Instagram Profile Posts Scraper

It is a reimplementation of instagram-scraper/fast-instagram-post-scraper, The goal is to keep a fast, simple scraping flow while returning richer post-level analytics.

Why this rewrite

• runtime refactor: rewrites the actor in Python for teams that standardize on Python tooling and deployment workflows.
• Behavior-compatible goal: keeps the same use case (public profile post scraping) and no-login operating model as the original actor.
• Richer post metrics: collects extended counters such as play_count when Instagram returns them.
• Analysis-ready output: normalizes commonly used fields (caption, hashtags, mentions, media metadata, owner info, timestamps) for downstream BI/ETL use.

Output differences vs original actor

Compared with the current public Apify page of the original actor (checked on 2026-03-19), this rewrite focuses on richer and more normalized output data:

• Adds/keeps richer counters: explicitly includes play_count when available.
• Normalizes URL fields: uses url as the canonical public media URL (reel / post) and keeps from_url as source profile URL.
• Provides crawl metadata: includes crawled_at in UTC ISO-8601 format.
• Returns richer media/account payloads: includes fields such as tagged_user, owner (with normalized counters), coauthor_producers, clips_music_attribution_info, and monetization flags.
• Handles missing values explicitly: nullable/optional fields are set to null or omitted consistently, which helps downstream schema handling.

Need other Instagram data?

This actor is optimized for profile post feeds. If you need a different Instagram surface, use the dedicated Actor that matches that data type.

Related actors from the instagram-scraper:

Actor	Description	Stats
Instagram Profile Scraper	Scrape public Instagram profile data, profile statistics, and account flags
Instagram Profile Finder	Find Instagram profiles
Fast Instagram Profile Posts Scraper	Fast scraper for public Instagram profile posts with a simpler post payload
Fast Instagram Profile Reels Scraper	Scrape public Instagram Reels from profile pages
Instagram Hashtags Posts Scraper	Scrape public Instagram hashtag pages
Instagram Related Profiles Scraper	Discover related accounts and recursively expand profile networks

How to run it in the Apify Console

1. Open the Actor page and click Try for free / Run.
2. In Input, paste one or more Instagram profiles (usernames or profile URLs).
3. Set how many profile posts to scrape per profile (postsPerProfile).
4. After the run finishes, open the Dataset to view results and export to JSON / CSV / Excel.

Input parameters

instagramUsernames (required)

Accepts either a plain username:

username

Notes:

• Empty lines are ignored and inputs are de‑duplicated
• Invalid URLs are reported in logs (they do not automatically fail the whole run)

postsPerProfile

Maximum number of profile posts to scrape per profile.

• Minimum: 5
• Default: 12
• If a profile has fewer public posts (or Instagram limits access), the actual output will be lower

input json example

{
  "instagramUsernames": ["youtube", "google"],
  "postsPerProfile": 10
}

What you get

Each profile post is stored as one item in the Dataset. The output is based on Instagram's IGProfileTimelineQuery item payload, not a legacy post-detail rebuild.

That means:

• Most non-blacklisted Instagram fields are preserved as-is, including nested objects such as user, image_versions2, carousel_media, location, and other timeline metadata.
• A small set of fields is normalized for downstream stability.
• The same cleanup rules apply to top-level items and carousel_media[*].

Key normalized fields:

Field	Type	Description
shortcode	string (optional)	Normalized from code; code is removed from output.
url	string | null	Public Instagram media URL derived from shortcode.
is_video	boolean	Media type flag derived from the timeline item.
image	string | null	Cover image URL
caption	string	caption text (best effort; can be empty).
taken_at	string | null	UTC ISO-8601 timestamp such as 2026-08-12T14:15:04Z.
taken_at_timestamp	number | null	Unix timestamp in seconds.
hashtags	string[]	Extracted from caption text.
mentions	string[]	Extracted from caption text plus user tags.
tagged_user	array<object>	Legacy-compatible tagged-user list derived from usertags.
video_url	string | null	First video_versions[*].url when available.
dimensions	object | null	Derived from original_width and original_height as {width, height}.
location	object | string | null	Preserved from the timeline item, with nested blacklist cleanup applied.
carousel_media[*]	array<object> (optional)	Child media items cleaned with the same normalization rules.

