🌟 Advanced Instagram Reels Scraper — Console-Ready Actor Hero: Instant, privacy-safe extraction of public Instagram Reels — get structured video metadata and download-ready links in seconds. --- ## 📖 Short summary A production-ready Apify Actor that reliably extracts metadata and media references from public Instagram posts and Reels. Plug into Apify Console, run one-click, and receive clean JSON records suitable for analytics, archiving, or automated downloads. Secure-by-design and built for scale. --- ## 💡 Use cases / When to use * Collect batch metadata for Instagram Reels or feed videos for analytics. * Build datasets for social listening, content research, or media archiving. * Download video/audio resources for downstream processing (when allowed). * Feed data into BI tools or ML pipelines. --- ## ⚡ Quick Start — Console (one-click) 1. Open this Actor in Apify Console. 2. Paste one or more public Instagram post/reel URLs into Input (see example below). 3. (Optional) Enable Apify Proxy in Console settings if scraping at scale. 4. Click Run — results will stream to the dataset and be saved to key-value store OUTPUT. --- ## ⚙️ Quick Start — CLI & API CLI (apify-cli) bash apify run --input input.example.json Python (apify-client) — minimal snippet python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient('<APIFY_TOKEN>') run = client.actor('your-username/instagram-reels-scraper').call(run_input={ 'startUrls': [ {'url': 'https://www.instagram.com/reel/XXXX/'} ], 'download': False, 'desired_resolution': '1080p' }) print(run) --- ## 📝 Inputs (fields & schema) Provide input as a JSON object. The actor accepts the following fields: json { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/1234567890123456/" }], "download": false, "desired_resolution": "1080p", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } Field summary: * startUrls — array of URLs (required). Can be strings or { "url": "..." } objects. * download — boolean (optional). If true, the actor will attempt to download media resources referenced in the extracted formats. * desired_resolution — string (optional). Example: "1080p", "720p". * proxyConfiguration — object (optional). Standard Apify proxy configuration. --- ## ⚙️ Configuration | 🔑 Name | 📝 Type | ❓ Required | ⚙️ Default | 📌 Example | 🧠 Notes | | -----------------: | :-----: | :---------: | :--------: | :-----------------------------------------------: | :---------------------------------------------------------- | | startUrls | array | ✅ Yes | None | [{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/reel/123/"}] | One or more public post/reel URLs | | download | boolean | ⚙️ Optional | false | true | Download media files when available (use proxies & storage) | | desired_resolution | string | ⚙️ Optional | 1080p | 720p | Preferred target resolution for video selection | | proxyConfiguration | object | ⚙️ Optional | {} | { "useApifyProxy": true } | Use proxies for scale / geo-unblocking | Console example: paste a single URL into Input > startUrls and click Run Actor. --- ## 📄 Outputs (Dataset / KV examples) The Actor pushes transformed records to the Dataset (streamed) and stores the full result array in Key-Value store under key OUTPUT. Example single output record (transformed): json { "original_url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/1234567890123456/", "id": "1234567890123456", "ownerUsername": "example_user", "description": "Short caption text", "likesCount": 1200, "likesDisplay": "1.2k ❤️", "commentsCount": 45, "viewsDisplay": "12.3k 👀", "upload_date": "14th October 2025", "duration_seconds": 32, "duration_display": "32 Seconds (0.0089 Hours)", "formats": [ { "type": "video", "url": "https://...mp4", "duration": 32 } ], "download_links": { /* if download requested */ }, "ai_insight": "General content reel 🌀", "randomExtraInfo": { "scrapeBatch": "Reel-Set-05", "regionCode": "US" } } Key-Value store: OUTPUT contains the array of all returned records for the run. --- ## 🔑 Environment Variables Use placeholders for secrets. Store them in Console secrets or Actor settings — never embed in code. * APIFY_TOKEN — placeholder for Apify API access (use Console secrets) * IG_USER — optional Instagram username for authenticated fetches (placeholders only) * IG_PASS — optional Instagram password (placeholders only) --- ## ▶️ How to Run (Console / CLI / API) Console: paste startUrls input, optionally enable Apify Proxy, click Run. CLI: apify run --input input.example.json. API: Use apify-client to call actor with run_input shown above. --- ## ⏰ Scheduling & Webhooks * Use the Apify Console scheduler to run this Actor on a cron expression (daily/hourly). * Configure webhooks in Console to be notified on run success/failure. Push the OUTPUT KVS link to downstream systems. --- ## 🕾️ Logs & Troubleshooting * Logs stream live in Console. Look for 🎬 preview lines to confirm successful extraction. * Common issues: * Unsupported URL — ensure the URL is a public Instagram post or reel (/reel/ or /p/ style). * Authentication required — private posts require login credentials or cookies (use secrets). * Region/Rate errors — enable proxies. --- ## 🔒 Permissions & Storage Notes * The Actor only fetches public content by default. Do not use this Actor to access private content without explicit permission. * Store credentials and tokens securely in Console secrets — never in plain input JSON. * Respect Instagram terms of service and applicable laws when collecting or storing media. --- ## 🔟 Changelog / Versioning * v1.0 — Initial Console-ready Actor: public extraction, format normalization, optional media download, proxy support. * TODO: Add semantic versioning tags for future releases. --- ## 🖌 Notes / TODOs * TODO: Confirm expected output schema for download_links when download is enabled (reason: download outputs may vary across platforms). * TODO: Add built-in rate-limit detection to automatically pause between burst runs. --- ## 🌍 Proxy configuration This Actor supports proxy usage and will use the proxyConfiguration input when provided. Enable Apify Proxy (Console) — one-line: * In the Console run dialog, toggle Use Apify Proxy. Custom proxies (example formats): * Single proxy (HTTP): http://<PROXY_USER:PASS@HOST:PORT> * HTTPS example: https://<PROXY_USER:PASS@HOST:PORT> Environment-style examples: bash HTTP_PROXY=http://<PROXY_USER:PASS@HOST:PORT> HTTPS_PROXY=https://<PROXY_USER:PASS@HOST:PORT> Security note: store credentials as Console secrets, not plaintext in inputs. Advanced note / TODO: TODO: Consider proxy rotation for large-scale scraping to improve reliability and avoid rate-limits. --- ## 📚 References * Apify Actor README guidelines (official docs) * Apify Input/Output schema docs (official docs) * Apify CLI & API usage docs (official docs) --- ## 🤔 What I inferred from src/main.py * The Actor accepts startUrls and supports both /reel/ and /p/ post URLs. * It normalizes metadata (likes, comments, views) and formats durations into human-friendly strings. * It supports optional authenticated fetches via IG_USER / IG_PASS environment variables (placeholders only). * It writes streamed records to Dataset and saves a full run array to Key-Value store key OUTPUT. * Proxy configuration is supported and the Actor will use proxy sessions when supplied. --- --- ### Files included in this canvas * README.md (this document) * input.example.json (JSON example below) * CONFIG.md (quick config tips) --- ## input.example.json json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/1234567890123456/" }, { "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/ABCDEFGHIJK/" } ], "download": false, "desired_resolution": "1080p", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } --- ## CONFIG.md (quick tips) # Use Console secrets for APIFY_TOKEN, IG_USER, IG_PASS # Enable Apify Proxy for large-scale runs # Respect target site terms and privacy