🚀 LinkedIn Sales Navigator Scraper Extract professional profiles and company data from LinkedIn Sales Navigator with full authentication, proxy support, and anti-detection features. --- ## ✨ Features - ✅ People & Company Searches - Scrape any Sales Navigator search - ✅ Automatic Pagination - Get hundreds of results automatically - ✅ Deep Scraping - Optional detailed profile information (email, phone, etc.) - ✅ Stealth Mode - Advanced anti-bot detection bypass - ✅ Residential Proxies - Built-in proxy support for maximum success - ✅ Export Formats - JSON, CSV, or Excel --- ## 🚀 Quick Start (3 Steps) ### Step 1: Export Your LinkedIn Cookies 🍪 Install Cookie-Editor Extension: - Chrome: Cookie-Editor Extension Export Your Cookies: 1. Go to https://www.linkedin.com/sales (must be logged in!) 2. Click the Cookie-Editor icon (🍪) in your browser toolbar 3. Click "Export" button at the bottom 4. Select "JSON" format 5. Copy the entire JSON output Example output: json [ {"name":"li_at","value":"AQEDAT...","domain":".www.linkedin.com"}, {"name":"JSESSIONID","value":"ajax:123...","domain":".www.linkedin.com"}, {"name":"li_ep_auth_context","value":"AHRh...","domain":".www.linkedin.com"}, ...20+ more cookies ] > ⚠️ Important: You need ALL cookies (20-25 of them), not just li_at! ### Step 2: Get Your Search URL 🔍 1. Go to LinkedIn Sales Navigator 2. Perform your search (add filters, keywords, etc.) 3. Copy the entire URL from your browser address bar Example: https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people?query=(keywords%3Afounder) ### Step 3: Configure & Run ⚙️ Paste your cookies and URL into the Actor: json { "cookieString": "[paste your JSON cookies here]", "searchUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people?query=...", "totalRecords": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], "apifyProxyCountry": "US" } } Click Start! 🎉 --- ## 📋 Input Parameters | Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | cookieString | String | ✅ YES | ALL LinkedIn cookies in JSON format from Cookie-Editor | | searchUrl | String | ✅ YES | LinkedIn Sales Navigator search URL from your browser | | totalRecords | Number | No | Maximum profiles to scrape (default: 25) | | deepScrape | Boolean | No | Visit each profile for detailed info (default: false) | | minWaitDuration | Number | No | Min delay between requests in seconds (default: 5) | | maxWaitDuration | Number | No | Max delay between requests in seconds (default: 30) | | startPage | Number | No | Page number to start from (default: 1) | | proxyConfiguration | Object | Recommended | Apify Proxy settings (residential recommended) | --- ## 📊 Output Format json { "name": "John Doe", "title": "CEO & Founder", "company": "Acme Corp", "location": "San Francisco, CA", "profileUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/sales/lead/...", "avatar": "https://media.licdn.com/...", "headline": "Helping companies grow faster", "connectionDegree": "2nd", "industry": "Technology", "companySize": "11-50 employees" } With Deep Scraping enabled, you also get: - Email addresses (when available) - Phone numbers (when available) - Full work experience - Education history - Skills and endorsements --- ## 🎯 Success Tips | Tip | Why It Matters | |-----|----------------| | ✅ Use ALL cookies (20-25) | Single cookie authentication often gets blocked | | ✅ Enable residential proxies | LinkedIn blocks datacenter IPs aggressively | | ✅ Fresh cookies | Re-export cookies weekly or when you see errors | | ✅ Start small | Test with 5-10 records before large scrapes | | ✅ Match geography | Use proxies from your LinkedIn account's country | --- ## 🔧 Common Issues & Solutions ### ❌ "cookieString is REQUIRED" error Problem: You didn't provide cookies. Solution: 1. Install Cookie-Editor Chrome extension 2. Go to linkedin.com/sales (logged in) 