# Instagram Mentions Scraper (`scrapapi/instagram-mentions-scraper`) Actor 📣 Instagram Mentions Scraper (instagram-mentions-scraper) scrapes and exports IG @mentions of any handle—captions, authors, dates, links & engagement. 🔎 Ideal for brand monitoring, social listening, PR & influencer outreach. ⚡ Fast, reliable; CSV/Sheets-ready. - **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapapi/instagram-mentions-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [ScrapAPI](https://apify.com/scrapapi) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, Social media - **Stats:** 4 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $19.99/month + usage To use this Actor, you pay a monthly rental fee to the developer. The rent is subtracted from your prepaid usage every month after the free trial period.You also pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher Apify subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#rental-actors ## 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 Mentions Scraper Instagram Mentions Scraper is an Apify actor that scans public Instagram posts for specified usernames and extracts structured @mentions and tagged users from their content — along with captions, hashtags, engagement, media URLs, and timestamps. It solves the “how to scrape Instagram mentions at scale” problem by turning raw profile posts into a clean dataset you can export and analyze. Built for marketers, developers, data analysts, and researchers, this Instagram mention scraper and IG mentions scraper helps you track Instagram mentions, power brand monitoring, and automate reporting with repeatable workflows. ### What is Instagram Mentions Scraper? Instagram Mentions Scraper is a production-ready Apify actor that fetches public posts from the usernames you provide and parses out the @mentions in captions and the tagged users in media. It enables marketers and analysts to scrape Instagram mentions and export Instagram mentions for downstream analytics. Designed for social listening and competitive tracking, it’s suitable for teams that need an Instagram mentions extractor and Instagram brand mentions tracker they can automate at scale. ### What data / output can you get? Below are the primary output fields this Instagram mentions monitoring tool emits to the Apify dataset, using the exact field names: | Data type | Description | Example value | | --- | --- | --- | | inputUrl | Profile URL that was used as the input context | https://www.instagram.com/natgeo | | id | Unique post identifier (pk or id) | 3135467890123456789 | | type | Media type label | Image | | shortCode | Instagram short code | Cq1AbCdEfG | | caption | Full post caption text | “Exploring deserts with @geophoto — #nature #travel” | | hashtags | Unique hashtags parsed from caption | ["nature","travel"] | | mentions | Unique @mentions parsed from caption | ["geophoto"] | | url | Canonical post URL | https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq1AbCdEfG/ | | commentsCount | Total comment count | 128 | | likesCount | Total likes | 15432 | | timestamp | ISO datetime derived from taken_at | 2025-10-09T13:00:01.00Z | | displayUrl | Main media URL (image/video thumbnail) | https://…/example.jpg | Bonus outputs for richer analytics: - firstComment, latestComments (array of { id, text, username }) - dimensionsHeight, dimensionsWidth - images (array, for carousels) - videoPlayCount - childPosts (array with id, type, shortCode, url, dimensions, displayUrl, videoPlayCount) - locationName - ownerFullName, ownerUsername, ownerId - productType - taggedUsers (array of { full_name, id, is_private, is_verified, profile_pic_url, profile_pic_url_hd, username }) - musicInfo (object with audio_canonical_id, audio_type, music_info, original_sound_info, pinned_media_ids) You can export datasets to CSV, JSON, or Excel directly from Apify for BI dashboards and pipelines. ### Key features - 🧭 Mention & tag parsing in one pass Extracts @mentions from captions and tagged users from media, making it a focused Instagram mentions data extractor for brand and partner tracking. - 🌐 Automatic residential proxy handling Always uses RESIDENTIAL proxy for Instagram with up to 3 automatic retries on blocks, improving resilience on large runs. - 🔄 Parallel multi-profile processing Built-in concurrency allows processing multiple usernames in parallel (up to 2 at a time) to speed up collections across accounts. - ⚙️ Configurable post limits Control volume with resultsLimit per profile (0 or 10000+ for unlimited; otherwise minimum 20) to balance speed and cost. - 📤 Real-time dataset streaming Posts are pushed to the Apify dataset as they’re found, enabling streaming use cases and faster time-to-insight. - 🖼️ Rich media & carousel support Captures displayUrl, dimensions, images for carousels, childPosts metadata, and videoPlayCount for comprehensive content analysis. - 🧩 Developer-friendly & API-ready Runs as an Apify actor with structured fields for easy integration into pipelines (dashboards, ETL, or alerting). Perfect as an Instagram mentions API scraper component. - 🛡️ Rate-limit aware with retries Handles 403/429 responses by rotating residential proxy URLs and retrying intelligently. ### How to use Instagram Mentions Scraper — step by step 1. 🔑 Sign in to Apify Create a free Apify account or log in. 2. 🔍 Open the actor Find “Instagram Mentions Scraper” in the Apify Store. 3. 