Facebook Reels Scraper

Facebook Reels Scraper

Facebook Reels Scraper is a cloud actor that collects public Reels from the Facebook profiles you choose and streams structured metadata to your Apify dataset. It solves the grind of manual copy-paste by extracting reel URLs, captions, timestamps, media and audio details in bulk. Built for marketers, developers, analysts, and researchers, this Facebook Reels video scraper scales from quick spot checks to large monitoring pipelines — with proxy support for stable runs.

What data / output can you get?

Below are real output field names produced by the actor (pushed to the dataset for each reel). Values are illustrative.

Data type	Description	Example value
facebookUrl	The base profile/page URL resolved for the reel’s owner	https://www.facebook.com/LeonardoDiCaprio/
inputUrl	The reel page that was fetched	https://www.facebook.com/reel/123456789012345
topLevelUrl	Canonical top-level post URL built from post_id when available	https://facebook.com/123456789012345/posts/undefined/
topLevelReelUrl	Shareable reel URL (always ends with /)	https://www.facebook.com/reel/123456789012345/
text	Reel caption/description text	Protecting our oceans starts here.
time	Publishing time in ISO 8601 (UTC) when available	2025-11-03T12:34:56.000Z
play_count_reduced	Display-formatted plays string from Facebook	3.6M
playCountRounded	Parsed integer approximation of plays	3600000
shareable_url	Canonical shareable reel URL from the page JSON	https://www.facebook.com/reel/123456789012345
video_owner	Object describing the owner (name, id, url, etc.)	{"name":"Leonardo DiCaprio","id":"…","url":"…"}
playback_video	Object with media metadata (length_in_second, image.uri, etc.)	{"id":"123…","length_in_second":45.0,"image":{"uri":"…"}}
video	Video node (id, playable_duration_in_ms, thumbnails, etc.)	{"id":"123…","playable_duration_in_ms":45000}
attachments	Attachments array with primary media object(s)	[{"media":{"id":"123…","owner":{"id":"…"}}}]
tracking	Tracking metadata (may include top_level_post_id, page_insights…)	{"top_level_post_id":"123…","page_insights":{…}}
is_passive_content	Boolean flag from short_form_video_context	false
soundtrack_info	Audio metadata object (may be set to CUSTOM_AUDIO for originals)	{"type":"CUSTOM_AUDIO"}
track_title	Track title or “{Owner} · Original audio” when applicable	Leonardo DiCaprio · Original audio
music_album_art_uri	Album art URL for the soundtrack (if provided)	https://…/album.jpg
is_original_audio_on_facebook	Whether the audio is original on Facebook	true
self_view_boost	Numeric/nullable flag from the page JSON	null
remix_info	Remix-related metadata (status, is_remixable)	{"is_remixable":false,"status":"DISABLED"}
video_owner_type	Owner type string	FACEBOOK_USER
if_should_change_url_for_reels	Object with shareable_url hints	{"shareable_url":"https://www.facebook.com/reel/123…"}
startUrl	The original profile URL you submitted for this reel	https://www.facebook.com/LeonardoDiCaprio/
parse_error	Present when the page parsed with warnings	short_form_video_context not found in page JSON
http_status	Present when response status is not 200	429
request_error	Present if the request failed/retried and ultimately errored	ProxyError

Notes:

• Bonus media metadata often appears inside playback_video, video, attachments, and tracking objects (e.g., thumbnails, duration, audio language).
• Export your dataset to JSON, CSV, or Excel directly from Apify.
• Some fields may be empty or null depending on availability (e.g., soundtrack_info, track_title, time, attachments).

Key features

• 🔄 Batch scraping & streaming saves Pushes each reel to your dataset as soon as it’s extracted — no need to wait for the run to finish. Ideal for pipelines and real-time monitoring.

• 🕒 Flexible time filter Use the “Only posts newer than” setting with absolute dates or relative phrases like “7 days” or “2 weeks” to skip older reels.

• 🔢 Per‑profile results cap Control throughput with Max Reels per profile (up to 10,000) for targeted sampling or full archives.

• 🧠 Resilient pagination & ID discovery Combines profile and reels-tab HTML parsing with GraphQL pagination to discover more public reel IDs reliably.

• ⚡ Parallel fetching with smart backoff Concurrency and retry logic reduce throttling; transient errors are handled with backoff and per-reel retries.

• 🔒 Proxy support built‑in Seamlessly route traffic via Apify Proxy. Residential groups are recommended for Facebook stability.

