# Breakout Radar: Instagram Viral Reels from Small Accounts (`eliteaisociety/instagram-breakout-radar`) Actor

Find Instagram reels from small accounts that pulled far more views than their follower count predicts. Fresh, repurposable viral ideas.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/eliteaisociety/instagram-breakout-radar.md
- **Developed by:** [John King](https://apify.com/eliteaisociety) (community)
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $40.00 / 1,000 ranked reels

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?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Breakout Radar: Instagram Viral Reels from Small Accounts

**Find Instagram reels from small accounts that got far more views than their follower count predicts. These are fresh, proven ideas you can repurpose.**

A 300k-view reel from a 2,000-follower account means the *idea* went viral, not the creator's fame. Breakout Radar finds those reels in your niche, ranks them, and leaves out the multi-million mega-hits everyone has already copied.

### Who it's for

- **Faceless page owners** looking for proven reel concepts to remake
- **Creators and UGC teams** looking for hooks and formats that travel beyond an existing audience
- **Social media marketers** researching rising small creators in a niche

### How it works

1. Discovers recent reels for your keywords / hashtags (and optionally specific accounts). Comma-separated keywords like `ai tools, chatgpt prompts` are cleaned into hashtags (`aitools`, `chatgptprompts`) and each term is searched separately; the max-reels budget is shared across terms.
2. Keeps reels in your view range (default 100k–3M) and time window (default **last 48 hours** — older posts are dropped).
3. Looks up the follower count of each unique account (capped, to control cost) and keeps accounts at or below your size limit (default 50k).
4. Scores every reel:
   - **Views per follower** (breakout ratio)
   - **Views per hour** (velocity)
   - **Engagement** = (likes + comments) ÷ views
   - **Breakout score 0–100**: 55% breakout, 30% velocity, 15% engagement. Each part is log-scaled against fixed caps (1000× views/follower, 20k views/hour, 15% engagement), so scores can be compared across runs.
5. Labels each reel **Exploding** (≥70), **Rising** (≥40) or **Steady**, and saves an account summary (best reel per account and the number of qualifying reels) to the key-value store record `ACCOUNT_SUMMARY`. Each output row includes a `searchTerm` field showing which keyword/hashtag found it.

### Input

| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `keywords` | — | Comma-separated, e.g. `ai tools, chatgpt prompts, ai news`. Spaces/`#` stripped → `aitools`, etc. Up to 10 terms; each searched separately. |
| `hashtags` | — | Optional extra hashtags (without `#`). Merged with `keywords`. |
| `keywordSearch` | false | search by keyword phrase instead of hashtag |
| `usernames` | — | optional accounts to scan |
| `maxReels` | 50 | reels scanned in total (5–300); shared across terms |
| `maxFollowers` | 50,000 | |
| `minViews` / `maxViews` | 100,000 / 3,000,000 | set `maxViews` 0 for no cap |
| `timeWindow` | **48h** | 24h / 48h / 7d / 30d / 90d |
| `maxProfileLookups` | 30 | follower lookups (about $0.005 each) |
| `includeUnknownFollowers` | false | keep reels when the follower count can't be found |

### Example output

*Example data for illustration only.*

| rank | ownerUsername | followers | views | ageHours | viewsPerFollower | breakoutScore | label | searchTerm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ai.tinycreator | 193 | 343,362 | 20 | 1779 | 88.4 | Exploding | aitools |
| 2 | promptdaily | 3,093 | 430,452 | 22 | 139 | 72.1 | Exploding | chatgptprompts |
| 3 | calm.motivation | 41,000 | 600,000 | 40 | 14.6 | 47.9 | Rising | ainews |

Each row also includes `profileUrl`, `reelUrl`, a caption snippet, likes, comments, views/hour, engagement and `accountQualifyingReels`.

### Pricing

Pay per event: one `ranked-reel` event per ranked reel, suggested at about **$0.03–$0.05 per ranked reel** (only 10–35% of scanned reels qualify). You only pay for reels that pass all filters.

### FAQ

**Do keywords need brackets?** No. Just separate them with commas: `ai tools, chatgpt prompts, ai news`.

**Does each keyword run a separate search?** Yes. Each comma-separated term becomes its own hashtag search. The `maxReels` budget is shared across terms, and every result row carries a `searchTerm` field.

**Why fewer results than maxReels?** Most reels fall outside the view range, the time window, or come from big accounts. That's the point of the filter. Scan more reels or widen the ranges to get more results.

**Where do follower counts come from?** A capped lookup of each unique account. Raise `maxProfileLookups` for more coverage.

**Hidden likes?** Instagram reports some like counts as hidden. These are treated as unknown, and engagement then uses comments only.

**Is it legal?** It only uses public data. Follow Instagram's terms and local law.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `string`):

Comma-separated search terms (e.g. 'ai tools, chatgpt prompts, ai news'). Each term is cleaned into a hashtag (spaces and # removed, lowercased — 'ai tools' becomes 'aitools') and searched separately. Up to 10 terms. The maxReels budget is shared across terms. Merged with Hashtags below if both are set.

## `hashtags` (type: `array`):

Optional extra hashtags (without #), e.g. 'aitools'. Merged with Keywords above. Each one is searched separately.

## `keywordSearch` (type: `boolean`):

Search Instagram by keyword phrase instead of exact hashtag (applies to hashtag scraper calls).

## `usernames` (type: `array`):

Optional: specific usernames whose recent reels should be checked.

## `maxReels` (type: `integer`):

Total reels fetched across all sources (cost scales with this). Shared across keyword/hashtag terms.

## `maxFollowers` (type: `integer`):

Only keep accounts at or below this size.

## `minViews` (type: `integer`):

Skip reels with fewer views than this.

## `maxViews` (type: `integer`):

Skip mega-hits above this (0 = no cap).

## `timeWindow` (type: `string`):

Only keep reels whose post timestamp falls within this window. Default 48h — AI/news niches go stale fast.

## `maxProfileLookups` (type: `integer`):

Cap on unique accounts looked up for follower counts (each costs about $0.005).

## `includeUnknownFollowers` (type: `boolean`):

Keep reels whose account follower count could not be looked up (scored without breakout ratio).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": "ai tools, chatgpt prompts, ai news",
  "keywordSearch": false,
  "maxReels": 50,
  "maxFollowers": 50000,
  "minViews": 100000,
  "maxViews": 3000000,
  "timeWindow": "48h",
  "maxProfileLookups": 30,
  "includeUnknownFollowers": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `rankedReels` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "keywords": "ai tools, chatgpt prompts, ai news",
    "timeWindow": "48h"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("eliteaisociety/instagram-breakout-radar").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 = {
    "keywords": "ai tools, chatgpt prompts, ai news",
    "timeWindow": "48h",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("eliteaisociety/instagram-breakout-radar").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 '{
  "keywords": "ai tools, chatgpt prompts, ai news",
  "timeWindow": "48h"
}' |
apify call eliteaisociety/instagram-breakout-radar --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,eliteaisociety/instagram-breakout-radar"
        }
    }
}
```

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/Da0ZZlUW17Om2wZZ5/builds/2DNat4F0bgQHXd5i3/openapi.json