# Instagram Following Scraper (`khadinakbar/instagram-following-scraper`) Actor Export the full following and followers list of any Instagram profile as structured JSON — username, full name, verified/private flags, and profile URL. MCP-ready. - **URL**: https://apify.com/khadinakbar/instagram-following-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Khadin Akbar](https://apify.com/khadinakbar) (community) - **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, MCP servers - **Stats:** 0 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.50 / 1,000 profile scrapeds 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Instagram Following Scraper **Instagram Following Scraper** exports the complete **following** and **followers** list of any Instagram profile as clean, structured JSON. Give it one or more usernames and get back every account they follow (or that follows them) — username, full name, verified badge, private flag, user ID, and profile URL — ready for audience analysis, influencer discovery, and lead research. MCP-ready for AI agents. > ⚙️ **One-time setup required.** Instagram only serves following/followers lists to logged-in sessions. This Actor uses a **managed pool of Instagram sessions** that the account owner seeds once via the `IG_SESSIONS` environment variable. See [How to use](#how-to-use) before your first run. ### What is Instagram Following Scraper? Instagram does not expose follower or following lists to logged-out visitors, and the official Graph API only returns them for accounts you own. This Actor fills that gap: it walks Instagram's private list endpoints with a rotating pool of authenticated sessions and a residential proxy, paginating until it reaches your result cap. It returns a flat record per connection so the data drops straight into a spreadsheet, CRM, or vector store. Built for reliability: per-session error scoring and retirement, polite request pacing, an explicit per-run cost cap, and **honest-fail** — if every session is blocked, the run fails loudly instead of silently returning an empty dataset. ### Use cases for Instagram following/followers data - **Influencer audience audits** — see who a creator follows to map their niche and collaborators. - **Competitor analysis** — export a competitor's followers to understand their audience. - **Lead generation** — turn a following list into a prospecting list of handles and names. - **Community mapping** — build the social graph around a brand, event, or topic. - **Bot / quality screening** — flag private vs. verified accounts in a follower base. ### What data can I extract with Instagram Following Scraper? | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `sourceUsername` | string | The profile whose list this record came from | | `listType` | string | `following` or `followers` | | `username` | string | Handle of the connected account | | `fullName` | string | Display name, if set | | `userId` | string | Instagram numeric user id | | `isPrivate` | boolean | Whether the account is private | | `isVerified` | boolean | Whether the account is verified | | `profilePicUrl` | string | Profile picture URL (time-limited CDN link) | | `profileUrl` | string | Canonical profile URL | | `scrapedAt` | string | ISO 8601 scrape timestamp | **With `enrichProfiles` enabled**, each record also includes: | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `biography` | string | Profile bio | | `email` | string | Business email, or an email parsed from the bio | | `phone` | string | Public business phone | | `externalUrl` | string | Linked website | | `followerCount` / `followingCount` / `mediaCount` | integer | Profile counts | | `category` | string | Account category (e.g. "Photographer") | | `isBusiness` | boolean | Business/professional account flag | ### How much will scraping Instagram cost you? Pay-per-event pricing: **$0.0015 per profile returned**, plus a tiny `$0.00005` actor-start fee. - 1,000 following profiles ≈ **$1.50** - 5,000 followers ≈ **$7.50** **Optional enrichment** adds `$0.0015` per profile (bio, email, website, counts), so an enriched run is **$0.003 per profile** — 1,000 enriched ≈ **$3.00**. The run logs the maximum possible cost before charging anything, and `maxResults` is a hard cap per profile per list — you are never billed beyond it. ### How to use #### 1. Seed the session pool (one time) Instagram list data requires a logged-in session. As the Actor owner you supply one or more Instagram web sessions via a **secret environment variable**: 1. In a browser, log in to each Instagram account you want in the pool. 2. Open DevTools → Application → Cookies → `instagram.com` and copy `sessionid`, `ds_user_id`, and `csrftoken`. 