• 🧾 Rich metadata extraction Captures captions, timestamps, shareable URLs, approximate play counts, owner info, media dimensions, thumbnails, and audio flags — a complete Facebook Reels metadata scraper for analysis.

• 🧰 Developer‑friendly, API‑ready Access results through the Apify Dataset API, integrate with Make/n8n/Zapier, or consume via your favorite Facebook Reels scraping API workflows. Works great in bulk Facebook Reels scraper scenarios.

• 📤 Easy exports One click to export to JSON, CSV, or Excel for dashboards, BI tools, and data warehouses.

How to use Facebook Reels Scraper - step by step

1. Create or log in to your Apify account.
2. Open the “Facebook Reels Scraper” actor and click Try for free.
3. Paste profile identifiers under “Profile URLs” (startUrls). You can use:
   • Full profile links like https://www.facebook.com/LeonardoDiCaprio/
   • People/profile.php links
   • Bare usernames (e.g., LeonardoDiCaprio) — they’ll be resolved to full URLs.
4. Set “Max Reels per profile” (resultsLimit) to control the number of items per profile.
5. (Optional) Apply a time filter in “Only posts newer than” — choose a calendar date or enter a relative window like “7 days”.
6. (Recommended) Configure “Proxy” to use Apify Proxy with RESIDENTIAL group for higher success rates.
7. Click Start. The run queues discovered reels, fetches them in parallel, and streams rows into the dataset.
8. Open the run’s Dataset to preview, then export to JSON, CSV, or Excel. Pro Tip: Schedule the actor and consume data via the Apify API to build a continuous Facebook Reels crawler in your analytics stack.

Use cases

Use case name	Description
Social media monitoring & trend tracking	Aggregate public reels across key profiles to spot trending topics and content formats faster.
Content research & benchmarking	Compare captions, posting cadence, and media patterns across creators to inform your strategy.
Influencer & creator analysis	Build datasets with owner info, reel URLs, and playback metadata for discovery and vetting.
Marketing & campaign reporting	Export structured reel records to CSV/Excel for performance summaries and stakeholder reporting.
Data pipelines & warehousing	Pull structured JSON via the Apify API and load it into your data lake or BI dashboards.
Academic & market research	Collect public Facebook Reels datasets for longitudinal studies and media analysis.
Developer workflows (API)	Use the actor as a Facebook Reels data extractor via Apify’s REST API in Python/Node workflows.

Why choose Facebook Reels Scraper?

Built for precision, scale, and operational reliability on Apify Cloud.

• ✅ Accurate metadata parsing: Extracts captions, timestamps, owner, shareable URLs, and media/audio details directly from page JSON.
• 📈 Scales from quick tests to large jobs: Control depth via resultsLimit and time filters; pagination discovers more reels when available.
• 🔌 Developer access: Fetch results with the Apify Dataset API and automate with Make, n8n, Zapier, or your custom Python stack.
• 🔒 Stable with proxies: Native Apify Proxy support; residential IPs recommended for resilient Facebook runs.
• 🧳 Export-ready: Download as JSON, CSV, or Excel without extra tooling.
• 🛡️ Cloud reliability: Production-ready infrastructure with concurrency, retries, and backoff built in — no fragile browser extensions required.

In short, this Facebook Reels scraper tool combines reliability with structured outputs that are easy to integrate.

Is it legal / ethical to use Facebook Reels Scraper?

Yes — when used responsibly. This actor collects data from publicly accessible Facebook Reels and does not access private or authenticated content.

Guidelines to stay compliant:

• Only target public profiles/reels you are permitted to analyze.
• Avoid personal or sensitive information and respect platform terms.
• Ensure your use complies with applicable laws (e.g., data protection regulations).
• Consult your legal team for edge cases or jurisdiction-specific rules.

Input parameters & output format

Example JSON input

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.facebook.com/people/Emily-Olivia/61563061022550/",
    "https://www.facebook.com/LeonardoDiCaprio/"
  ],
  "resultsLimit": 10,
  "onlyPostsNewerThan": "7 days",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Parameters

Field	Type	Description	Required	Default
startUrls	array[string]	One URL per line — e.g. facebook.com/YourPage or a /people/… link. Usernames without https:// work too.	Yes	—
resultsLimit	integer	Stop after this many Reels from each profile (newest‑first order where available).	No	10
onlyPostsNewerThan	string	Absolute date or a rolling window like “7 days”, “2 weeks”. Leave blank for no cutoff.	No	""
proxyConfiguration	object	Route traffic through Apify Proxy (recommended for fewer blocks).	No	—

Notes:

• startUrls is required.
• Residential proxies are recommended for Facebook; your proxy settings apply to all HTTP requests in the run.

