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👥 Instagram Related Users Scraper

An advanced Instagram scraper for Apify focused on extracting related (similar) users that Instagram suggests for a given account.
This actor is optimized for audience analysis, influencer discovery, and marketing research.

📑 Table of Contents

• ✨ Features
• ⚙️ Setup
• 📥 Input Parameters
• 📤 Output Format
• 🔍 Scraping Mode
  • Related Users
• 📝 Example Use Cases

✨ Features

This Instagram scraper supports the following operations:

• ✅ Scrape Instagram’s recommended related accounts
• ✅ Optional profile enrichment (fetch detailed profile info)
• ✅ Chain discovery mode — follow related users level by level (BFS-style)
• ✅ Profile cleanup filters — strip heavy fields (posts, saved media, internal flags, bio links)
• ✅ Account filters — verified only, skip private, min/max follower thresholds
• ✅ Graph export — push connection edge records for network visualization
• ✅ Handles pagination automatically
• ✅ Automatic free vs. paid plan limits
• ✅ Transparent billing event tracking

⚙️ Setup

1. Clone or add this actor to your Apify account.
2. Provide the input JSON in the run configuration.
3. Run the actor — results are stored in the default dataset.

📥 Input Parameters

{
"type":"similar_users",
"username":["nasa"],
"maxItem":20
}

Filter

Controls which enriched profiles are included and what data to strip. Verified, follower, and privacy filters require enrichProfile.

Chain Discovery

📤 Output Format

All results are pushed into the default Apify dataset. Each record represents a related user account.

🔍 Scraping Mode

Related Users

Fetches Instagram’s recommended similar accounts for the given username.

Input Example

{
"username":["example_user"],
"type":"similar_users",
"maxItem":20
}

Input Example — Chain Discovery

{
"username":["nasa"],
"type":"similar_users",
"chainDepth":2,
"maxItemPerLevel":8,
"maxItem":100,
"enrichProfile":true,
"excludePosts":true,
"verifiedOnly":false
}

At chainDepth: 2 with maxItemPerLevel: 8 from a single seed, you could discover up to 8 + (8 × 8) = 72 accounts before hitting maxItem.

Output Example without profile enrichment

{
"pk":"8012033210",
"pk_id":"8012033210",
"id":"8012033210",
"username":"lalalalisa_m",
"full_name":"LISA",
"is_private":false,
"strong_id__":"8012033210",
"is_verified":true,
"profile_pic_id":"3418359067964145524_8012033210",
"profile_pic_url":"https://scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/452728789_7992596010855640_9098153361134866365_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s320x320_tt6&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=1&_nc_ohc=avvKDxm7gsoQ7kNvgHmfxYI&_nc_gid=284df81e3691434587f988b487771d63&edm=AIzrcHcBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_AYAMpAR1j9vJT8oHQVoukbAHNa7EcDeagMxHcn5szG4L7w&oe=67633B33&_nc_sid=e9f0d8",
"chaining_info":null,
"sources":"",
"algorithm":null,
"profile_chaining_secondary_label":"LISA",
"social_context":"LISA"
}

