeated token, request limit, request failure, or customer charge limit.

Coverage and search semantics

The Actor returns the photo posts, carousel containers, and Reels surfaced by keyword search at run time. It does not promise an exhaustive historical mention archive, comprehensive brand monitoring, Instagram Explore/Popular-page parity, or deterministic ranking. Available results, ordering, and coverage can change over time.

Empty, partial, and failed searches

A query with no returned items produces no fabricated dataset row. Request failures and limit stops are recorded in OUTPUT; status records are never mixed into or billed as content results. Successfully persisted rows from other phrases remain available when one phrase fails.

If a continuation page fails, rows already saved from earlier pages remain in the dataset. The corresponding query entry in OUTPUT reports a neutral completion reason, successful page count, persisted-row count, and total request attempts so consumers can distinguish partial results from a natural end.

Example partial-run summary:

{
  "totalPersisted": 1,
  "totalRequests": 2,
  "chargeLimitReached": false,
  "queryStates": [
    {
      "query": "specialty coffee",
      "persisted": 1,
      "duplicatesSkipped": 0,
      "invalidItemsSkipped": 0,
      "requestAttempts": 2,
      "pagesReceived": 1,
      "reason": "service_unavailable"
    }
  ]
}

API example

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/data-slayer~instagram-keyword-posts-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "searchQueries": ["specialty coffee india", "marathon training india"],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 50
  }'

Results can be downloaded in JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or another Apify dataset format, or connected to schedules, webhooks, Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, and other Apify integrations.

Related Data Slayer Actors

• Instagram Hashtag Posts & Reels Scraper starts from hashtags rather than free-form phrases.
• Instagram User Search finds accounts rather than posts.
• Instagram Reels Search focuses on Reel discovery.

FAQ

Are the results exhaustive?

No. The Actor returns the bounded results available to keyword search at run time. It does not provide a complete historical archive or guaranteed ranking.

What happens if a later page fails?

Rows already saved remain available. Check OUTPUT for the affected phrase's status, successful page count, saved-row count, and request count.

Does the Actor require my Instagram login?

No. The input does not request an Instagram account, password, cookies, or session token.

Which Instagram discovery Actor should I use?

Choose this Actor for mixed public content found through free-form phrases. Choose Instagram Reels Search for Reel-only research, Instagram Hashtag Posts & Reels Scraper for hashtag-led discovery, and Instagram User Search for account discovery.

Is this an official Instagram tool?

No. This is an independent Actor and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Instagram or Meta.

Responsible use

Use the Actor and its output responsibly and in accordance with applicable laws, platform terms, and your organization’s data policies. Avoid using personal data for unsolicited, discriminatory, deceptive, or harmful activity.

This independent Actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Instagram or Meta. Instagram is a trademark of its respective owner.

Support

If a public phrase produces an unexpected result, open an issue from the Actor’s Issues tab and include the run ID, phrase, and observed behavior. Do not include credentials or private data.