# Instagram Advanced Scraper (`oneary/instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass`) Actor Advanced Instagram scraper with rate-limit bypass. Extract profiles, posts, reels, followers, following, bios, engagement metrics. Scrapes public Instagram data at scale. - **URL**: https://apify.com/oneary/instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass.md - **Developed by:** [Luan M.](https://apify.com/oneary) (community) - **Categories:** Social media - **Stats:** 1 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $10.00 / 1,000 results 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 Advanced Scraper (Rate Limit Bypass) [![Apify Actor](https://img.shields.io/badge/Apify-Actor-blue)](https://apify.com/) [![Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/version-0.1.0-green)]() An advanced Instagram scraper for Apify that bypasses rate limits using residential proxy rotation, user-agent rotation, and anti-bot detection techniques. Scrapes profiles, posts, stories, and engagement metrics. ### Features - **Profile Scraping**: Extract username, full name, bio, follower count, following count, post count, and verified status - **Post Scraping**: Extract post URLs, captions, likes, comments, and media URLs - **Story Scraping**: Optionally scrape Instagram Stories from profile pages - **Comment Extraction**: Optionally scrape comments on each post - **Rate Limit Bypass**: - Residential proxy rotation (Apify RESIDENTIAL group) - 5 modern user-agent rotation - Anti-bot detection via `navigator.webdriver` override and Chrome runtime spoofing - Random delays between requests (2-5s) - Max 3 requests per profile to avoid triggering rate limits - Retry on failure (up to 3 retries) ### Input | Field | Type | Default | Description | |-------|------|---------|-------------| | `profileUrls` | `array[string]` | `["https://www.instagram.com/"]` | Instagram URLs (profiles, posts, or stories) | | `maxPosts` | `integer` | `50` | Max posts to scrape per profile (max 500) | | `includeStories` | `boolean` | `false` | Also scrape Instagram Stories | | `includeComments` | `boolean` | `false` | Also scrape comments on posts | | `proxyConfiguration` | `object` | `{ useApifyProxy: true, apifyProxyGroups: ["RESIDENTIAL"] }` | Proxy config — **RESIDENTIAL proxies strongly recommended** | ### Output Each dataset item has a `type` field: `"profile"`, `"post"`, `"story"`, or `"error"`. #### Profile ```json { "type": "profile", "username": "example", "fullName": "Example Account", "bio": "This is a bio", "followerCount": 1234, "followingCount": 567, "postCount": 89, "isVerified": false, "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/example/", "scrapedAt": "2025-06-06T12:00:00.000Z" } ```` #### Post ```json { "type": "post", "postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/", "caption": "Post caption here", "likesCount": 150, "commentsCount": 12, "mediaUrl": "https://...", "username": "example", "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/example/", "comments": [], "scrapedAt": "2025-06-06T12:00:00.000Z" } ``` ### Rate Limit Bypass Strategy Instagram significantly increased rate limiting in Q1 2025, breaking many existing scrapers. This actor implements: 1. **Residential Proxies**: Essential for avoiding blocks. Datacenter proxies are frequently blocked. 2. **User-Agent Rotation**: 5 modern browser user-agents rotated per request 3. **Anti-Detection Scripts**: `navigator.webdriver` set to `false`, Chrome runtime spoofing, valid plugin and language values 4. **Random Delays**: 2-5 second delay after each page load, plus 1-3 second pre-scrape delay 5. **Request Limits**: Max 3 requests per profile URL pattern 6. **Retry Logic**: Failed requests retried up to 3 times ### Local Development ```bash ## Install dependencies npm install ## Run syntax check node --check src/main.js ## Run locally (requires Apify token and proxy) APIFY_TOKEN=your_token_here node src/main.js ``` ### Technical Notes - Built with **Crawlee PlaywrightCrawler** for robust browser automation - ES module format (`"type": "module"`) - Compatible with Apify platform's `apify/actor-node-playwright-chrome` Docker image - Selectors target multiple DOM patterns for resilience against Instagram's dynamic class names # Actor input Schema ## `profileUrls` (type: `array`): Instagram profile URLs (defaults to instagram.com/apify/) ## `maxPosts` (type: `integer`): Max posts per profile ## `includeStories` (type: `boolean`): Scrape stories ## `includeComments` (type: `boolean`): Scrape comments on posts ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy config ## Actor input object example ```json { "profileUrls": [ "https://www.instagram.com/apify/" ], "maxPosts": 5, "includeStories": false, "includeComments": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # 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 = { "profileUrls": [ "https://www.instagram.com/apify/" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("oneary/instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass").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 = { "profileUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/apify/"], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("oneary/instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass").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 '{ "profileUrls": [ "https://www.instagram.com/apify/" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call oneary/instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=oneary/instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Instagram Advanced Scraper", "description": "Advanced Instagram scraper with rate-limit bypass. Extract profiles, posts, reels, followers, following, bios, engagement metrics. Scrapes public Instagram data at scale.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "9u8z5n254sN5vZv0P" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/oneary~instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-oneary-instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/oneary~instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-oneary-instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/oneary~instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-oneary-instagram-advanced-scraper-rate-limit-bypass", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "properties": { "profileUrls": { "title": "Profile URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Instagram profile URLs (defaults to instagram.com/apify/)", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxPosts": { "title": "Max Posts", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Max posts per profile", "default": 5 }, "includeStories": { "title": "Include Stories", "type": "boolean", "description": "Scrape stories", "default": false }, "includeComments": { "title": "Include Comments", "type": "boolean", "description": "Scrape comments on posts", "default": false }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy config", "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```