Example JSON output

Successful reel record:

{
  "facebookUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/LeonardoDiCaprio/",
  "inputUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/reel/123456789012345",
  "topLevelUrl": "https://facebook.com/123456789012345/posts/undefined/",
  "topLevelReelUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/reel/123456789012345/",
  "text": "Protecting our oceans starts here.",
  "time": "2025-11-03T12:34:56.000Z",
  "play_count_reduced": "3.6M",
  "playCountRounded": 3600000,
  "attachments": [],
  "tracking": {"top_level_post_id": "123456789012345"},
  "self_view_boost": null,
  "video": {"id": "123456789012345", "playable_duration_in_ms": 45000},
  "if_should_change_url_for_reels": {"shareable_url": "https://www.facebook.com/reel/123456789012345"},
  "shareable_url": "https://www.facebook.com/reel/123456789012345",
  "playback_video": {
    "id": "123456789012345",
    "length_in_second": 45.0,
    "image": { "uri": "https://example.com/thumb.jpg" },
    "audio_user_preferred_language": "en"
  },
  "video_owner": {
    "__typename": "User",
    "name": "Leonardo DiCaprio",
    "url": "https://www.facebook.com/LeonardoDiCaprio/"
  },
  "is_passive_content": false,
  "fb_shorts_reshare_context": {},
  "remix_info": { "is_remixable": false, "status": "DISABLED" },
  "video_owner_type": "FACEBOOK_USER",
  "soundtrack_info": { "type": "CUSTOM_AUDIO" },
  "track_title": "Leonardo DiCaprio · Original audio",
  "music_album_art_uri": "https://example.com/album.jpg",
  "is_original_audio_on_facebook": true,
  "startUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/LeonardoDiCaprio/"
}

Request-level error (per-reel fetch failed after retries):

{
  "inputUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/reel/999999999999999",
  "request_error": "ProxyError"
}

Profile-level error (unexpected failure when processing a profile URL):

{
  "startUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/somepage/",
  "error": "Network timeout",
  "type": "profile_error"
}

Notes:

• Fields like soundtrack_info, track_title, time, and attachments may be missing or empty if not present in the source page JSON.
• http_status and parse_error appear only when relevant (non-200 responses or partial parse warnings).

FAQ

Do I need to log in to scrape public Facebook Reels?

No. The actor targets public Facebook Reels and does not require login or cookies. For stability, it’s recommended to enable Apify Proxy with a RESIDENTIAL group.

How many reels can I scrape per profile?

You can set Max Reels per profile (resultsLimit) up to 10,000. The actor discovers and fetches reels newest-first where available and streams each row as it’s saved.

Can I filter by date or recency?

Yes. Use “Only posts newer than” with an absolute date or a relative phrase like “7 days” or “2 weeks” to skip older reels.

Is there an API to access the results?

Yes. Every run writes to an Apify dataset you can fetch via the Apify REST API. This makes it easy to build a Facebook Reels scraping API pipeline for dashboards or ETL.

Does this download videos?

The actor extracts rich media metadata and playback fields (e.g., playback_video with IDs, durations, and thumbnails). You can use these to build a Facebook Reels downloader workflow in your own systems if permitted.

Is this a Facebook Reels scraper Chrome extension?

No. It’s a cloud-based Facebook Reels scraper tool on Apify. That means higher reliability, proxy support, and easy JSON/CSV/Excel exports without installing a browser extension.

Can I use it with Python?

Yes. While the actor runs in Apify Cloud, you can consume its dataset from Python (or Node.js) using the Apify API. This is a great way to integrate a Facebook Reels scraper Python pipeline into your stack.

What data fields are included?

Top-level fields include facebookUrl, inputUrl, topLevelReelUrl, text, time, play_count_reduced, playCountRounded, shareable_url, video_owner, playback_video, video, attachments, tracking, and more. Error-related fields like request_error, parse_error, and http_status appear only when relevant.

Closing CTA / Final thoughts

Facebook Reels Scraper is built to turn public Facebook Reels into clean, structured records for analysis and automation. With per‑profile limits, flexible time filtering, proxy support, and streaming saves, it’s ideal for marketers, analysts, researchers, and developers who need a dependable Facebook Reels data extractor.

Export to CSV/JSON/Excel, wire it into your BI stack, or pull results via the Apify API for a fully automated pipeline. Start extracting smarter, at scale — and if you need custom features, reach out at dev.scraperengine@gmail.com.