# Instagram Scraper (`spry_headset/instagram-page-post-scraper`) Actor
Standalone Instagram scraper for profile feeds, direct post/reel URLs, profile details, and visible comments. Uses Apify Proxy, supports lower-bandwidth scraping by blocking heavy media resources
- **URL**: https://apify.com/spry\_headset/instagram-page-post-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [insomniac dev](https://apify.com/spry_headset) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Social media, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 5 total users, 3 monthly users, 30.4% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet
## Pricing
from $0.50 / 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 Standalone Post/Profile Scraper
Standalone Apify Actor for scraping Instagram **profile feeds**, **direct post/reel links**, **profile details**, and **visible/latest comments**.
This actor is designed to be compatible with the **post/profile scraping workflow** used in `fabulate-dagster` while avoiding the wrapper approach.
### Key points
- standalone scraper, not a wrapper to `apify/instagram-scraper`
- uses **Apify Proxy** by default
- blocks **images, media, fonts, and stylesheets** during page load to reduce bandwidth and proxy spend
- supports profile URLs and direct post/reel URLs
- uses an API-first profile feed path and only uses DOM comment extraction on direct post/reel pages
- keeps output compatible with the fields used by the Dagster Instagram post pipeline
---
### Supported input modes
Currently supported:
- `resultsType: "posts"`
- `resultsType: "details"`
- `resultsType: "comments"`
- `resultsType: "reels"`
- `directUrls`
Currently **not** supported in standalone mode:
- search-only scraping
- `mentions`
- `stories`
- hashtag/place discovery
If no `directUrls` are provided, the actor fails with a clear error.
---
### Input example
```json
{
"resultsType": "posts",
"directUrls": [
"https://www.instagram.com/instagram/"
],
"resultsLimit": 3,
"addParentData": true,
"skipPinnedPosts": true,
"proxyConfiguration": {
"useApifyProxy": true
}
}
````
### Proxy behavior
If you do not pass `proxyConfiguration`, the actor defaults to:
```json
{
"useApifyProxy": true,
"apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
}
```
This is recommended for Instagram on Apify cloud. Datacenter IPs are more likely to get redirected to the Instagram login page.
***
### Output
The actor emits Instagram-like result objects for:
- profile feed posts
- direct post/reel URLs
- profile detail objects
- comment objects
For profile feeds, `latestComments` comes from timeline/preview data when available. For direct post/reel URLs and `resultsType="comments"`, the actor extracts the visible comments rendered on the page.
Reference schemas are documented here:
- `docs/schemas/instagram-output.schema.json`
- `docs/schemas/instagram-post.schema.json`
- `docs/schemas/instagram-comment.schema.json`
- `docs/schemas/instagram-profile.schema.json`
- `docs/schemas/instagram-hashtag.schema.json`
- `docs/schemas/instagram-place.schema.json`
These schema files are documentation aids. The actual actor dataset remains permissive.
***
### Why page loading is cheaper
This standalone actor blocks these resource types during navigation:
- images
- media
- fonts
- stylesheets
It also blocks common Instagram CDN media hosts.
That means page HTML and JavaScript still load, but heavy media payloads do not.
***
### Local run
```bash
npm install
apify run --input-file=input.json
```
***
### Dagster compatibility scope
This actor is intended to replace the **post/profile scraping** use of `apify/instagram-scraper` in `fabulate_dagster/ops/scrape_insta.py`.
It is **not** intended to replace the separate Instagram story actor.
***
### Testing
See:
- `docs/TESTING.md`
***
### Technical details
See:
- `docs/IMPLEMENTATION.md`
***
### License
ISC
# Actor input Schema
## `resultsType` (type: `string`):
**Posts** returns a feed of content. **Profile, hashtag, or place details** returns metadata about the page: follower count, bio, post count, and profile picture.
Comments only work with post URLs, e.g. `instagram.com/p/ABC123xyz/` not `instagram.com/username/`.
## `directUrls` (type: `array`):
Add one or more Instagram URLs to scrape.
URL format must match your content type:/p/ for posts and comments/reel/ for reels/username/ for profile details
Leave blank if using the search query instead.
## `resultsLimit` (type: `integer`):
Set how many posts or comments to scrape per Instagram URL. Higher values increase compute usage and cost.
Maximum 50 comments per post. Instagram may return fewer than 15 comments on some posts.
Use `1` to retrieve a single post per page.
## `onlyPostsNewerThan` (type: `string`):
Limit how far back to scrape. Enter a date in `YYYY-MM-DD`, ISO format, or as a relative value, e.g. `1 day`, `2 months`, `3 years`.
Times are in UTC, not local time. New York is UTC-5 in winter, UTC-4 in summer. Pinned posts may still appear even with this filter set.
## `search` (type: `string`):
Search for Instagram hashtags, profiles, or places.
Use `#` for hashtags, e.g. `#travel`.
## `searchType` (type: `string`):
Hashtag search returns posts tagged with that term. Profile search returns matching accounts. Place search returns matching locations.
## `searchLimit` (type: `integer`):
Set how many profiles, places, or hashtags to find.
To limit posts per result, use Results limit per URL.
Higher values increase compute usage and cost.
## `addParentData` (type: `boolean`):
This applies only to feed items. Adds a dataSource field to each result: profile posts are labeled `profile`, and tag posts are labeled `hashtag`.
## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):
Apify Proxy configuration. If omitted, this actor defaults to `{ "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] }`, which is recommended for Instagram on Apify cloud.
