# Instagram Public Profile Scraper (`rdan99848/instagram-profile-extractor`) Actor

Extract a public Instagram profile + its most-recent posts from a username  no login or account needed. Returns followers, following, bio, verified status and the latest posts (photo URL, caption, likes, comments, timestamp).

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rdan99848/instagram-profile-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [Dan Newton](https://apify.com/rdan99848) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools, Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 82.8% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.50 / 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 web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Public Profile Scraper

Extract a **public Instagram profile + its most-recent posts** from a username —
**no login and no account required**. The Actor calls Instagram's logged-out
`web_profile_info` endpoint, which returns public profile data plus the ~12
latest posts to anyone.

### What you get

For each run (one username):

- **Profile**: `username`, `full_name`, `biography`, `bio_links`, `external_url`,
  `follower_count`, `following_count`, `post_count`, `is_verified`,
  `is_private`, `is_business_account`, `category`, `profile_pic_url_hd`
- **`recent_media`** — the latest posts (up to 12), each with:
  `shortcode`, `post_url`, `display_url` (the photo), `thumbnail_src`,
  `is_video`, `video_url`, `taken_at_timestamp`, `like_count`,
  `comment_count`, `caption`

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `username` | string | yes | Public Instagram handle, with or without `@`. |
| `maxPosts` | integer | no | How many recent posts to include (1–12, default 12). |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | no | Apify proxy. RESIDENTIAL recommended under volume. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "username": "cristiano",
  "maxPosts": 12,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] }
}
```

### Output (one dataset item)

```json
{
  "username": "cristiano",
  "full_name": "Cristiano Ronaldo",
  "follower_count": 667938048,
  "following_count": 631,
  "post_count": 4096,
  "is_verified": true,
  "is_private": false,
  "profile_pic_url_hd": "https://...",
  "recent_media_count": 12,
  "recent_media": [
    {
      "shortcode": "DZ8gM16me2C",
      "post_url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ8gM16me2C/",
      "display_url": "https://...",
      "is_video": false,
      "like_count": 1066440,
      "comment_count": 12453,
      "taken_at_timestamp": 1782254121,
      "caption": "20 years in the making"
    }
  ]
}
```

### Notes

- Works only for **public** profiles. Private profiles return profile metadata
  but no posts.
- The primary path is a plain HTTP request (no browser). A real-Chrome fallback
  (via the bundled Xvfb base image) kicks in only if the direct request is
  blocked.
- If Instagram blocks the anonymous request, the run fails with a message
  suggesting a RESIDENTIAL proxy rather than silently returning nothing.

# Actor input Schema

## `username` (type: `string`):

A public Instagram handle, with or without the leading @ (e.g. cristiano). The profile must be public.

## `maxPosts` (type: `integer`):

How many of the most-recent posts to include (1–12). Instagram exposes up to ~12 to logged-out visitors.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Instagram serves the accountless endpoint from many IPs, but RESIDENTIAL proxies are steadier under volume and reduce blocks.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "username": "cristiano",
  "maxPosts": 12,
  "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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "username": "cristiano",
    "maxPosts": 12,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rdan99848/instagram-profile-extractor").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "username": "cristiano",
    "maxPosts": 12,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rdan99848/instagram-profile-extractor").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 '{
  "username": "cristiano",
  "maxPosts": 12,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call rdan99848/instagram-profile-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=rdan99848/instagram-profile-extractor",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/PgclKBB6QUps2E5bf/builds/dS1EJE9BRgtv6iBEE/openapi.json