Bluesky Scraper — Posts, Profiles, Followers & Threads

Extract public data from Bluesky (bsky.app) without an account, an API key, or a login. Search posts by keyword, pull account timelines, collect follower lists, expand entire reply threads, and see exactly who liked or reposted a post.

One Actor covers twelve extraction modes. Results arrive as flat rows — ready for CSV, Excel, JSON, or straight into your own pipeline via the API.

---

Why this scraper

Keyword search actually paginates. Bluesky's public API returns HTTP 403 as soon as you paginate a post search with a cursor — a known, still-open bug. Scrapers built the obvious way stop dead at 100 results. This one walks a moving time window instead, so a search for 10,000 posts returns 10,000 posts.

Follower counts are filled in. Bluesky strips followersCount and postsCount out of account searches, follower lists, and like lists — the exact numbers you need to rank accounts by reach. This Actor fetches them back automatically.

No account, no tokens, no proxy setup. Everything runs against Bluesky's official public endpoints.

---

What you can extract

Mode	What you get
Search posts by keyword	Every public post matching a query — filter by language, date range, author, hashtag, linked domain or URL
Posts from specific accounts	An account's timeline: posts only, with replies, media only, or author threads
Profile details	Follower counts, bio, post totals, join date, verification status
Search for accounts	Find accounts by name or handle, with follower counts attached
Followers	Everyone who follows an account
Following	Every account someone follows
Thread with all replies	A whole conversation, flattened, with a depth column per reply
Likes	The accounts that liked a specific post
Reposts	The accounts that reposted a specific post
Quote posts	Posts quoting a specific post
Custom feeds	Posts from any feed generator
Lists	Posts from a curated list

---

Quick start

1. Pick a mode from the What to scrape dropdown.
2. Fill in the field it asks for — a search query, an account, or a post URL.
3. Set Maximum results.
4. Click Start.
5. Download from the Dataset tab as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML.

---

Example inputs

Track a topic over the last week

{
  "mode": "searchPosts",
  "searchQuery": "climate policy",
  "lang": "en",
  "since": "2026-08-01T00:00:00Z",
  "sort": "latest",
  "maxItems": 5000
}

Monitor brand mentions with links to your domain

{
  "mode": "searchPosts",
  "searchQuery": "acme",
  "domain": "acme.com",
  "maxItems": 1000
}

Audit an account's audience

{
  "mode": "followers",
  "actors": ["nbcnews.com"],
  "maxItems": 10000
}

Pull several accounts' timelines at once

{
  "mode": "authorFeed",
  "actors": ["bsky.app", "nbcnews.com", "jay.bsky.team"],
  "authorFeedFilter": "posts_no_replies",
  "maxItems": 3000
}

Expand a full discussion

{
  "mode": "postThread",
  "postUris": ["https://bsky.app/profile/bsky.app/post/3mseeq5rllc2q"],
  "threadDepth": 10,
  "maxItems": 500
}

Find accounts posting about a niche

{
  "mode": "searchActors",
  "searchQuery": "climate journalist",
  "maxItems": 500
}

---

Input reference

Field	Applies to	Notes
What to scrape	all	Chooses the mode. Fields below apply selectively.
Search query	post search, account search	Quote a phrase for exact matching: "climate policy"
Accounts	timelines, profiles, followers, following	Handle (alice.bsky.social), DID, or a profile URL
Post URLs or URIs	thread, likes, reposts, quotes	Accepts normal bsky.app links — no need to hunt for AT-URIs
Maximum results	all	Split evenly when several accounts or posts are given
Sort order	post search	latest (newest first) or top (most engaged)
Language filter	post search	Two-letter code: en, de, pt, ja …
Posted after / before	post search	ISO format: 2026-08-01T00:00:00Z
Only from this account	post search	Restrict a keyword search to one author
Mentioning this account	post search	Only posts mentioning that account
Hashtags	post search	Without the # sign
Linking to domain / URL	post search	Find posts sharing a specific site or link
Which posts	timelines	Posts only, with replies, media only, or author threads
Reply depth	thread	How many levels of replies to follow
Add follower counts	accounts	On by default; one extra request per 25 accounts
Delay between requests	all	Raise to 1–2 s for very large runs

---

Output examples

A post (from keyword search, timelines, quotes, or threads):

{
  "url": "https://bsky.app/profile/dorothealange.mastodon.ozioso.online.ap.brid.gy/post/3msgbcrssfew2",
  "text": "Sanitary facilities for migratory workers. Ditch bank camp. Squatters near Arvin, Kern County, California\n\n#Arvin #KernCounty #California #photography\n\nhttps://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017763258/",
  "createdAt": "2026-08-06T14:36:31.000Z",
  "authorHandle": "dorothealange.mastodon.ozioso.online.ap.brid.gy",
  "authorDisplayName": "Dorothea Lange",
  "likeCount": 1,
  "repostCount": 2,
  "replyCount": 0,
  "quoteCount": 0,
  "langs": ["en"],
  "hashtags": ["arvin", "kerncounty", "california", "photography"],
  "links": ["https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017763258/"],
  "imageUrls": ["https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:ls2ap.../bafkrei..."],
  "imageAlts": ["The image shows a solitary wooden structure in an expansive field..."],
  "isReply": false,
  "uri": "at://did:plc:ls2ap3pxsotp3pgwjf7o633l/app.bsky.feed.post/3msgbcrssfew2"
}