## Actor input object example
```json
{
"resultsType": "posts",
"directUrls": [
"https://www.instagram.com/humansofny/"
],
"resultsLimit": 100,
"searchType": "hashtag",
"searchLimit": 10,
"addParentData": false,
"proxyConfiguration": {
"useApifyProxy": true,
"apifyProxyGroups": [
"RESIDENTIAL"
]
}
}
```
# Actor output Schema
## `datasetItems` (type: `string`):
No description
# 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 = {
"resultsType": "posts",
"directUrls": [
"https://www.instagram.com/humansofny/"
],
"resultsLimit": 100,
"searchType": "hashtag",
"searchLimit": 10
};
// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("spry_headset/instagram-page-post-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 '' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("")
# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
"resultsType": "posts",
"directUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/humansofny/"],
"resultsLimit": 100,
"searchType": "hashtag",
"searchLimit": 10,
}
# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("spry_headset/instagram-page-post-scraper").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 '{
"resultsType": "posts",
"directUrls": [
"https://www.instagram.com/humansofny/"
],
"resultsLimit": 100,
"searchType": "hashtag",
"searchLimit": 10
}' |
apify call spry_headset/instagram-page-post-scraper --silent --output-dataset
```
## MCP server setup
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"apify": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"mcp-remote",
"https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=spry_headset/instagram-page-post-scraper",
"--header",
"Authorization: Bearer "
]
}
}
}
```
## OpenAPI specification
```json
{
"openapi": "3.0.1",
"info": {
"title": "Instagram Scraper",
"description": "Standalone Instagram scraper for profile feeds, direct post/reel URLs, profile details, and visible comments. Uses Apify Proxy, supports lower-bandwidth scraping by blocking heavy media resources",
"version": "0.1",
"x-build-id": "wIJmL3Orhshb15O7D"
},
"servers": [
{
"url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
}
],
"paths": {
"/acts/spry_headset~instagram-page-post-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
"post": {
"operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-spry_headset-instagram-page-post-scraper",
"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": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK"
}
}
}
},
"/acts/spry_headset~instagram-page-post-scraper/runs": {
"post": {
"operationId": "runs-sync-spry_headset-instagram-page-post-scraper",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$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": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
}
}
}
}
}
}
},
"/acts/spry_headset~instagram-page-post-scraper/run-sync": {
"post": {
"operationId": "run-sync-spry_headset-instagram-page-post-scraper",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$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": {
"resultsType": {
"title": "Content to scrape",
"enum": [
"posts",
"details",
"comments",
"reels",
"mentions",
"stories"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "**Posts** returns a feed of content. **Profile, hashtag, or place details** returns metadata about the page: follower count, bio, post count, and profile picture.
Comments only work with post URLs, e.g. `instagram.com/p/ABC123xyz/` not `instagram.com/username/`.",
"default": "posts"
},
"directUrls": {
"title": "Instagram URLs based on content type",
"uniqueItems": true,
"type": "array",
"description": "Add one or more Instagram URLs to scrape.
URL format must match your content type:/p/ for posts and comments/reel/ for reels/username/ for profile details
Leave blank if using the search query instead.",
"items": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"resultsLimit": {
"title": "Results limit per URL",
"minimum": 1,
"type": "integer",
"description": "Set how many posts or comments to scrape per Instagram URL. Higher values increase compute usage and cost.
Maximum 50 comments per post. Instagram may return fewer than 15 comments on some posts.
Use `1` to retrieve a single post per page."
},
"onlyPostsNewerThan": {
"title": "Filter by date",
"pattern": "^(\\d{4})-(0[1-9]|1[0-2])-(0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])(T[0-2]\\d:[0-5]\\d(:[0-5]\\d)?(\\.\\d+)?Z?)?$|^(\\d+)\\s*(minute|hour|day|week|month|year)s?$",
"type": "string",
"description": "Limit how far back to scrape. Enter a date in `YYYY-MM-DD`, ISO format, or as a relative value, e.g. `1 day`, `2 months`, `3 years`.
Times are in UTC, not local time. New York is UTC-5 in winter, UTC-4 in summer. Pinned posts may still appear even with this filter set."
},
"search": {
"title": "Search query",
"type": "string",
"description": "Search for Instagram hashtags, profiles, or places.
Use `#` for hashtags, e.g. `#travel`."
},
"searchType": {
"title": "Search type",
"enum": [
"hashtag",
"profile",
"place",
"user"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "Hashtag search returns posts tagged with that term. Profile search returns matching accounts. Place search returns matching locations.",
"default": "hashtag"
},
"searchLimit": {
"title": "Search results limit",
"minimum": 1,
"maximum": 250,
"type": "integer",
"description": "Set how many profiles, places, or hashtags to find.
To limit posts per result, use Results limit per URL.
Higher values increase compute usage and cost."
},
"addParentData": {
"title": "Add metadata",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "This applies only to feed items. Adds a dataSource field to each result: profile posts are labeled `profile`, and tag posts are labeled `hashtag`.",
"default": false
},
"proxyConfiguration": {
"title": "Proxy configuration",
"type": "object",
"description": "Apify Proxy configuration. If omitted, this actor defaults to `{ \"useApifyProxy\": true, \"apifyProxyGroups\": [\"RESIDENTIAL\"] }`, which is recommended for Instagram on Apify cloud.",
"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
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
```