Output (Dataset)

Results are stored in the default Dataset (default). Example item (fields may vary slightly depending on Instagram responses):

{
  "id": "3962139457675353360_1067259270",
  "is_unseen_by_viewer": false,
  "lw_carousel_count": null,
  "lw_carousel": null,
  "content_views_count": null,
  "enable_waist": false,
  "image_versions2": {
    "additional_candidates": {
      "first_frame": {
        "height": 1136,
        "scans_profile": null,
        "url": "...",
        "width": 640
      },
      "igtv_first_frame": {
        "height": 1136,
        "scans_profile": null,
        "url": "...",
        "width": 640
      },
      "smart_frame": null
    },
    "candidates": [
      {
        "estimated_scans_sizes": [],
        "height": 960,
        "scans_profile": null,
        "url": "...",
        "width": 540
      } 
    ],
    "scrubber_spritesheet_info_candidates": {
      "default": {
        "file_size_kb": 569,
        "max_thumbnails_per_sprite": 105,
        "rendered_width": 96,
        "sprite_height": 1232,
        "sprite_width": 1500,
        "thumbnail_duration": 0.592047619047619,
        "thumbnail_height": 176,
        "thumbnail_width": 100,
        "thumbnails_per_row": 15,
        "total_thumbnail_num_per_sprite": 105,
        "video_length": 62.165
      }
    },
    "smart_thumbnail_enabled": null
  },
  "media_cropping_info": null,
  "media_type": 2,
  "original_height": 1280,
  "original_width": 720,
  "profile_grid_thumbnail_fitting_style": "UNSET",
  "product_type": "clips",
  "timeline_pinned_user_ids": [
    "1067259270"
  ],
  "open_carousel_submission_state": null,
  "all_previous_submitters": null,
  "user": {
    "id": "1067259270",
    "account_type": 2,
    "all_media_count": null,
    "allowed_commenter_type": null,
    "can_boost_post": null,
    "can_see_organic_insights": null,
    "fan_club_info": {
      "autosave_to_exclusive_highlight": null,
      "connected_member_count": null,
      "fan_club_id": null,
      "fan_club_name": null,
      "fan_consideration_page_revamp_eligiblity": null,
      "has_enough_subscribers_for_ssc": null,
      "is_fan_club_referral_eligible": null,
      "is_fan_club_gifting_eligible": null,
      "subscriber_count": null
    },
    "fbid_v2": "17841401778116675",
    "feed_post_reshare_disabled": false,
    "friendship_status": null,
    "full_name": "Google",
    "has_anonymous_profile_picture": false,
    "has_onboarded_to_text_post_app": null,
    "interop_messaging_user_fbid": "101735994563732",
    "is_active_on_text_post_app": true,
    "is_favorite": null,
    "is_private": false,
    "is_unpublished": false,
    "is_verified": true,
    "liked_clips_count": null,
    "profile_pic_id": "3872563248835985700_1067259270",
    "profile_pic_url": "...",
    "reel_auto_archive": null,
    "show_account_transparency_details": true,
    "show_insights_terms": null,
    "third_party_downloads_enabled": 2,
    "transparency_product_enabled": false,
    "username": "google",
    "user_activation_info": null
  },
  "taken_at": "2026-08-12T14:15:04Z",
  "linked_media_data": null,
  "is_eligible_for_shoppable_everything": null,
  "related_ads_pivots_media_info": "USER_NOT_IN_TEST_GROUP",
  "injected": null,
  "brs_severity": 80,
  "channel_tag_data": null,
  "organic_cta_type": null,
  "organic_cta_info": null,
  "story_prompts": null,
  "carousel_media_pending_post_count": null,
  "main_feed_carousel_starting_media_id": null,
  "tallest_media_aspect_ratio": null,
  "open_to_public_submission_description_text": null,
  "is_dismiss_pending_media_banner": null,
  "is_early_access_reel": false,
  "save_count": null,
  "gen_ai_detection_method": {
    "detection_method": "NONE"
  }, 
  "wearable_attribution_info": null,
  "accessibility_caption": null,
