# Instagram Reel Scraper (`neuro-scraper/instagram-reeel-scraper`) Actor

✨ Instantly fetch Instagram Reels & Posts 🚀 — see likes, views, comments, upload date, and duration in seconds ⏱. Trusted by developers, privacy-safe 🔒, zero setup, plug-and-play ⚡. Discover insights now 👀 and boost content analysis effortlessly!

- **URL**: https://apify.com/neuro-scraper/instagram-reeel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Neuro Scraper](https://apify.com/neuro-scraper) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Videos, Automation
- **Stats:** 29 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.90/month + usage

To use this Actor, you pay a monthly rental fee to the developer. The rent is subtracted from your prepaid usage every month after the free trial period. You also pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher Apify subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#rental-actors

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Reels Scraper

Extract Reels, videos, engagement statistics, and audio metadata from any public Instagram profile. This tool gathers deep insights including view counts, play counts, likes, comments, audio track information, and media URLs, delivering structured data perfect for analysis, archiving, or monitoring.

***

### What is Instagram Reels Scraper?

Instagram Reels Scraper is a robust data extraction tool designed for marketers, researchers, and developers who need detailed information from Instagram profiles. It efficiently extracts Reels and video clips, providing metadata, captions, and engagement statistics.

The scraper intelligently utilizes Instagram's internal GraphQL API to paginate through a profile's media efficiently. It automatically parses video fields, captions, music/audio attribution, and viewer statistics where available. It runs seamlessly on the Apify platform, supporting proxy configurations to maintain reliable access.

### What Instagram data is publicly available to scrape?

| Data Category | Publicly Available |
| --- | --- |
| Reels & Videos (URL, ID, Timestamp) | Yes |
| Captions, Mentions & Hashtags | Yes |
| Engagement (Likes, Comments, Plays, Views) | Yes |
| Music / Audio Info | Yes |
| Top Comments | Yes |
| Private / Friends-Only Profiles | No |
| Full Follower Lists | No |
| User Contact Information | No |

### What data can I extract with Instagram Reels Scraper?

#### Identity & Ownership Fields

| Field Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `ownerUsername` | The username of the reel owner. |
| `ownerFullName` | The real display name of the owner. |
| `ownerId` | The unique numeric ID of the Instagram profile. |
| `inputUrl` | The original input URL or username requested. |
| `url` | The direct permalink URL to the specific reel. |
| `shortCode` | The shortcode identifier for the reel (used in URLs). |

#### Engagement & Metric Fields

| Field Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `likesCount` | Total number of likes on the reel. |
| `commentsCount` | Total number of comments on the reel. |
| `sharesCount` | Total number of shares. |
| `videoViewCount` | Video view count. |
| `videoPlayCount` | Video play count. |
| `isPinned` | Boolean indicating if the reel is pinned to the top of the profile. |

#### Content, Media & Comments Fields

| Field Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `timestamp` | ISO 8601 formatted string of the post creation time. |
| `caption` | The full text content/caption of the reel. |
| `hashtags` | Array of hashtags extracted from the caption. |
| `mentions` | Array of mentions extracted from the caption. |
| `videoUrl` | The direct video source URL (MP4). |
| `images` / `displayUrl` | Thumbnail images for the video. |
| `musicInfo` | Object containing details about the audio track (`artist_name`, `song_name`, `audio_id`). |
| `firstComment` | The text of the first extracted comment. |
| `latestComments` | Array of recent comments containing author details, text, and like counts. |
| `transcript` | Transcript text if available on the reel. |
| `alt` | Accessibility caption/alt text. |
| `isCommentsDisabled` | Boolean indicating if comments are turned off. |

### How to configure Instagram Reels Scraper

#### Configuration Options

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `usernames` | Array | `[]` | List of Instagram usernames or profile URLs to scrape. |
| `resultsLimit` | Integer | `10` | Maximum number of reels to collect per profile. Set to 0 for unlimited. |
| `cookieHeader` | String | `""` | Optional HTTP Cookie header for authenticated scraping (e.g., to access age-restricted content). |
| `requestDelay` | Float | `1.5` | Delay between pagination requests in seconds to avoid rate limiting. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Object | `None` | Proxy settings (Residential Apify Proxy recommended). |

#### Example Configuration

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "instagram",
    "https://www.instagram.com/cristiano/"
  ],
  "resultsLimit": 20,
  "requestDelay": 2.0,
  "cookieHeader": "sessionid=YOUR_SESSION_ID;",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}
```

### How to use Instagram Reels Scraper

1. **Sign up/Log in** to your Apify account.
2. **Navigate** to this actor's page on the Apify Store and click "Try for free".
3. **Set the Target:** In the Input configuration, enter the usernames or URLs of the Instagram profiles you want to scrape in the `usernames` field.
4. **Set Limits:** Specify the `resultsLimit` to dictate how many reels you want to extract per profile.
5. **Configure Proxies & Cookies:** Add your `cookieHeader` if needed, and ensure you're using high-quality proxies to avoid blocks.
6. **Run:** Click the "Start" button.
7. **Download:** Once the run completes, navigate to the "Storage" tab. Your data is available in formats like JSON, CSV, or Excel.

### Output Format

The actor outputs data in JSON format, creating one object per scraped reel.

#### Example Output

