Instagram Comment Scraper

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A fast and reliable Instagram comment scraper that extracts comments and replies from Instagram posts and reels. Built for speed with parallel processing and designed to handle large-scale comment extraction efficiently.

🚀 Features

• Fast Scraping: Parallel processing with 20 concurrent workers for rapid comment extraction
• Flexible Options: Scrape parent comments only or include all replies
• Smart Limiting: Control total output with configurable comment limits
• Rich Data: Includes usernames, profile pictures, timestamps, like counts, and more
• Cookie Authentication: Simple browser cookie-based login (no password needed)
• Multiple Posts: Process multiple Instagram posts in a single run

📋 Input

Required Parameters

Optional Parameters

Example Input

{
"cookies":[
{
"name":"sessionid",
"value":"61854802805%3AWqlSMdeVKE7hbp%3A12%3AAYhi...",
"domain":".instagram.com"
},
{
"name":"csrftoken",
"value":"gNxSok0dLs17TXtgZc0ylsCuObChSEsv",
"domain":".instagram.com"
}
],
"post_urls":[
"https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123XYZ/",
"https://www.instagram.com/reels/DEF456UVW/"
],
"comment_limit":100,
"include_replies":true
}

📤 Output

Each comment is saved as a separate item in the dataset with the following structure:

{
"comment_id":"18075851018258413",
"username":"john_doe",
"user_id":"123456789",
"profile_pic_url":"https://instagram.com/.../profile.jpg",
"text":"Amazing content! 🔥",
"created_at":"2024-12-18 11:24:58",
"timestamp":1734522298,
"like_count":15,
"is_reply":false,
"reply_count":3,
"media_id":"3788472140946025433"
}

Reply Comments

Replies include an additional field:

• parent_comment_id: ID of the parent comment this is replying to

Field Descriptions

🍪 How to Get Instagram Cookies

Method 1: Browser Extension (Recommended)

1. Install a cookie extension:

   • Chrome/Edge: Cookie-Editor
   • Firefox: Cookie-Editor

2. Export cookies:

   • Log into Instagram in your browser
   • Open the cookie extension
   • Click "Export" and select "JSON" format
   • Copy the entire JSON array

3. Paste into input:

   • Paste the cookies array into the cookies field in the actor input

Method 2: Manual Export

1. Open Instagram and log in
2. Open browser DevTools (F12)
3. Go to Application/Storage → Cookies → https://instagram.com
4. Find sessionid cookie and copy its value
5. Create a minimal cookies array:

{
"cookies":[
{
"name":"sessionid",
"value":"YOUR_SESSION_ID_HERE",
"domain":".instagram.com"
}
]
}

⚠️ Important: The sessionid cookie is required. Without it, authentication will fail.

⚙️ How It Works

Comment Limit Behavior

The comment_limit parameter controls the total number of comments returned per post:

With include_replies: true

• Fetches parent comments and their replies
• Returns up to comment_limit total comments (parent + replies combined)
• Example: comment_limit: 50 might return 35 parent comments + 15 replies = 50 total

With include_replies: false

• Fetches only parent comments
• Returns up to comment_limit parent comments
• Example: comment_limit: 50 returns exactly 50 parent comments, no replies

With comment_limit: 0

• Scrapes ALL comments (no limit)
• Fetches everything available on the post

Performance

• Parent Comments: ~15-20 comments per second
• Replies: 20 concurrent workers for parallel extraction
• Typical Performance: 1,000 comments in 1-2 minutes

🔧 Use Cases

• Social Media Analytics: Track engagement and sentiment on posts
• Competitor Research: Analyze comments on competitor content
• Influencer Marketing: Gather audience feedback data
• Customer Service: Monitor brand mentions and questions
• Research: Collect data for academic or market research

⚠️ Limitations & Notes

• Cookie Expiration: Session cookies expire after some time (usually days/weeks). You'll need to refresh them periodically.
• Rate Limiting: Built-in delays to avoid Instagram's rate limits. Don't modify these.
• Private Posts: Your logged-in account must have access to private posts.
• Disabled Comments: Posts with disabled comments will return empty results.
• Large Posts: Posts with 10,000+ comments may take several minutes to complete.

🐛 Troubleshooting

"sessionid not found in cookies"

• Make sure you exported cookies correctly
• Verify the sessionid cookie is present in the array

"Login failed"

• Your cookies may have expired - export fresh cookies
• Make sure you're logged into Instagram in your browser

"Failed to extract media ID"

• Check that the URL is correct and accessible
• Ensure the post exists and hasn't been deleted

Slow Performance

• Large posts with many comments naturally take longer
• Reduce comment_limit for faster results
• Set include_replies: false to skip reply fetching

🤝 Support

For bugs, feature requests, or questions:

• Open an issue on the actor's page
• Contact Apify support
• Check the Apify documentation

📜 License

This actor is provided as-is for use on the Apify platform.

⚖️ Legal & Ethics

• Terms of Service: Use of this actor should comply with Instagram's Terms of Service
• Rate Limiting: The actor includes built-in delays to be respectful of Instagram's servers
• Data Privacy: Be mindful of user privacy when collecting and using comment data
• Responsible Use: Use this tool ethically and legally