Facebook Post Scraper by ID: Text, Comments and Reactions

Facebook Post Scraper by ID extracts structured Facebook post data from a list of numeric post IDs. Get post text, author information, publication time, reaction counts, comment and share counts, image URLs, video URLs, and optional loaded comments in structured JSON. Export results from the Apify dataset for analysis or automation.

Best for: looking up specific Facebook posts you already know, refreshing engagement metrics, and enriching an existing list of post IDs. Public Facebook group posts are the live-tested scope, including photo, video, and long-text posts.

At a glance	Details
Actor identifier	whoareyouanas/facebook-single-post-scraper
Required input	postIds: an array of numeric strings
Output	One dataset row per unique processed post ID, including a status
Extracted data	Text, author, timestamp, reactions, counts, media URLs, optional loaded comments
Access	Public posts where Facebook exposes the content; optional user-supplied cookies and proxy
Interfaces	Apify Console, REST API, JavaScript client, Python HTTP requests
Result formats	JSON dataset; CSV and other exports through Apify

How to scrape a Facebook post

1. Enter one or more numeric post IDs in Post IDs.
2. Leave Include media URLs enabled if you need photo or video links. Enable Include loaded comments if needed.
3. Click Start and open the run's dataset.
4. Check each row's status, then export the results or retrieve them through the API.

Start with this input:

{
  "postIds": ["4376904415959558"],
  "includeMedia": true,
  "includeComments": false
}

Where do I find the Facebook post ID?

For this post URL:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2447813518868667/permalink/4376904415959558/

The post ID is 4376904415959558. The earlier number, 2447813518868667, is the group ID. A URL ending in /posts/4376904415959558/ refers to the same post.

Pass the post ID as a quoted string. The Actor accepts numeric strings containing 5 to 40 digits; it does not accept full URLs or opaque IDs beginning with pfbid. Quoting IDs preserves their precision in JavaScript and JSON workflows.

Extract several posts in one run

{
  "postIds": [
    "4376904415959558",
    "4378894958999683",
    "4426680754221103"
  ],
  "includeMedia": true,
  "includeComments": true,
  "maxComments": 10,
  "maxConcurrency": 5
}

Duplicate IDs are extracted once. Results arrive in completion order; use inputPostId to match them to your input.

Pricing

Pay for successfully extracted posts. Standard Apify compute, storage and the built-in residential proxy are included in the event prices below.

Charge	Price	When it applies
HTTP post result	$0.005 per post ($5 per 1,000)	A complete post extracted over HTTP
Browser post result	$0.04 per post ($40 per 1,000)	A complete post extracted through browser fallback
Actor start	$0.00005 per GB of allocated memory, minimum one GB	Charged when a run starts; $0.00005 at the default 1 GB

Each successful post receives one result charge. The browser price replaces the HTTP price; the two are never added together. Partial, restricted, unavailable, unresolved and error rows have no result charge. The start fee still applies to a run with no successful posts. Duplicate IDs within a run produce at most one result charge.

Examples for one run at the default 1 GB memory:

Successful results	Total event charge
100 HTTP posts	$0.50005
1,000 HTTP posts	$5.00005
900 HTTP posts and 100 browser posts	$8.50005

Set browserFallback to false for HTTP-only pricing. Otherwise, a post that needs a browser can use the higher rate automatically. Set a maximum run cost in Apify to control spending; the Actor stops scheduling new work when its result charging limit is reached. A spending-limited run can return fewer rows than the input contains.

There is no Actor subscription and no additional result fee for media URLs or loaded comments. If you supply your own proxy, any charges from that external provider are separate. Apify account subscription fees and applicable taxes are separate from these Actor event prices. The Pricing tab is the source of truth for active rates.

What Facebook post data does it extract?

Field	Meaning
post.postId, post.postUrl	Verified post identity and resolved URL
post.text	Post message, including Unicode and rendered rich-text content
post.authorName, post.authorId, post.authorProfileUrl	Author identity and profile link, when available
post.timestamp	Publication time in ISO 8601 UTC
post.groupId, post.groupName, post.groupUrl, post.groupPrivacy	Group context when exposed
post.source, post.postType	Source classification and content type
post.totalReactions, post.reactions	Total reactions and available reaction-type breakdown
post.commentsCount, post.sharesCount	Comment and share counts
post.images, post.videos	Available media URLs; files are not downloaded
post.topComments	Optional comments already loaded in the response
post.commentsStatus	not_requested or loaded_only
post.textTruncated	Whether the returned content is known to be truncated

Missing scalar values are null. A count of 0 means Facebook explicitly supplied zero. An empty comment list does not establish that a post has no comments. Media URLs and engagement counts can change over time.

