Instagram Followers And Following Scraper

This Actor scrapes followers and following lists from Instagram profiles.

Features

• Extract complete lists of followers or accounts the user is following
• Collects usernames, full names, profile pictures, and other profile data
• Supports multiple input usernames for batch processing
• Configurable scraping limits
• Uses residential US proxies for better reliability

Usage

Authentication

The Actor requires authentication to access Instagram data. You can provide authentication in one of two ways:

1. Session ID (Recommended) - Provide only your Instagram sessionid cookie value
2. Full Cookies (Alternative) - Provide full Instagram cookies as string, JSON object, or array

How to Find Your Session ID

1. Log in to Instagram in your browser
2. Open developer tools (F12 or right-click > Inspect)
3. Go to the Application/Storage tab
4. Find Cookies > instagram.com
5. Look for the cookie named "sessionid" and copy its value

Input Parameters

Field	Type	Description
username	Array	Instagram username(s) whose followers/following you want to scrape
scrape_type	String	Whether to scrape "followers" or "following"
max_items	Integer	Maximum number of profiles to scrape (default: 100)
sessionid	String	Your Instagram session ID for authentication
cookies	String	Full Instagram cookies (alternative to sessionid)
proxy	Object	HTTP proxy configuration (defaults to US residential proxies)

Output Format

The Actor outputs data in JSON format with the following structure:

{
  "username": "example_user",
  "full_name": "Example User",
  "user_id": "12345678",
  "is_private": false,
  "is_verified": false,
  "profile_pic_url": "https://instagram.com/...",
  "followed_by_viewer": true,
  "follows_viewer": false,
  "requested_by_viewer": false,
  "connection_type": "followers",
  "source_username": "target_account",
  "scraped_at": 1620000000
}

Limitations

• Rate limiting by Instagram may affect the number of results you can get
• Private accounts require that you follow them to see their followers
• Very large accounts may take significant time to scrape completely

Tips for Success

• Use residential proxies (US is recommended) to avoid IP blocking
• Don't set extremely high max_items values at once
• Make sure your Instagram session is valid and not expired
• For maximum reliability, use your own Instagram account with the session ID method

Notice

It is your responsibility to ensure that your use of this Actor complies with Instagram's Terms of Service and any applicable laws. This Actor is designed for legitimate research and analytics purposes only.