  "are_remixes_crosspostable": true,
  "crosspost": null,
  "crosspost_metadata": null,
  "cta_rendering_config": null,
  "attribution_content_url": null,
  "audience": null,
  "boost_unavailable_identifier": null,
  "boost_unavailable_reason": null,
  "boosted_post_id": null,
  "boosted_status": null,
  "has_non_bim_ads": false,
  "original_media_has_visual_reply_media": null,
  "like_and_view_counts_disabled": false,
  "share_count_disabled": false,
  "coauthor_producer_can_see_organic_insights": false,
  "coauthor_producers": [
    {
      "id": "4512854723",
      "full_name": "Made by Google",
      "is_private": false,
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_id": "3735536379162089827_4512854723",
      "profile_pic_url": "...",
      "username": "madebygoogle",
      "user_activation_info": null
    } 
  ],
  "invited_coauthor_producers": [],
  "caption": "Get your first look at the Pixel 11 family. Refined hardware, made to last. Fresh colors. New cameras. And designed for Gemini Intelligence. #MadeByGoogle",
  "caption_add_on": null,
  "caption_is_edited": false,
  "carousel_last_edited_at": null,
  "creator_viewer_insights": null,
  "community_notes_info": null,
  "can_modify_carousel": null,
  "can_viewer_save": true,
  "can_viewer_reshare": true,
  "eligible_insights_entrypoints": "NONE",
  "has_liked": false,
  "top_likers": null,
  "facepile_top_likers": null,
  "floating_context_items": null,
  "social_context": null,
  "is_comments_gif_composer_enabled": false,
  "is_photo_comments_composer_enabled_for_author": false,
  "is_currently_promoting_by_sponsor": null,
  "is_auto_created": null,
  "is_cutout_sticker_allowed": false,
  "is_eligible_for_media_note_recs_nux": null,
  "is_reuse_allowed": false,
  "is_post_live_clips_media": false,
  "is_quiet_post": false,
  "is_shared_from_basel": null,
  "media_attributions_data": [],
  "igbio_product": null,
  "location": null,
  "play_count": 679251,
  "like_count": 23368,
  "is_tagged_media_shared_to_viewer_profile_grid": false,
  "subscribe_cta_visible": false,
  "video_subtitles_locale": null,
  "translated_video_subtitles": null,
  "byoa_langs": null,
  "video_sticker_locales": [],
  "sticker_translations_enabled": null,
  "original_lang_for_translations": "en",
  "is_eligible_for_autodub": false,
  "is_eligible_for_autodub_upsell": false,
  "clips_captions": null,
  "snippets_overlays": null,
  "clips_captions_translations_urls": null,
  "clips_text": null,
  "should_request_ads": false,
  "is_paid_partnership": false,
  "sponsor_tags": null,
  "is_visual_reply_commenter_notice_enabled": true,
  "clips_tab_pinned_user_ids": [],
  "is_in_profile_grid": false,
  "profile_grid_control_enabled": false,
  "owner": {
    "id": "1067259270",
    "can_see_quiet_post_attribution": true,
    "fbid_v2": "17841401778116675",
    "feed_post_reshare_disabled": false,
    "friendship_status": null,
    "full_name": "Google",
    "has_anonymous_profile_picture": false,
    "is_favorite": null,
    "is_private": false,
    "is_unpublished": false,
    "is_verified": true,
    "profile_pic_id": "3872563248835985700_1067259270",
    "profile_pic_url": "...",
    "show_account_transparency_details": true,
    "transparency_product_enabled": false,
    "username": "google"
  },
  "fundraiser_tag": null,
  "comment_likes_enabled": true,
  "comments_disabled": null,
  "comment_threading_enabled": true,
  "clips_metadata": {
    "originality_info": null,
    "achievements_info": {
      "num_earned_achievements": null,
      "show_achievements": false
    },
    "additional_audio_info": {
      "additional_audio_username": null,
      "audio_reattribution_info": {
        "should_allow_restore": false
      }
    },
    "asset_recommendation_info": null,
    "audio_ranking_info": {