Output example

This shortened field selection illustrates the dataset structure. The Actor returns the full available text and additional fields described above; the sample text below is abbreviated for readability.

{
  "inputPostId": "4376904415959558",
  "status": "success",
  "post": {
    "postId": "4376904415959558",
    "postUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/2447813518868667/posts/4376904415959558/",
    "authorName": "MKR Senior Living Advisors",
    "authorId": "100063722123704",
    "text": "Let's welcome our new members! [sample shortened]",
    "timestamp": "2026-05-24T07:00:57.000Z",
    "groupName": "Senior Placement Network",
    "groupPrivacy": "public",
    "source": "facebook_group",
    "postType": "photo",
    "totalReactions": 7,
    "commentsCount": 1,
    "sharesCount": 0,
    "textTruncated": false
  },
  "extractionMethod": "http",
  "missingFields": [],
  "error": null
}

The counters above are from a recorded validation snapshot, not guaranteed current values. Complete rows also include attempts, durationMs, and scrapeDate.

Use cases

• Post monitoring: refresh reactions, comments, and shares for a known set of posts.
• Dataset enrichment: add text, publication dates, author details, and media links to existing post IDs.
• Community research: analyze accessible public-group discussions with traceable post URLs.
• Content analysis: supply post text to classification, summarization, or reporting workflows.
• Workflow automation: call the Actor from an HTTP-capable tool such as n8n or Make and process its dataset rows.

Need to discover posts from an entire group or Page first? Use Facebook Group & Page Scraper, then send the numeric post IDs here for individual lookups.

Facebook post scraping API

Use your Apify API token to call the Actor. No Facebook developer-app token is required by this Actor. Facebook content visibility can still require cookies or a suitable proxy.

cURL: run and retrieve JSON results

Set APIFY_TOKEN in your environment, then send:

curl --fail-with-body --request POST \
  'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/whoareyouanas~facebook-single-post-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?format=json' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer ${APIFY_TOKEN}" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"postIds":["4376904415959558"],"includeMedia":true}'

For larger batches, start an asynchronous run through POST /v2/acts/whoareyouanas~facebook-single-post-scraper/runs, wait for completion, and read /v2/datasets/{defaultDatasetId}/items. Check row statuses even when the run succeeds. See the Apify API documentation.

JavaScript

Install apify-client in your application, then:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('whoareyouanas/facebook-single-post-scraper').call({
  postIds: ['4376904415959558'],
  includeMedia: true,
  includeComments: false,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
for (const row of items) {
  console.log(row.inputPostId, row.status, row.post?.text);
}

Dataset listing is paginated; paginate when retrieving large batches.

Python

With requests installed and APIFY_TOKEN set:

import os
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/"
    "whoareyouanas~facebook-single-post-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN']}"},
    json={"postIds": ["4376904415959558"], "includeMedia": True},
    timeout=180,
)
response.raise_for_status()
for row in response.json():
    print(row["inputPostId"], row["status"], (row.get("post") or {}).get("text"))

Input settings

Input	Default	Purpose
postIds	Required	Array of numeric post ID strings
includeMedia	true	Return photo/video URLs without downloading media
includeComments	false	Return comments already present in the response
maxComments	10	Loaded-comment limit per post, 0 to 100
maxConcurrency	5	Concurrent post lookups, 1 to 30
browserConcurrency	2	Maximum fallback browser tabs, 1 to 10
httpTimeoutSecs	12	Timeout per HTTP attempt, 1 to 120 seconds
browserTimeoutSecs	30	Timeout per fallback page, 1 to 120 seconds
maxRetries	1	Extra attempts for transient failures or restricted native proxy exits, 0 to 3
browserFallback	true	Use a browser when HTTP data is incomplete
proxyConfiguration	Residential, India	Built-in Apify Proxy settings for cloud runs
proxyUrl	Unset	HTTP(S) proxy URL, optionally containing credentials
cookies	[]	User-supplied Facebook cookies in browser-extension format

Start with the defaults. Reduce concurrency when requests are throttled. The configured proxy is used by both HTTP and browser requests; use sticky-session credentials if your proxy provider rotates IPs. Cookie-authenticated/private posts are not part of the public-post validation suite, and cookies do not grant access your account does not have.