3. In Apify Console → your Actor → **Settings → Environment variables**, add a variable named `IG_SESSIONS`, mark it **Secret**, and set the value to a JSON array: ```json [ { "sessionid": "PASTE_1", "ds_user_id": "PASTE_1", "csrftoken": "PASTE_1" }, { "sessionid": "PASTE_2", "ds_user_id": "PASTE_2", "csrftoken": "PASTE_2" } ] ```` More accounts = higher throughput and resilience. Sessions are never read from Actor input (which is visible in run logs) — only from this environment variable. Refresh them when they expire (the run will tell you). #### 2. Run Set `usernames`, pick `listType`, set `maxResults`, and run. Residential proxy is on by default and strongly recommended. ### ⬇️ Input ```json { "usernames": ["nasa", "https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/"], "listType": "following", "maxResults": 1000, "enrichProfiles": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] } } ``` ### ⬆️ Output ```json { "sourceUsername": "nasa", "listType": "following", "username": "spacex", "fullName": "SpaceX", "userId": "12345678", "isPrivate": false, "isVerified": true, "profilePicUrl": "https://instagram.fxxx.cdn.com/v/pic.jpg", "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/spacex/", "scrapedAt": "2026-06-02T07:24:00.000Z" } ``` With `enrichProfiles: true`, each record additionally carries `email`, `biography`, `phone`, `externalUrl`, `followerCount`, `followingCount`, `mediaCount`, `category`, and `isBusiness`. ### Scrape any Instagram & social data with dedicated scrapers - [Instagram Hashtag Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/instagram-hashtag-scraper) - [Instagram Reels Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/instagram-reels-scraper) - [Instagram Posts Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/instagram-posts-scraper) - [TikTok Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/tiktok-profile-scraper) - [TikTok Video Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/tiktok-video-comments-scraper) - [X / Twitter Profile & Followers Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/twitter-profile-followers-scraper) - [X Tweet Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/x-tweet-scraper) - [YouTube Channel Email Extractor](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/youtube-channel-email-extractor) - [Reddit Posts & Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/reddit-posts-comments-scraper) - [Pinterest Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/pinterest-scraper) - [Telegram Channel Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/telegram-channel-scraper) - [B2B Lead Finder & Enrichment](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/b2b-lead-finder-enrichment) - [Contact Details Scraper](https://apify.com/khadinakbar/contact-details-scraper) ### ❓ FAQ **How many results can I scrape with Instagram Following Scraper?** As many as you set in `maxResults` per profile per list. Note Instagram caps any account's *following* list at ~7,500; *followers* lists can be much larger. **Can I integrate Instagram Following Scraper with other apps?** Yes — export to JSON, CSV, or Excel, or push to Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, and other tools via the Apify integrations. **Can I use Instagram Following Scraper with the Apify API?** Yes. Start runs and fetch the dataset through the Apify API and official clients. **Can I use Instagram Following Scraper through an MCP Server?** Yes. It is exposed via Apify's MCP integration so AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT) can call it with a username and receive structured JSON. **Do I need proxies to scrape Instagram?** Yes. Residential proxy is enabled by default and strongly required — Instagram blocks datacenter IPs and the bare Actor IP almost immediately. **Can I get followers' emails and contact details?** Yes — enable **Enrich each profile**. It visits each account and adds bio, public/business email (or an email found in the bio), phone, website, follower/following/post counts, category, and business flag for `$0.0015` extra per profile — turning a following/followers list into leads. **Why did my run return 0 results or fail?** Most often the `IG_SESSIONS` cookies expired or an account hit a checkpoint. Refresh the cookies and retry. Private targets only return data if a pooled account follows them. **Is it legal to scrape Instagram data?** This Actor accesses Instagram with authenticated sessions, which is contrary to Instagram's Terms of Service; the accounts used may be rate-limited or banned, and that risk sits with the session owner. Scrape only publicly available data, respect personal data laws (GDPR, CCPA), and use the output lawfully. You are responsible for how you use this Actor and the data it returns. This tool is provided for legitimate research and analytics; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Instagram or Meta. **Your feedback** Found a bug or want a feature? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab — feedback is welcome and acted on. # Actor input Schema ## `usernames` (type: `array`): Instagram profiles whose connection list you want to export, e.g. "nasa" or "https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/". Accepts bare handles, @handles, or full profile URLs — one per line. Each profile's following and/or followers list is paginated up to the Max results cap. This targets user profiles only — NOT hashtags or post/reel URLs. ## `listType` (type: `string`): Which connection list to export for each profile. "following" returns the accounts the profile follows; "followers" returns the accounts that follow the profile; "both" returns each record tagged by listType. Defaults to "following". Followers lists can be far larger than following lists, so set Max results accordingly to control cost. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum profiles returned per target per list — a hard cost cap. For listType "both", the cap applies to following and followers separately. Default 1000; Instagram limits any account's following list to ~7,500. Each returned profile is billed as one profile-scraped event ($0.0015). ## `enrichProfiles` (type: `boolean`): When on, visits each returned account's profile to add biography, public/business email (or an email parsed from the bio), phone, website, follower/following/post counts, category, and business flag — turning the list into leads. Adds one request and one $0.0015 charge per enriched profile, and increases run time. Defaults to off. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy used for every Instagram request. Residential proxy is strongly required — Instagram blocks datacenter IPs and the bare actor IP almost immediately. Defaults to Apify Residential. Leave as default unless you have a specific residential provider configured on Apify. ## Actor input object example ```json { "usernames": [ "nasa", "https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/" ], "listType": "following", "maxResults": 1000, "enrichProfiles": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): All scraped follower/following profiles as structured JSON records. # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "usernames": [ "nasa" ], "listType": "following", "maxResults": 1000, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("khadinakbar/instagram-following-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "usernames": ["nasa"], "listType": "following", "maxResults": 1000, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("khadinakbar/instagram-following-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "usernames": [ "nasa" ], "listType": "following", "maxResults": 1000, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call khadinakbar/instagram-following-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=khadinakbar/instagram-following-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Instagram Following Scraper", "description": "Export the full following and followers list of any Instagram profile as structured JSON — username, full name, verified/private flags, and profile URL. MCP-ready.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "r2yE1aSCoFzO0l8a4" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/khadinakbar~instagram-following-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-khadinakbar-instagram-following-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/khadinakbar~instagram-following-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-khadinakbar-instagram-following-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/khadinakbar~instagram-following-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-khadinakbar-instagram-following-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "usernames" ], "properties": { "usernames": { "title": "Instagram usernames or profile URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Instagram profiles whose connection list you want to export, e.g. \"nasa\" or \"https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/\". Accepts bare handles, @handles, or full profile URLs — one per line. Each profile's following and/or followers list is paginated up to the Max results cap. This targets user profiles only — NOT hashtags or post/reel URLs.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "listType": { "title": "List to scrape", "enum": [ "following", "followers", "both" ], "type": "string", "description": "Which connection list to export for each profile. \"following\" returns the accounts the profile follows; \"followers\" returns the accounts that follow the profile; \"both\" returns each record tagged by listType. Defaults to \"following\". Followers lists can be far larger than following lists, so set Max results accordingly to control cost.", "default": "following" }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max results per profile", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum profiles returned per target per list — a hard cost cap. For listType \"both\", the cap applies to following and followers separately. Default 1000; Instagram limits any account's following list to ~7,500. Each returned profile is billed as one profile-scraped event ($0.0015).", "default": 1000 }, "enrichProfiles": { "title": "Enrich each profile (bio, email, website, counts)", "type": "boolean", "description": "When on, visits each returned account's profile to add biography, public/business email (or an email parsed from the bio), phone, website, follower/following/post counts, category, and business flag — turning the list into leads. Adds one request and one $0.0015 charge per enriched profile, and increases run time. Defaults to off.", "default": false }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy used for every Instagram request. Residential proxy is strongly required — Instagram blocks datacenter IPs and the bare actor IP almost immediately. Defaults to Apify Residential. Leave as default unless you have a specific residential provider configured on Apify.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```