      "best_audio_cluster_id": null
    },
    "audio_type": "original_sounds",
    "branded_content_tag_info": {
      "can_add_tag": false
    },
    "clips_creation_entry_point": "feed",
    "content_appreciation_info": {
      "enabled": false,
      "entry_point_container": null
    },
    "contextual_highlight_info": null,
    "disable_use_in_clips_client_cache": false,
    "is_fan_club_promo_video": null,
    "is_public_chat_welcome_video": false,
    "is_shared_to_fb": false,
    "mashup_info": {
      "can_toggle_mashups_allowed": false,
      "has_been_mashed_up": false,
      "has_nonmimicable_additional_audio": false,
      "is_creator_requesting_mashup": false,
      "is_light_weight_check": true,
      "is_pivot_page_available": false,
      "mashup_type": null,
      "mashups_allowed": false,
      "non_privacy_filtered_mashups_media_count": 0,
      "original_media": null
    },
    "merchandising_pill_info": null,
    "music_canonical_id": "18613498354010879",
    "music_info": null,
    "original_sound_info": {
      "allow_creator_to_rename": true,
      "audio_asset_id": "37652862487694766",
      "audio_filter_infos": [],
      "audio_parts": [],
      "audio_parts_by_filter": [],
      "can_remix_be_shared_to_fb": false,
      "can_remix_be_shared_to_fb_expansion": false,
      "consumption_info": {
        "is_bookmarked": false,
        "is_trending_in_clips": false,
        "should_mute_audio_reason": ""
      },
      "dash_manifest": "...",
      "duration_in_ms": 62000,
      "hide_remixing": true,
      "ig_artist": {
        "id": "1067259270",
        "full_name": "Google",
        "is_private": false,
        "is_verified": true,
        "profile_pic_id": "3872563248835985700_1067259270",
        "profile_pic_url": "..",
        "username": "google"
      },
      "is_audio_automatically_attributed": false,
      "is_eligible_for_audio_effects": true,
      "is_explicit": false,
      "is_original_audio_download_eligible": false,
      "oa_owner_is_music_artist": false,
      "is_reuse_disabled": false,
      "is_xpost_from_fb": false,
      "original_audio_subtype": "default",
      "original_audio_title": "Original audio",
      "original_media_id": "3962139457675353360",
      "progressive_download_url": "..",
      "should_mute_audio": false,
      "time_created": 1786544042,
      "fb_downstream_use_xpost_metadata": {
        "downstream_use_xpost_deny_reason": "NONE"
      }
    },
    "professional_clips_upsell_type": 0,
    "show_achievements": false
  },
  "creative_config": null,
  "max_num_visible_preview_comments": 2,
  "has_more_comments": true,
  "has_tagged_users": true,
  "fb_user_tags": {
    "in": []
  },
  "has_reshares": null,
  "preview": null,
  "product_collection_tag": null,
  "product_suggestions": null,
  "product_tags": null,
  "photo_of_you": false,
  "is_organic_product_tagging_eligible": false,
  "media_notice": null,
  "media_overlay_info": null,
  "boost_upsell_banner_payload": null,
  "is_fb_only": null,
  "is_artist_pick": null,
  "can_see_insights_as_brand": false,
  "comment_count": 554,
  "comment_inform_treatment": {
    "action_type": null,
    "should_have_inform_treatment": false,
    "text": "",
    "url": null
  },
  "can_view_more_preview_comments": false,
  "hide_view_all_comment_entrypoint": false,
  "inline_composer_display_condition": null,
  "inline_composer_imp_trigger_time": null,
  "is_third_party_downloads_eligible": false,
  "ig_media_sharing_disabled": false,
  "has_viewer_saved": null,
  "carousel_media_count": null,
  "carousel_media": null,
  "number_of_qualities": 2,
  "is_dash_eligible": 1,
  "upcoming_event": null,
  "video_codec": null,
  "video_versions": [
    {
      "url": "...",
      "type": 101,
      "width": 720,