3. Export → JSON → Copy all 4. Paste into cookieString field --- ### ❌ "Authentication failed" error Problem: Cookies are expired, incomplete, or invalid. Solution: 1. Re-export fresh cookies from Cookie-Editor 2. Make sure you're on linkedin.com/sales when exporting 3. Verify the JSON has 20-25 cookies (not just 1-2) 4. Check that li_at and li_ep_auth_context cookies are included --- ### ❌ "Page appears to be blank" error Problem: LinkedIn is blocking your IP address. Solution: 1. Enable residential proxies: json { "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], "apifyProxyCountry": "US" } } 2. Wait 15-30 minutes between attempts 3. Try a different proxy country --- ### ❌ "Search results did not load" error Problem: Invalid URL or LinkedIn is blocking. Solution: 1. Test your search URL in a browser first 2. Make sure cookies are fresh (exported today) 3. Enable residential proxies if not already 4. Reduce totalRecords to 10-25 for testing --- ### ❌ Rate limit / Too many requests Problem: Making requests too quickly. Solution: 1. Increase wait times: json { "minWaitDuration": 10, "maxWaitDuration": 20 } 2. Disable deepScrape for faster scraping 3. Reduce totalRecords 4. Run smaller batches over time --- ## 🍪 Why Do I Need ALL Cookies? ### Just li_at Cookie (❌ Often Fails): LinkedIn sees: - ✅ Valid authentication - ❌ Missing JSESSIONID - ❌ Missing session cookies - ❌ Suspicious pattern Result: BLOCKED! ### ALL Cookies (✅ High Success Rate): LinkedIn sees: - ✅ Valid authentication (li_at) - ✅ Valid session (JSESSIONID) - ✅ Sales Navigator context (li_ep_auth_context) - ✅ All session cookies present Result: Looks legitimate! Success rate: 90%+ with all cookies vs 20-30% with just li_at --- ## 📚 Cookie Export - Detailed Steps ### For Cookie-Editor Extension: 1. Install: Cookie-Editor for Chrome 2. Navigate to Sales Navigator: https://www.linkedin.com/sales (must be logged in) 3. Click Extension Icon: Look for the 🍪 icon in your browser toolbar 4. Export: - Click the "Export" button at the bottom - Select "JSON" from the format dropdown - The cookies are now in your clipboard! 5. Paste: Into the Actor's cookieString input field That's it! You should see a JSON array with 20-25 cookies. --- ## 💡 Best Practices 1. Always test first: Run 5-10 records before large scrapes 2. Use residential proxies: Required for consistent success 3. Fresh cookies: Export right before scraping 4. Respect limits: Don't scrape thousands at once 5. Monitor logs: Check for warnings or errors 6. Weekly refresh: Re-export cookies every 7 days --- ## ⚠️ Important Notes LinkedIn Terms of Service: This Actor is for educational and research purposes. Make sure you comply with LinkedIn's Terms of Service and applicable laws. Cookie Security: - 🔒 Never share cookies publicly - 🔒 Cookies provide full access to your LinkedIn account - 🔒 Re-export fresh cookies regularly - 🔒 Use Apify's secret input feature Rate Limiting: LinkedIn actively monitors scraping activity. Use appropriate delays and proxies to avoid account restrictions. Proxy Requirement: Residential proxies are strongly recommended. LinkedIn actively blocks datacenter IPs and proxies. --- ## 🆘 Need Help? 1. Check your cookies: Make sure you have 20-25 cookies, not just 1 2. Enable proxies: Residential proxies are essential 3. Test your URL: Verify it works in your browser first 4. Fresh cookies: Export new cookies if you see auth errors 5. Start small: Test with 5 records before scaling up --- ## 📊 Example Successful Run ✅ Successfully set 22 cookies ✅ Using proxy: 10.0.35.159:8011 (US residential) ✅ Page loaded successfully ✅ Authentication successful! ✅ Found 25 results ✅ Extracted 25 profiles ✅ Saved to dataset ✅ Scraping complete! --- Happy Scraping! 🎉 Having issues? Make sure you exported ALL cookies (not just li_at) and enabled residential proxies!