Output example with profile enrichment

{
"ai_agent_owner_username":null,
"ai_agent_type":null,
"biography":"Example biography text.",
"bio_links":[
{
"title":"",
"lynx_url":"https://l.instagram.com/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yogiadityanath.in%2F&e=AT14BZv86k-eKeJFKsrZili1OI6B2k6pAwMgGABiaEPikFYB_Tyl0yKmWatzeyJHlM_id-v2P9L6yIsWHBPgdot27HEjEj5g",
"url":"http://www.yogiadityanath.in/",
"link_type":"external"
}
],
"fb_profile_biolink":null,
"biography_with_entities":{
"raw_text":"Example raw biography text.",
"entities":[]
},
"blocked_by_viewer":false,
"restricted_by_viewer":null,
"country_block":false,
"eimu_id":"116903859705511",
"external_url":"https://example.com",
"external_url_linkshimmed":"https://l.instagram.com/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yogiadityanath.in%2F&e=AT3q-kwaRNi9zY-Sr81SXE2CmAlYreUr7vcZnKjz3v-n4pz_1I1IJhq_J4to3Xrm1csvR0tk_Guu_txuf7tNnKc6Wp2SoNnb",
"edge_followed_by":{
"count":14226403
},
"fbid":"17841400478827633",
"followed_by_viewer":false,
"edge_follow":{
"count":12
},
"follows_viewer":false,
"full_name":"",
"group_metadata":null,
"has_ar_effects":false,
"has_clips":true,
"has_guides":false,
"has_channel":false,
"has_blocked_viewer":false,
"highlight_reel_count":1,
"has_onboarded_to_text_post_app":false,
"has_requested_viewer":false,
"hide_like_and_view_counts":false,
"id":"1768527960",
"is_business_account":false,
"is_professional_account":false,
"is_supervision_enabled":false,
"is_guardian_of_viewer":false,
"is_supervised_by_viewer":false,
"is_supervised_user":false,
"is_embeds_disabled":false,
"is_joined_recently":false,
"guardian_id":null,
"business_address_json":null,
"business_contact_method":"UNKNOWN",
"business_email":null,
"business_phone_number":null,
"business_category_name":null,
"overall_category_name":null,
"category_enum":null,
"category_name":null,
"is_private":false,
"is_verified":true,
"is_verified_by_mv4b":false,
"is_regulated_c18":false,
"edge_mutual_followed_by":{
"count":0,
"edges":[]
},
"pinned_channels_list_count":0,
"profile_pic_url":"https://instagram.fdel1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-19/459083352_507542668553989_5131065592077524354_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s150x150_tt6&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InByb2ZpbGVfcGljLmRqYW5nby40MDAuYzIifQ&_nc_ht=instagram.fdel1-1.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=1&_nc_oc=Q6cZ2QEEHehIOZcXFgFikCJt1Pa5jl97ZI1GnfdAwUcg8sudKbchVO-nCN9dcqTrBdbC4bs&_nc_ohc=vqgyNhttH6kQ7kNvwF9qZUw&_nc_gid=DvE-QPimykuMe_vVlntbfA&edm=AOQ1c0wBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_AfUsKjvEJsr4L0RfwYGQoqZaARRZRXl0Ztd-2rfOUkEhDw&oe=68AA28F0&_nc_sid=8b3546",
"profile_pic_url_hd":"https://instagram.fdel1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-19/459083352_507542668553989_5131065592077524354_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s320x320_tt6&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InByb2ZpbGVfcGljLmRqYW5nby40MDAuYzIifQ&_nc_ht=instagram.fdel1-1.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=1&_nc_oc=Q6cZ2QEEHehIOZcXFgFikCJt1Pa5jl97ZI1GnfdAwUcg8sudKbchVO-nCN9dcqTrBdbC4bs&_nc_ohc=vqgyNhttH6kQ7kNvwF9qZUw&_nc_gid=DvE-QPimykuMe_vVlntbfA&edm=AOQ1c0wBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_AfWvlwdAxBo3XLhXfqovtgthqVRe6ROTUezZfsmh3Hs9MA&oe=68AA28F0&_nc_sid=8b3546",
"requested_by_viewer":false,
"should_show_category":false,
"should_show_public_contacts":false,
"show_account_transparency_details":true,
"show_text_post_app_badge":null,
"remove_message_entrypoint":false,
"transparency_label":null,
"transparency_product":null,
"username":"myogi_adityanath",
"pronouns":[]
}```
### Chain Discovery Output
When `chainDepth >= 1`, each result includes chain metadata fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `depth` | Level at which this user was discovered (1 = direct related user of seed) |
| `discovered_from` | The immediate parent username that led to this user |
| `chain_path` | Full ancestry path from seed to the parent of this user |
```json
{
"id":"1234567890",
"username":"spacex",
"full_name":"SpaceX",
"is_private":false,
"is_verified":true,
"depth":1,
"discovered_from":"nasa",
"chain_path":["nasa"]
}

Deduplication: each username appears only once, even if multiple parents share the same related user.

Graph Edge Output

When exportGraph: true, the dataset also contains edge records for network visualization:

{
"_type":"graph_edge",
"from":"nasa",
"to":"spacex",
"depth":1
}

📝 Example Use Cases

• Discover influencers related to a target account
• Build lookalike audience lists for marketing campaigns
• Analyze competitors’ network of similar creators
• Identify potential collaboration opportunities
• Research engagement overlaps between related accounts