      "height": 1280
    },
    {
      "url": "...",
      "type": 102,
      "width": 720,
      "height": 1280
    },
    {
      "url": "...",
      "type": 103,
      "width": 720,
      "height": 1280
    }
  ],
  "video_duration": 62.16600036621094,
  "video_subtitles_confidence": null,
  "video_subtitles_enabled": null,
  "video_subtitles_status": null,
  "video_subtitles_uri": null,
  "visibility": null,
  "visual_comment_reply_sticker_info": null,
  "visual_replies_info": null,
  "xpost_deny_reason": null,
  "xpost_deny_reason_enum": null,
  "threads_xpost_deny_reason": null,
  "has_audio": true,
  "has_delayed_metadata": false,
  "has_hidden_comments": null,
  "reshare_count": null,
  "is_reshare_of_text_post_app_media_in_ig": false,
  "is_post_live": null,
  "deleted_reason": 0,
  "has_shared_to_fb": 0,
  "dominant_color": null,
  "music_metadata": null,
  "fb_comment_count": null,
  "fb_like_count": null,
  "fb_play_count": null,
  "ig_play_count": 679251,
  "autodub_status": null,
  "snippets_attribution_info": null,
  "mashup_info": null,
  "enable_media_notes_production": false,
  "media_repost_count": null,
  "media_reposter_bottomsheet_enabled": false,
  "media_notes": null,
  "creator_product_links": null,
  "creator_product_link_infos": null,
  "voice_translations_consumption_data": null,
  "clips_attribution_info": null,
  "mv_link": null,
  "shimmed_mv_link": null,
  "shortcode": "Db8WNgtTF0Q",
  "taken_at_timestamp": 1786544104,
  "tagged_user": [
    {
      "id": "4512854723",
      "pk": "4512854723",
      "username": "madebygoogle",
      "full_name": "Made by Google",
      "is_private": false,
      "profile_pic_id": "3735536379162089827_4512854723",
      "profile_pic_url": "...",
      "is_verified": true
    },
    {
      "id": "8482988871",
      "pk": "8482988871",
      "username": "googlepixel",
      "full_name": "Google Pixel",
      "is_private": false,
      "profile_pic_id": "3962451059109278847_8482988871",
      "profile_pic_url": "...",
      "is_verified": true
    },
    {
      "id": "72777479369",
      "pk": "72777479369",
      "username": "newsfromgoogle",
      "full_name": "News from Google",
      "is_private": false,
      "profile_pic_id": "3734762180941152713_72777479369",
      "profile_pic_url": "...",
      "is_verified": true
    }
  ],
  "hashtags": [
    "#MadeByGoogle"
  ],
  "mentions": [
    "@madebygoogle",
    "@googlepixel",
    "@newsfromgoogle"
  ],
  "video_url": "...",
  "dimensions": {
    "width": 720,
    "height": 1280
  },
  "crawled_at": "2026-08-18T07:20:07.822974Z"
}

FAQ

1) Why is the Dataset empty / much smaller than expected?

The profile has no public posts, not enough posts, or Instagram is limiting access

2) What does Restricted profile mean?

A profile can be public but still limited for anonymous (no-login) access. Instagram may gate some profile endpoints unless a logged-in session is used. When this happens, the Actor logs the restriction and skips/stops that profile.

3) How does billing work for unavailable profiles?

The Actor uses one unified charge event: restricted_profile. This event is emitted when a profile cannot return posts due to:

• restricted/no-login access limits,
• profile not found (dead link / non-existent profile),
• no posts found for that profile.

Limitations & recommendations

• Data scope: this Actor is optimized for Reel/post-level data from profile pages. It is not a full profile-metadata scraper.
• No-login access limits: this Actor runs without an Instagram login by default. Some profile-level fields or endpoints may be unavailable in no-login mode, even for public profiles.
• Compliance: make sure your usage complies with Instagram’s terms and your local laws, and only collect data you have the right to use.