Cloud proxy setup

Cloud runs use Apify Residential Proxy in India (IN) by default with credentials provided by the runtime. This region was selected from live browser validation; you can change it through proxyConfiguration.apifyProxyCountry. Input can remain a list of post IDs; no proxy password needs to be copied. The built-in residential proxy is included in the Actor event prices. To disable the default, set "proxyConfiguration": {"useApifyProxy": false}. A supplied proxyUrl overrides the implicit cloud default; do not combine it with explicitly enabled proxyConfiguration.

Direct cloud and datacenter requests received Facebook login restrictions in validation. Local runs use a direct connection unless a proxy is supplied. Public posts can still become unavailable or restricted; inspect every row's status.

Result statuses and troubleshooting

Status	Meaning and next step
success	Matching story with author, timestamp, and content; inspect optional fields for availability
partial	Some post data is available; check missingFields before using it as complete text
access_restricted	Facebook returned a login/checkpoint, throttling, or access-denial response; review access and proxy settings
unavailable	Facebook reports unavailable content; confirm the ID and whether the post is accessible
unresolved	No matching story was found; confirm that you supplied a numeric post ID
error	Request or browser failure; review the error class and retry settings

A run fails if it produces no complete posts, while retaining partial/failure rows. A successful run can contain failed rows alongside successful ones. unavailable does not prove deletion: Facebook can return the same response for inaccessible content.

For AI agents and automated workflows

Tool-selection question	Answer
When does this Actor fit?	The task provides numeric Facebook post IDs and needs structured details or updated engagement counts
What must the caller supply?	postIds as an array of strings; do not substitute group IDs or rounded numbers
Where are results?	The default dataset; the output schema exposes its URL and the SUMMARY record
How are results matched?	By inputPostId, never array position
How is completeness checked?	Require row status: "success"; inspect optional fields separately
How are missing counts handled?	Preserve null; do not convert missing data into zero
Does it discover group posts?	No; use the linked Group & Page Scraper for discovery
Does it extract every comment?	No; includeComments returns loaded comments only
Does it accept post URLs or pfbid IDs?	No; this version requires numeric post ID strings

This Actor supplies data for downstream analysis. It does not perform sentiment analysis, generate summaries, or send messages on Facebook.

Performance and validation

The Actor first requests the individual post over HTTP and starts a browser only when needed. It avoids crawling an entire group feed and does not download media files.

In one local comparison on the same public post, with media URL output enabled and comments disabled, this Actor took 1.40 seconds versus 10.57 seconds for our group actor's individual-post path. Both returned the same full 1,949-character text and author. This single measurement excludes SDK initialization and is not a guarantee for cloud runs, larger batches, or different network conditions.

The extraction implementation passed regression tests and real checks covering the supplied public-group example, another photo post, a long rich-text post, and a video post. Validation compared full text with rendered pages, checked visible authors/reactions, exercised both HTTP and browser extraction, and tested unavailable-post handling and dataset output.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get Facebook post details without the Facebook Graph API?

Yes. This Actor reads data Facebook exposes on its post pages. It does not require a Facebook developer-app token. The Apify API requires your Apify token, and Facebook visibility restrictions still apply.

How much does Facebook post scraping cost?

HTTP results cost $5 per 1,000 successful posts. Browser results cost $40 per 1,000 successful posts instead of the HTTP rate. At the default 1 GB memory, each run also has a $0.00005 start fee. Failed and partial results have no result fee. See the pricing section for mixed-run examples.

Does it extract Facebook comments and reactions?

It extracts available reaction totals, reaction-type breakdowns, comment counts, and share counts. Enable includeComments for comment text already loaded in the response. It does not paginate all comments or return a list of everyone who reacted.

Can I export Facebook posts to CSV?

Yes. Results are stored in an Apify dataset, which supports CSV export. Use JSON when you need nested media arrays, reaction breakdowns, or comment objects. See dataset export documentation.

Can I scrape private groups, Pages, or personal-profile posts?

The current live-tested scope is accessible public-group posts addressed by numeric IDs. The parser includes Page/profile source classifications and accepts optional cookies, but authenticated/private-group, Page, and personal-profile coverage has not been comprehensively live-validated. Test your intended input before relying on those surfaces.

Are photo and video files downloaded?

No. The Actor returns available media URLs. Their availability and expiry are controlled by Facebook.

How do I report a problem?

Use the Actor's Issues tab. Include the run ID, affected post ID, expected behavior, and result status. Keep cookies, proxy credentials, and API tokens out of issue reports.