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 view_count and 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 and view_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?

Use dedicated Actors for other Instagram data types:

• Fast Instagram Profile Posts Scraper
• Instagram Profile Scraper
• Instagram Profile Tagged Scraper
• Instagram Profile Reels Scraper

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 (or post represented by url) is stored as one item in the Dataset.

Field	Type	Description
id	string | number | null	Instagram media ID (id if available, otherwise fallback from pk).
pk	string | number | null	Instagram media PK (pk if available, otherwise fallback from id).
shortcode	string (optional)	Shortcode used to build the public URL.
url	string | null	Public media URL (/reel/{shortcode}/ or /p/{shortcode}/).
from_url	string	Source profile URL used for this crawl task.
image	string (optional)	Best-effort cover/thumbnail image URL.
dimensions	object | null	Media dimensions from dimensions ({width,height}); null when missing.
is_video	boolean	Media type hint normalized by the actor.
video_url	string | null	Best playable video URL when available.
has_audio	boolean | null	Audio flag for video media.
video_duration	number | null	Video duration in seconds.
accessibility_caption	string | null	Accessibility caption provided by Instagram.
caption	string	Post caption text (best effort, may be empty).
hashtags	string[]	#hashtags extracted from caption.
mentions	string[]	@mentions extracted from user tags + caption.
tagged_user	array<object>	Simplified tagged users list.
comments	array<object> (optional)	Parent comments extracted from post-detail query when available.
comment_count	number | null	Comment count when available.
like_count	number | null	Like count when available.
play_count	number | null	Video play count when available.
view_count	number | null	Video view count when available.
taken_at	string | null	Post publish time in UTC ISO-8601 (...Z).
crawled_at	string	Crawl timestamp in UTC ISO-8601 (...Z).
location	object | string | null	Media location payload when available.
product_type	string (optional)	Instagram product type (for example clips).
clips_music_attribution_info	object (optional)	Music attribution payload for clips/reels.
owner	object (optional)	Media owner object; includes normalized post_count and followers when source data exists.
coauthor_producers	array<object> (optional)	Co-author producer accounts when available.
is_ad	boolean | null	Whether Instagram marks the media as ad content.
is_affiliate	boolean | null	Affiliate flag when provided by Instagram.
is_paid_partnership	boolean | null	Paid partnership flag when provided.
is_published	boolean | null	Publication flag when provided.

Notes:

• optional fields are omitted when Instagram does not return them.
• Counter/time fields may be null depending on post type, visibility, and endpoint response.

Output (Dataset)

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

{
  "id": "3847167235685798934",
  "pk": "3847167235685798934",
  "is_video": true,
  "video_url": "https://sconten..oe=69B3232F",
  "has_audio": true,
  "video_duration": 8.103,
  "dimensions": { "width": 640, "height": 1137 },
  "accessibility_caption": null,
  "hashtags": [],
  "mentions": ["@bts.bighitofficial"],
  "tagged_user": [
    {
      "full_name": "BTS official",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "2274763833",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent..4041&_nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "bts.bighitofficial"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google India",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "8536113897",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-l...c_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleindia"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google Indonesia",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "44378210506",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7..F9&_nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleindonesia"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google en Español",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "48967006444",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax..c_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleespanol"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google Japan / グーグル・ジャパン",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "45157324866",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7..NTKIIoBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_Afy7_nxWep6lYlwcDSxLpVuWSSULtqQxWpL92A-kd_F73A&oe=69B34CB7&_nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googlejapan"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google France",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "74161638136",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7...id=d885a2",
      "username": "googlefrance"
    }
  ],
  "caption": "@bts.bighitofficial fans, have you seen what happens when you search “BTS” yet? 👀 Something special is waiting for you.\n\n구글에 “BTS”를 검색하면 어떤 일이 일어나는 지 알고 계시나요? 👀 특별한 경험이 기다리고 있습니다!\n\nBTS ファンの皆さん、Google で「BTS」と検索すると何が起きるか、もうチェックしましたか？👀 今なら、とっておきのサプライズが待っていますよ！",
  "comment_count": 5550,
  "like_count": 261079,
  "play_count": 6338210,
  "view_count": 1897124,
  "taken_at": "2026-03-06T23:04:38Z",
  "is_ad": false,
  "is_affiliate": false,
  "is_paid_partnership": false,
  "is_published": true,
  "location": null,
  "from_url": "https://www.instagram.com/google/reels/",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVj4je6ktQW/",
  "crawled_at": "2026-03-08T12:33:04.461569Z",
  "comments": [
    {
      "id": "...",
      "text": "...",
      "created_at": 1529249418,
      "did_report_as_spam": false,
      "owner": {
        "id": "...",
        "is_verified": false,
        "profile_pic_url": "https://scont...",
        "username": ".."
      },
      "viewer_has_liked": false,
      "like_count": 0,
      "is_restricted_pending": false
    }
  ],
  "image": "https://scontent-lax..c_sid=d885a2",
  "shortcode": "DVj4je6ktQW",
  "product_type": "clips",
  "clips_music_attribution_info": {
    "artist_name": "google",
    "song_name": "Original audio",
    "uses_original_audio": true,
    "should_mute_audio": false,
    "should_mute_audio_reason": "",
    "audio_id": "33977498751893623"
  },
  "owner": {
    "id": "1067259270",
    "username": "google",
    "is_verified": true,
    "profile_pic_url": "https://sconte..9B33AE9&_nc_sid=d885a2",
    "blocked_by_viewer": false,
    "restricted_by_viewer": null,
    "followed_by_viewer": false,
    "full_name": "Google",
    "has_blocked_viewer": false,
    "is_embeds_disabled": false,
    "is_private": false,
    "is_unpublished": false,
    "requested_by_viewer": false,
    "pass_tiering_recommendation": true,
    "post_count": 3137,
    "followers": 15742809
  },
  "coauthor_producers": [
    {
      "id": "8536113897",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7-..._sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleindia"
    },
    {
      "id": "45157324866",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-la..._nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googlejapan"
    },
    {
      "id": "48967006444",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-..._nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleespanol"
    },
    {
      "id": "44378210506",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7-...sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleindonesia"
    }
  ]
}

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.