An account (from profiles, account search, followers, likes, reposts):

{
  "handle": "nbcnews.com",
  "url": "https://bsky.app/profile/nbcnews.com",
  "displayName": "NBC News",
  "description": "News updates from around the 🌎, all day, every day.",
  "followersCount": 258510,
  "followsCount": 149,
  "postsCount": 22704,
  "createdAt": "2023-05-31T01:09:28.017Z",
  "verifiedStatus": "valid",
  "avatar": "https://cdn.bsky.app/img/avatar/plain/did:plc:wmho.../bafkrei...",
  "did": "did:plc:wmho6q2uiyktkam3jsvrms3s"
}

---

Field reference

Post fields

Field	Type	Description
url	string	Clickable bsky.app link to the post
text	string	Full post text
createdAt	string	When the author posted it (ISO 8601)
indexedAt	string	When Bluesky indexed it
langs	array	Language codes declared by the author
authorHandle	string	Author's handle
authorDisplayName	string	Author's display name
authorDid	string	Author's permanent identifier
authorAvatar	string	Author's avatar image URL
likeCount	number	Likes at scrape time
repostCount	number	Reposts at scrape time
replyCount	number	Replies at scrape time
quoteCount	number	Quote posts at scrape time
bookmarkCount	number	Bookmarks at scrape time
hashtags	array	Hashtags, without the #
links	array	External URLs in the post
mentionDids	array	Identifiers of mentioned accounts
imageUrls	array	Full-size image URLs
imageAlts	array	Alt text for each image
externalUri	string	Link preview target
externalTitle	string	Link preview title
quotedPostUri	string	The post being quoted, if any
quotedPostText	string	Text of the quoted post
quotedPostAuthor	string	Handle of the quoted author
isReply	boolean	Whether the post replies to another
replyParentUri	string	The post it replies to
replyRootUri	string	Root of the conversation
isRepost	boolean	Timelines only — repost rather than original
repostedBy	string	Who reposted it
threadDepth	number	Thread mode only — 0 is the root post
labels	array	Moderation labels
uri, cid	string	Permanent record identifiers

Account fields

Field	Type	Description
handle	string	Account handle
url	string	Clickable profile link
displayName	string	Display name
description	string	Bio text
followersCount	number	Followers
followsCount	number	Accounts followed
postsCount	number	Total posts
createdAt	string	Account creation date
verifiedStatus	string	Verification state
avatar, banner	string	Image URLs
isLabeler	boolean	Whether it runs a moderation service
listsCount, feedgensCount, starterPacksCount	number	Things the account publishes
pinnedPostUri	string	Pinned post, if any
subjectHandle	string	Follower modes — whose list this row came from
likedPostUri, likedAt	string	Likes mode — which post, and when
repostedPostUri	string	Reposts mode — which post
did	string	Permanent account identifier

---

Performance

Measured on Apify with 512 MB:

Run	Results	Time
Keyword search	1,000 posts	~24 s
Keyword search	150 posts	~1 s
Follower list	300 accounts	~5 s

Large historical searches scale roughly linearly — the time window steps backwards one page at a time.

---

Scheduling

Use Apify Schedules to run this on a cron and build a time series: daily brand mentions, weekly follower growth, hourly monitoring of a hashtag. Combine with Webhooks to push new results straight into Slack, a database, or your own endpoint whenever a run finishes.

---

Limitations

• Public data only. Private accounts, direct messages, and blocked content are out of reach.
• Keyword search reaches back in time windows. Very large historical pulls take proportionally longer than recent ones.
• Counts are snapshots. Likes and reposts reflect the moment of scraping.
• Bluesky throttles heavy use. If a large run slows down, raise Delay between requests to 1–2 seconds.
• Deleted and moderated posts may appear as gaps in threads.

---

FAQ

Do I need a Bluesky account? No. Everything runs against public endpoints.

Can I get more than 100 posts from a keyword search? Yes. That limit is what stops most Bluesky scrapers — this one paginates by time window and keeps going.

Why are follower counts zero in some other scrapers? Bluesky omits them from account searches and follower lists. This Actor fetches them separately and fills them in.

Can I paste a normal Bluesky link? Yes, for both accounts and posts. AT-URIs work too.

What formats can I export? CSV, Excel, JSON, XML, or straight from the Apify API.

Can I scrape several accounts in one run? Yes. The result budget is divided evenly between them.

How far back can I search? As far as Bluesky's search index goes. Use Posted after / before to target a specific period.

---

Legal and responsible use

This Actor reads publicly available data through Bluesky's official public API. It does not bypass authentication, access private content, or evade technical restrictions.

You remain responsible for how you use the results. If your data concerns people in the EU, GDPR obligations apply to you as the controller — including lawful basis, purpose limitation, and the rights of the people whose posts you collect. Personal data should not be republished or resold without a proper legal basis.