```json
{
  "id": "3141592653589793238",
  "type": "Video",
  "shortCode": "Cabcdefghij",
  "caption": "Check out this amazing view! 🏔️ #nature #travel",
  "hashtags": ["nature", "travel"],
  "mentions": [],
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/Cabcdefghij/",
  "commentsCount": 1250,
  "dimensionsHeight": 1920,
  "dimensionsWidth": 1080,
  "images": [
    "https://instagram.fist1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/...jpg"
  ],
  "videoUrl": "https://instagram.fist1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/...mp4",
  "likesCount": 45000,
  "timestamp": "2023-10-15T12:00:00.000Z",
  "ownerFullName": "Nature Explorer",
  "ownerUsername": "nature.explorer",
  "ownerId": "987654321",
  "isPinned": false,
  "productType": "clips",
  "videoDuration": 15.5,
  "inputUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/nature.explorer/",
  "firstComment": "Stunning location!",
  "latestComments": [
    {
      "id": "180123456789",
      "text": "Stunning location!",
      "ownerUsername": "travel_fan",
      "ownerProfilePicUrl": "https://...",
      "timestamp": "2023-10-15T12:05:00.000Z",
      "repliesCount": 0,
      "likesCount": 10,
      "owner": {
        "id": "123456",
        "is_verified": false,
        "username": "travel_fan"
      }
    }
  ],
  "displayUrl": "https://instagram.fist1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/...jpg",
  "audioUrl": "https://instagram.fist1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/...mp4",
  "alt": "Video of a mountain view",
  "videoViewCount": 250000,
  "videoPlayCount": 260000,
  "childPosts": [],
  "musicInfo": {
    "artist_name": "Audio Creator",
    "song_name": "Original Audio",
    "uses_original_audio": true,
    "should_mute_audio": false,
    "should_mute_audio_reason": "",
    "audio_id": "1234567890"
  },
  "isCommentsDisabled": false,
  "transcript": "",
  "downloadedVideo": "",
  "sharesCount": 500
}
```

### Rate Limits & Error Handling

To ensure longevity and reliability, this actor is designed to use **Apify Proxies**.

- The script automatically continues paginating until it hits the `resultsLimit` or runs out of reels.
- It includes a `requestDelay` to throttle requests and mimic human behavior.
- If it encounters network blocks or missing parameters, it will skip to the next profile in your list or exit gracefully.

### Legal Considerations

This scraper extracts exclusively publicly available data accessible to any user navigating the web. It is your responsibility to ensure that your use of the extracted data complies with all applicable local laws, regulations, and terms of service. This is not legal advice.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Does it require an Instagram account?**
It can run without cookies for basic public profiles. However, Instagram often restricts access without an active session. For best results, providing a valid `cookieHeader` is recommended.

**How many reels can I scrape?**
You can set `resultsLimit` to any number. It will scrape until it reaches that limit or until the profile has no more reels available. Set it to `0` to scrape all available reels.

**What happens if a profile is private?**
The scraper will not be able to extract data from private profiles unless the provided `cookieHeader` belongs to an account that follows that private profile.

**Can I scrape multiple profiles at once?**
Yes! Just add multiple usernames or URLs to the `usernames` array in the input configuration.

# Actor input Schema

## `usernames` (type: `array`):

List of Instagram usernames (e.g. cristiano) or full profile URLs (e.g. https://www.instagram.com/cristiano/). At least one is required.

## `resultsLimit` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of Reels to scrape per username. Set to 0 for no limit.

## `cookieHeader` (type: `string`):

The full Cookie header string from your browser. In DevTools Network tab, find any Instagram request → Headers → copy the 'cookie' header value. Providing this improves success rate.

## `requestDelay` (type: `number`):

Delay between paginated requests to avoid rate limiting. Default is 1.5 seconds.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Select proxies to use. Residential proxies give the best results for Instagram.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "cristiano",
    "nasa"
  ],
  "resultsLimit": 10,
  "requestDelay": 1.5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "usernames": [
        "cristiano"
    ],
    "resultsLimit": 10,
    "cookieHeader": "",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("neuro-scraper/instagram-reeel-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 = {
    "usernames": ["cristiano"],
    "resultsLimit": 10,
    "cookieHeader": "",
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("neuro-scraper/instagram-reeel-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 '{
  "usernames": [
    "cristiano"
  ],
  "resultsLimit": 10,
  "cookieHeader": "",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call neuro-scraper/instagram-reeel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,neuro-scraper/instagram-reeel-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/cgfgpdSGlLp2uLr8W/builds/bDiLcQGlVJC3wrQJA/openapi.json