📸 Instagram Reels Scraper Actor

Effortlessly extract metadata and engagement stats from public Instagram Reels URLs.

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📖 Summary

This Actor scrapes Instagram Reels pages, capturing video metadata, play/view counts, likes, comments, thumbnails, and basic user profile info. Results are normalized and pushed to the default Dataset and ALL_RESULTS key-value record.

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💡 Use cases

• Track engagement metrics on competitor Instagram Reels.
• Monitor influencer content performance.
• Collect Reel metadata for analytics pipelines.

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⚡ Quick Start (Console)

1. Go to the Actor in Apify Console.

2. Click Run.

3. Paste a JSON input such as:

   {
     "startUrls": [
       {"url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJH8mu5zsHI/"}
     ]
   }
   

4. Start the run and view results in the Dataset tab.

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⚡ Quick Start (CLI + API)

CLI

$apify run <ACTOR_ID> -p input.json

apify-client (Python)

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<APIFY_TOKEN>")
actor = client.actor("<ACTOR_ID>")
run = actor.call(run_input={
    "startUrls": [{"url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJH8mu5zsHI/"}]
})
print(f"Dataset results: {run['defaultDatasetId']}")

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📝 Inputs

• startUrls (array) – List of Instagram Reel URLs (objects with url field or raw strings).
• storageStatePath (string, optional) – Path to storage state file if using saved session.
• instagramUser (string, optional) – Instagram username for login (if required).
• instagramPass (string, optional) – Instagram password for login (if required).
• networkCaptureSeconds (float, optional, default 2.5) – Time to capture network activity.

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⚙️ Configuration

🔑 Name	📝 Type	❓ Required	⚙️ Default	📌 Example	📝 Notes
startUrls	array	✅ Yes	DEFAULT_URLS	[ {"url": "https://instagram.com/reel/..."} ]	List of target Reels
storageStatePath	string	❌ No	null	"storage_state.json"	Use saved login/session state
instagramUser	string	❌ No	null	"myusername"	Pulled from input or INSTAGRAM_USER env var
instagramPass	string	❌ No	null	"mypassword"	Pulled from input or INSTAGRAM_PASS env var
networkCaptureSeconds	float	❌ No	2.5	5.0	Adjust capture window
ALL_RESULTS	dataset	Auto	N/A	Access via key-value store	JSON array of all scraped results
INSTAGRAM_USER	env var	❌ No	null	<username>	Alternative to input key
INSTAGRAM_PASS	env var	❌ No	null	<password>	Alternative to input key

➡️ In Apify Console: Paste the JSON above into Input or set environment variables in Actor > Settings > Environment variables.

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📤 Outputs

• Default Dataset – Each scraped Reel pushed individually.
• Key-Value Store – Full results saved under key ALL_RESULTS.

Example output item:

{
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJH8mu5zsHI/",
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "code": "DJH8mu5zsHI",
      "pk": "123456789",
      "id": "987654321",
      "taken_at": 1694567890,
      "video_urls": ["https://...mp4"],
      "thumbnail": "https://...jpg",
      "play_count": 10234,
      "view_count": 10456,
      "like_count": 450,
      "comment_count": 25,
      "user": {
        "pk": "11111",
        "username": "sample_user",
        "full_name": "Sample User",
        "profile_pic_url": "https://...jpg"
      },
      "caption": "My Reel caption"
    }
  ]
}

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🔑 Environment variables

• INSTAGRAM_USER – Instagram login username (optional).
• INSTAGRAM_PASS – Instagram login password (optional).

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▶️ How to Run

Apify Console

1. Open the Actor > Run.
2. Enter input JSON (see example above).
3. Start the run and open the Dataset tab.

CLI

$apify run <ACTOR_ID> -p input.json

apify-client (Python)

run = client.actor("<ACTOR_ID>").call(run_input={"startUrls": [{"url": "https://instagram.com/reel/..."}]})

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⏰ Scheduling & Webhooks

• Scheduling: In Console, go to Actor > Schedule to configure periodic runs.
• Webhooks: Add a webhook in Actor > Webhooks to trigger events (e.g., notify when run finishes).

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🐞 Logs & Troubleshooting

• Use Log tab in Console for debugging.
• If scraping returns empty data, check login requirements or extend networkCaptureSeconds.
• For authentication issues, verify INSTAGRAM_USER and INSTAGRAM_PASS are set correctly.

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🔒 Permissions & Storage Notes

• Ensure Dataset and Key-Value Store permissions allow read/write.
• Store sensitive credentials (Instagram login) in environment variables, not hardcoded input.

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🆕 Changelog / Versioning

• Increment version when modifying schema or fields.
• Use GitHub releases or Actor versions in Console to track.

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📌 Notes / TODOs

• TODO: Confirm whether profile URLs (non-Reels) should be supported. Current assumption: Reels only.
• TODO: Confirm max number of URLs per run (depends on Apify limits).

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🌍 Proxy configuration

• In Console, enable Apify Proxy under Run options.

• To use custom proxies, set them in Actor > Settings > Proxy configuration.

• Alternatively, define env vars:

  • HTTP_PROXY=https://<PROXY_USER>:<PROXY_PASS>@host:port
  • HTTPS_PROXY=https://<PROXY_USER>:<PROXY_PASS>@host:port

• Store proxy credentials as secrets in Actor settings, not in input JSON.

• TODO: Add advanced proxy rotation patterns (if needed).

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📚 References

• Apify Actor documentation
• Input & Output schema guide
• Apify CLI

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🧐 What I inferred from main.py

• Actor expects startUrls with Instagram Reels links; defaults to one built-in Reel if none provided.
• Results are pushed both to Dataset (individual items) and KV store key ALL_RESULTS.
• Supports optional login via instagramUser/instagramPass or env vars.
• Network activity is present → included Proxy configuration section.
• TODOs flagged: confirm profile URL support & batch size limits.