🧾 Add input data Provide one or more Instagram usernames in the username array (e.g., ["natgeo","cristiano"]). You can paste raw usernames, @handles, or profile URLs — the actor normalizes them. 4. ⚙️ Set scraping limits Use resultsLimit to control how many posts to collect per profile. Set 0 or 10000+ for unlimited; otherwise the minimum is 20. 5. 🌐 Review proxy settings An optional proxyConfiguration field is available, but the actor ALWAYS uses RESIDENTIAL proxy for Instagram with up to 3 retries automatically. 6. 🚀 Run the actor Click Start. The run logs will show progress by page and how many posts were added. Multiple usernames can run in parallel. 7. 💾 Download results When finished (or even during the run), open the Dataset tab to view and export results to JSON, CSV, or Excel. Pro Tip: Schedule your runs in Apify, and pull the dataset via API to power an Instagram mentions monitoring tool or alert pipeline. ### Use cases | Use case | Description | | --- | --- | | Brand monitoring + mentions parsing | Track @mentions in captions and tagged users on posts from the profiles you monitor, then export Instagram mentions for analysis. | | Influencer campaign QA | Verify how creators tag partners and who they mention in campaign posts to ensure contract compliance. | | Competitor watch | Collect competitor posts and analyze their tagged users and mention networks for partnerships and collabs. | | Content research & analytics | Enrich posts with hashtags, mentions, and engagement for trend and topic analysis across multiple accounts. | | Data pipeline/API ingestion | Feed structured fields to BI tools or a custom Instagram mentions analytics tool via the Apify API. | | Academic & market research | Build reproducible datasets for research on public discourse, networks, and engagement patterns. | ### Why choose Instagram Mentions Scraper? A precise, automation-ready Instagram mentions extractor built on Apify’s infrastructure. - ⚙️ Production reliability: Automatic residential proxy with up to 3 retries on blocks, plus rate-limit-aware rotation. - 🧱 Structured outputs: Clean, typed fields designed for analytics and downstream processing. - ⚡ Parallelism: Processes multiple usernames concurrently for faster throughput. - 📦 Real-time streaming: Pushes each post to the dataset immediately as it’s parsed. - 🧩 Developer access: Use the Apify API to integrate with dashboards, ETL, or alerting systems. - 🛡️ Public-only data: Scrapes publicly available posts — no login or private data. - 🔁 Better than extensions: Unlike brittle browser add-ons, it’s a server-side, scalable IG mentions scraper you can schedule and automate. ### Is it legal / ethical to use Instagram Mentions Scraper? Yes — when used responsibly. This actor collects publicly available data from Instagram posts and does not access private profiles or direct messages. Guidelines for compliant use: - Scrape only public content and respect platform terms. - Avoid collecting or inferring sensitive personal data. - Ensure you have a lawful basis for processing (e.g., legitimate interest). - Comply with applicable regulations (e.g., GDPR/CCPA) and your internal policies. - Consult your legal team for edge cases and commercial use. ### Input parameters & output format #### Example JSON input ```json { "username": ["natgeo", "cristiano"], "resultsLimit": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ```` Parameters - username (array)\ Description: List of Instagram usernames (e.g. natgeo, cristiano).\ Required: Yes\ Default: None - resultsLimit (integer)\ Description: Maximum number of posts to scrape per profile. Minimum 20 when not unlimited. Set to 0 or 10000+ for unlimited.\ Required: No\ Default: 20 - proxyConfiguration (object)\ Description: This actor ALWAYS uses RESIDENTIAL proxy for Instagram, regardless of your selection. You can choose any proxy option, but the actor will automatically use residential proxy with 3 retries for full functionality.\ Required: No\ Default: { "useApifyProxy": true } #### Example JSON output ```json [ { "inputUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/natgeo", "id": "3135467890123456789", "type": "Image", "shortCode": "Cq1AbCdEfG", "caption": "Exploring deserts with @geophoto — #nature #travel", "hashtags": ["nature", "travel"], "mentions": ["geophoto"], "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq1AbCdEfG/", "commentsCount": 128, "firstComment": "Stunning shot!", "latestComments": [ { "id": "179000111", "text": "Amazing!", "username": "photofan" }, { "id": "179000222", "text": "Love this place", "username": "traveler" } ], "dimensionsHeight": 1350, "dimensionsWidth": 1080, "displayUrl": "https://example.cdninstagram.com/media1.jpg", "images": [], "likesCount": 15432, "videoPlayCount": 0, "timestamp": "2025-10-09T13:00:01.00Z", "childPosts": [], "locationName": "Sahara Desert", "ownerFullName": "National Geographic", "ownerUsername": "natgeo", "ownerId": "787132", "productType": "feed", "taggedUsers": [ { "full_name": "Geo Photographer", "id": "1234567890", "is_private": false, "is_verified": true, "profile_pic_url": "https://example.cdninstagram.com/u.jpg", "profile_pic_url_hd": null, "username": "geophoto" } ], "musicInfo": { "audio_canonical_id": "0", "audio_type": null, "music_info": null, "original_sound_info": null, "pinned_media_ids": null } } ] ``` Note: - Some fields may be empty or “Unknown” (e.g., locationName, musicInfo) when not present in the source post. - For carousel posts, images and