Scrapesocial Instagram
Use this skill for read-only Instagram research and retrieval. Keep it at the job-to-command level: choose the right entry point quickly, prefer lighter responses first, and reuse IDs or cursors returned by earlier commands.
Prerequisites
- A Scrape Creators API key is required for this skill. Get one at scrapecreators.com.
Quick Setup
Install the CLI once:
npm install -g scrapesocialAuthenticate with SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY, then run commands with scrapesocial:
SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY=... scrapesocial instagram ...Useful global flags:
--trimfor smaller responses when supported.--format jsonlwhen streaming lists into downstream tools.--credit-limit <n>when you want the CLI to hide or block expensive requests.
Quick Start
- If the task is about an account as a whole, start with
instagram profiles get. - If the task is about a creator's regular feed, use
instagram posts. - If the task is about one specific post or reel, use
instagram posts get. - If the task is about spoken content in a reel or video post, use
instagram transcript. - If the task is about finding relevant reels by topic, use
instagram reels search. - If the task is about audience response on one post, use
instagram comments. - If the task is about a creator's reels library, use
instagram reels. - If the task is about story highlights, use
instagram highlights, theninstagram highlights detail. - If the task is about embeddable markup for a profile, use
instagram embed.
Goal-led workflows
| Goal | When to use this skill | How to start |
|---|---|---|
| Lead generation | Use it to qualify known creator or brand accounts, or to turn reel discovery into a shortlist. Pair it with another source for contact details. | Start with instagram reels search, then switch to instagram profiles get, instagram posts, or instagram reels for qualification. |
| Influencer discovery | Use it when the user wants creators discovered or vetted through niche reels, recurring themes, and account quality. | Start with instagram reels search, then validate shortlisted handles with instagram profiles get, instagram reels, and instagram highlights. |
| Brand monitoring | Use it to monitor a known brand or creator account across feed posts, reels, and highlights. | Start with instagram profiles get, then branch into instagram posts, instagram reels, and instagram highlights. |
| Competitor analysis | Use it to compare how multiple brands or creators package their feeds, reels, highlights, and audience response. | Start with instagram profiles get for each account, then compare instagram posts, instagram reels, and instagram comments on representative items. |
| Content analytics | Use it to explain what makes certain posts or reels work, using item detail, comments, and transcripts. | Start with instagram posts or instagram reels, then drill into standout items with instagram posts get, instagram comments, and instagram transcript. |
| Trend research | Use it for reel-led topic scouting and validation of emerging creative patterns. | Start with instagram reels search, then inspect the best examples with instagram posts get. |
| Audience analysis | Use it for qualitative audience language, FAQs, and objections. It does not provide demographic audience breakdowns. | Start with instagram comments on representative posts or reels, then use instagram profiles get and instagram highlights for context. |
Read references/instagram-command-map.md when you need the full command-selection table.
Choose the Starting Input
- Prefer a
--handlewhen the user is researching an account and no richer identifier is available yet. - Prefer a
--urlwhen the user gives a specific post or reel. This is the cleanest way to inspect one item or fetch its comments or transcript. - Prefer a
--user-idonly after another command has already returned it. For reels and highlights, this can be faster than resolving by handle again. - Prefer a returned pagination token over restarting the query. Instagram commands use command-specific cursor fields such as
next_max_id,max_id, orcursor. - Prefer a returned highlight ID when drilling into a specific highlight after listing highlights.
Working Pattern
- Start with the highest-level command that matches the job.
- Use
--trimon commands that support it when the goal is quick inspection, summarization, or easier downstream processing. - Keep IDs and cursors from the response so follow-up commands do not repeat the same discovery step.
- Rerun without
--trimonly when you need fields that the smaller response may omit. - Switch from handle-based to ID-based commands after the first lookup when the command supports it and the workflow will page repeatedly.
Common Flows
Audit a creator account
Use instagram profiles get to understand the account first, then branch:
- Use
instagram postsfor the feed history. - Use
instagram reelsfor short-form video output. - Use
instagram highlightsfor archived stories. - Use
instagram embedif the output needs embeddable markup rather than analysis.
Analyze one post or reel
Use instagram posts get when the user has a single Instagram URL and wants metadata or content details. Branch again only if needed:
- Use
instagram commentsto inspect audience reaction. - Use
instagram transcriptto extract spoken dialogue from video content.
Research a topic on Instagram Reels
Use instagram reels search for topical discovery, trend scouting, or seed collection. Once a specific reel is interesting, move to instagram posts get or instagram comments with the reel URL.
Command Notes
instagram profiles basicis a niche follow-up command when you already have a user ID and only need the lighter basic-profile view.instagram highlights detailis not a discovery command. Use it only afterinstagram highlightsreturns the highlight ID you want.instagram comments,instagram posts, andinstagram reelsare pagination-friendly. Keep the returned cursor values for iterative collection.instagram transcriptis only useful for media that actually contains speech.- This CLI is for retrieval and analysis, not posting, messaging, liking, or other write actions on Instagram.
Reference
Read references/instagram-command-map.md for a command-by-command matrix with typical inputs, outcomes, and follow-up moves.