Instagram Comments Super Scraper

Extract comprehensive comment data from Instagram posts and reels including replies, timestamps, likes, and detailed owner information.

Features

• Scrape comments from Instagram posts and reels
• Extract comment replies (nested comments)
• Get detailed user information for each comment
• Timestamp for each comment
• Like counts for comments
• Export data in JSON, CSV, Excel formats
• Fast and efficient scraping
• Automatic pagination handling

Output Format

Each comment is extracted with the following data:

{
  "postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWTsUMjjiM/",
  "commentUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWTsUMjjiM/c/17975064172429515",
  "id": "17975064172429515",
  "text": "Amazing post!",
  "ownerUsername": "user123",
  "ownerProfilePicUrl": "https://...",
  "timestamp": "2021-10-04T04:42:47.000Z",
  "repliesCount": 2,
  "replies": [],
  "likesCount": 15,
  "owner": {
    "fbid_v2": "17841401130280517",
    "full_name": "John Doe",
    "id": "33125676",
    "is_verified": true,
    "is_private": false,
    "username": "user123",
    "profile_pic_url": "https://..."
  }
}

Setup

1. Install dependencies:

   $npm install
   

2. Configure Instagram cookies:

   Edit cookies.json with your Instagram session cookies:

   • sessionid - Your Instagram session ID
   • csrftoken - CSRF token
   • ds_user_id - Your Instagram user ID

   To get these cookies:

   1. Login to Instagram in your browser
   2. Open Developer Tools (F12)
   3. Go to Application/Storage → Cookies → https://www.instagram.com
   4. Copy the values for sessionid, csrftoken, and ds_user_id

3. Configure input:

   Edit test_input.json or pass input when running:

   {
     "directUrls": [
       "https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWTsUMjjiM/"
     ],
     "resultsLimit": 50,
     "includeReplies": true,
     "maxRepliesPerComment": 10
   }
   

Usage

Local Development

$npm start

Apify Platform

1. Push to Apify:

   $apify push
   

2. Run on Apify platform with custom input

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
directUrls	Array	Instagram post/reel URLs to scrape	Required
resultsLimit	Integer	Max comments per post (0 = unlimited)	50
includeReplies	Boolean	Include comment replies	true
maxRepliesPerComment	Integer	Max replies per comment	10

Example Input

{
  "directUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWTsUMjjiM/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDIJAfeyemG/"
  ],
  "resultsLimit": 100,
  "includeReplies": true,
  "maxRepliesPerComment": 20
}

Output

Results are saved to the dataset and can be exported in multiple formats:

• JSON
• CSV
• Excel
• HTML

Important Notes

Cookie Requirements:

• Valid Instagram session cookies are required
• Cookies expire periodically and need to be refreshed
• Use cookies from an account that can view the target posts

Rate Limiting:

• The scraper includes automatic delays to respect Instagram's rate limits
• Scraping too aggressively may result in temporary blocks

Legal & Ethical Use:

• Only scrape public data
• Respect Instagram's Terms of Service
• Don't scrape private accounts without permission
• Use for legitimate purposes only

Troubleshooting

No comments extracted:

• Check that your cookies are valid and not expired
• Verify the post URLs are correct
• Ensure the posts have comments visible to non-logged-in users

API Errors:

• Refresh your session cookies
• Reduce the resultsLimit to avoid rate limiting
• Add delays between requests

Support

For issues or questions, please open an issue on the repository.

License

ISC