# Instagram Posts Scraper (`lazyscraper/instagram-posts-scraper`) Actor

Instagram Profile & Post Analytics Scraper: Extract Public Data with Engagement Metrics

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lazyscraper/instagram-posts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Lazy Scraper](https://apify.com/lazyscraper) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 47 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 4 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $6.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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

## InstagramPeriodPostsScraper

### What is InstagramPeriodPostsScraper?

InstagramPeriodPostsScraper is a powerful tool that allows you to quickly scrape public posts and videos from any Instagram user. Simply enter one or more Instagram usernames, and you can extract and download all their posts, including images, videos, captions, and engagement metrics such as likes and comments. The data can be exported in formats like Excel, HTML, XML, CSV, or JSON for use in reports, data visualizations, spreadsheets, and other applications.

### Why scrape Instagram posts and videos?

Instagram post and video data provide valuable insights into social media trends, audience engagement, and content performance. This information can help you:

- Improve market research and competitor analysis
- Optimize your marketing and PR strategies
- Conduct sentiment analysis on Instagram content
- Understand audience engagement and interactions
- Train AI models with real-world social media data
- Monitor trends and detect fake news

### Features

- **Fast and Efficient**: Optimized for speed, allowing you to scrape posts quickly.
- **Public Accounts Only**: Extract data from publicly available Instagram accounts.
- **Comprehensive Data Collection**: Includes post captions, engagement metrics (likes, comments), and media (images/videos).
- **Flexible Export Options**: Download data in multiple formats including JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, and HTML.
- **Supports Video Posts**: Extract engagement data from both images and videos.

### Output Data Structure

The scraped data includes the following fields:

#### Profile Overview

- **Introduction**: User bio
- **Total Posts**: Number of posts by the user
- **Followers**: Number of followers
- **Following**: Number of accounts followed by the user
- **Account Status**: Indicates whether the account is active
- **Last Updated**: Timestamp of the last data update

#### Post Data

- **Post Type**: Image, video, IGTV, etc.
- **Shortcode**: Unique identifier for the post
- **Timestamp**: Time since the post was published
- **Likes Count**: Number of likes
- **Comments Count**: Number of comments
- **Caption**: The text content of the post
- **Thumbnail**: Link to the post’s thumbnail image

This scraper is perfect for businesses, researchers, and developers who need structured Instagram data for analysis and automation. Get started now and unlock valuable insights from Instagram posts and videos!

# Actor input Schema

## `username` (type: `string`):

Target Instagram user.

## `days_limit` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of days to scrape posts from.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "username": "stephencurry30",
  "days_limit": 30
}
```

# 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 = {
    "username": "stephencurry30",
    "days_limit": 30
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lazyscraper/instagram-posts-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "username": "stephencurry30",
    "days_limit": 30,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lazyscraper/instagram-posts-scraper").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 '{
  "username": "stephencurry30",
  "days_limit": 30
}' |
apify call lazyscraper/instagram-posts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/1unDuspuQ5cT9NjOB/builds/2Jgvh2e7yiDB0LTQa/openapi.json