childPosts arrays will be populated; for videos, videoPlayCount will be non-zero. ### FAQ #### Do I need to log in to use this Instagram mention scraper? No. The actor targets publicly available endpoints and content. It does not access private profiles or require authentication. #### Can this tool track Instagram mentions across multiple accounts at once? Yes. You can pass a list of usernames in the username array. The actor supports parallel processing (up to 2 concurrent profiles) to speed up runs. #### How do I scrape unlimited posts? Set resultsLimit to 0 or any value ≥ 10000 to enable unlimited mode. Otherwise, the minimum enforced limit is 20 posts per profile. #### What types of Instagram mentions does it extract? It parses @mentions from the post caption (mentions) and collects tagged users from the media (taggedUsers). This makes it an effective Instagram mentions data extractor for owned and monitored profiles. #### What happens if Instagram rate-limits or blocks requests? The actor always uses RESIDENTIAL proxy and will retry up to 3 times. It also rotates the residential proxy URL on 403/429 responses before retrying. #### Which fields are included in the output? Core fields include id, type, shortCode, caption, hashtags, mentions, url, likesCount, commentsCount, timestamp, displayUrl, ownerFullName, ownerUsername, and more (e.g., taggedUsers, childPosts, musicInfo). See the Output Format section for a full example. #### How do I export Instagram mentions and results? After the run, open the Dataset and export to JSON, CSV, or Excel. You can also consume the data with the Apify API for automation. #### Is this an Instagram mentions API scraper I can integrate into workflows? Yes. As an Apify actor, it’s API-accessible. You can schedule runs, fetch datasets programmatically, and integrate into pipelines or dashboards. ### Final thoughts Instagram Mentions Scraper is built to turn public Instagram posts from specified profiles into structured, analytics-ready mention and tag data. With residential proxy resilience, parallel processing, and real-time dataset streaming, it’s ideal for marketers, developers, analysts, and researchers who need to track Instagram mentions and automate social listening. Connect via the Apify API to power alerts, dashboards, or enrichment jobs — and start extracting smarter insights today. # Actor input Schema ## `username` (type: `array`): List of Instagram usernames (e.g. natgeo, cristiano). ## `resultsLimit` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of posts to scrape per profile. Minimum 20 when not unlimited. Set to 0 or 10000+ for unlimited. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): 🔒 This actor ALWAYS uses RESIDENTIAL proxy for Instagram, regardless of your selection. You can choose any proxy option, but the actor will automatically use residential proxy with 3 retries for full functionality. 🛡️ ## Actor input object example ```json { "username": [ "natgeo" ], "resultsLimit": 20, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # 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 = { "username": [ "natgeo" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("scrapapi/instagram-mentions-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 = { "username": ["natgeo"], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("scrapapi/instagram-mentions-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 '{ "username": [ "natgeo" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call scrapapi/instagram-mentions-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapapi/instagram-mentions-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Instagram Mentions Scraper", "description": "📣 Instagram Mentions Scraper (instagram-mentions-scraper) scrapes and exports IG @mentions of any handle—captions, authors, dates, links & engagement. 🔎 Ideal for brand monitoring, social listening, PR & influencer outreach. ⚡ Fast, reliable; CSV/Sheets-ready.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "bcjxhzzIPt6QMig6L" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/scrapapi~instagram-mentions-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapapi-instagram-mentions-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/scrapapi~instagram-mentions-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapapi-instagram-mentions-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/scrapapi~instagram-mentions-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-scrapapi-instagram-mentions-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "required": [ "username" ], "properties": { "username": { "title": "Usernames", "type": "array", "description": "List of Instagram usernames (e.g. natgeo, cristiano).", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "resultsLimit": { "title": "Maximum Posts Per Profile", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 10000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of posts to scrape per profile. Minimum 20 when not unlimited. Set to 0 or 10000+ for unlimited.", "default": 20 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "🌐 Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "🔒 This actor ALWAYS uses RESIDENTIAL proxy for Instagram, regardless of your selection. You can choose any proxy option, but the actor will automatically use residential proxy with 3 retries for full functionality. 🛡️" } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```