Instagram comments

instagram_comments collects the comments on Instagram posts and reels, and their replies if you ask. One result is one comment or one reply.

Run it

import os

from gofetch import GoFetchClient

client = GoFetchClient(api_key=os.environ["GOFETCH_API_KEY"])

run = client.actor("instagram_comments").call(run_input={
    "directUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/p/DPPPDobiXL3/"],
    "maxCommentsPerPost": 100,
    "maxComments": 500,
})

for comment in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(comment["timestamp"], comment["likesCount"], comment["text"])

curl https://go-fetch.io/api/v1/jobs/create/ \
  -H "X-API-Key: $GOFETCH_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "scraper_type": "instagram_comments",
    "config": {"handles": ["nasa"], "maxPosts": 2, "maxCommentsPerPost": 100, "maxComments": 500}
  }'

Inputs

Send directUrls, handles, or both, in config.

Field	Type	Default	What it does
`directUrls`	list of URLs		Post or reel links (`/p/`, `/reel/`, `/reels/`, `/tv/`). The most reliable input. Other Instagram links are skipped.
`handles`	list of text		Accounts, with or without `@`. Their most recent posts are found for you. For business accounts, prefer post links: Instagram refuses some business handles to signed-out visitors.
`maxPosts`	integer	`10`	Posts per handle, up to 1,000. Not used for `directUrls`.
`maxComments`	integer	no cap	The budget for the whole job, comments and replies together, up to 1,000,000. The job stops cleanly when it is reached.
`maxCommentsPerPost`	integer	`500`	Top-level comments per post, up to 100,000.
`includeReplies`	true / false	`false`	Also collect replies. Every comment is checked for replies, which takes about 13 times the requests, and each reply is a billed result. JSON `true` or `false` only: anything else, such as the string `"false"`, is refused with `400`.
`maxRepliesPerComment`	integer	`50`	Replies per comment, up to 10,000.
`onlyCommentsNewerThan`	date or date-time		Only comments posted on or after this time. Not in the future.
`enrichCommenterProfiles`	true / false	`false`	Look up each commenter for their full name and whether the account is private. One extra request per commenter. JSON `true` or `false` only.
`maxTotalChargeUsd`	number		A spending cap. If you leave out `maxComments`, it becomes what the cap buys. See Billing.

Always set maxComments. It is your cost ceiling. Without it, credit is reserved for maxPosts × maxCommentsPerPost comments (twice that with replies) when the job is created.

Output

One row per comment, and one per reply when includeReplies is on. Every field is always present. Real rows from a job on a NASA post; the commenters’ handles, ids and pictures are replaced with placeholders here:

[
  {
    "type": "comment",
    "platform": "instagram",
    "postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DPPPDobiXL3/",
    "commentUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DPPPDobiXL3/c/18031446110890400",
    "parentCommentUrl": null,
    "id": "18031446110890400",
    "text": "The most beautiful thing in the universe is the universe by itself ✨❤️💞",
    "ownerUsername": "example_commenter_1",
    "ownerProfilePicUrl": "https://example.com/placeholder-avatar.jpg",
    "timestamp": "2026-09-23T19:56:53.000Z",
    "likesCount": 1,
    "repliesCount": null,
    "replies": null,
    "parentCommentId": null,
    "isReply": false,
    "owner": {
      "username": "example_commenter_1",
      "id": "00000000000",
      "profile_pic_url": "https://example.com/placeholder-avatar.jpg",
      "is_verified": false,
      "fbid_v2": null,
      "full_name": null,
      "is_private": null,
      "is_mentionable": null,
      "profile_pic_id": null,
      "latest_reel_media": null,
      "sec_uid": null
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "comment",
    "platform": "instagram",
    "postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DPPPDobiXL3/",
    "commentUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DPPPDobiXL3/c/18147098077534069",
    "parentCommentUrl": null,
    "id": "18147098077534069",
    "text": "Wow, what a stunning celestial scene! 🌐 The galaxy's beauty never ceases to amaze me.",
    "ownerUsername": "example_commenter_2",
    "ownerProfilePicUrl": "https://example.com/placeholder-avatar.jpg",
    "timestamp": "2026-08-22T08:16:35.000Z",
    "likesCount": 1,
    "repliesCount": null,
    "replies": null,
    "parentCommentId": null,
    "isReply": false,
    "owner": {
      "username": "example_commenter_2",
      "id": "00000000000",
      "profile_pic_url": "https://example.com/placeholder-avatar.jpg",
      "is_verified": false,
      "fbid_v2": null,
      "full_name": null,
      "is_private": null,
      "is_mentionable": null,
      "profile_pic_id": null,
      "latest_reel_media": null,
      "sec_uid": null
    }
  }
]

Field	Type	What it holds
`type`	text	Always `comment`, replies included.
`platform`	text	`instagram`.
`postUrl`	URL	The post, as you sent it, or as found from a handle.
`commentUrl`	URL	Link to the comment (a reply’s link includes its parent).
`parentCommentUrl`	URL or null	The parent comment’s link, on a reply.
`id`	text	The comment’s id.
`text`	text or null	The comment.
`ownerUsername`	text or null	The commenter’s handle.
`ownerProfilePicUrl`	URL or null	The commenter’s picture.
`timestamp`	date-time or null	When it was posted (ISO 8601, UTC).
`likesCount`	integer or null	Likes on the comment.
`repliesCount`	integer or null	`null` means not counted: Instagram shows no reply count to signed-out visitors. A number appears only when the replies were collected to the end; `0` means checked, none. Always `null` on a reply.
`replies`	null	Always `null`: replies are rows of their own.
`parentCommentId`	text or null	The parent comment’s id, on a reply.
`isReply`	true / false	The row is a reply.
`owner`	object	The commenter: `username`, `id`, `profile_pic_url`, `is_verified`; `full_name` and `is_private` only with `enrichCommenterProfiles`. Other keys are always `null` on Instagram.
`raw`	object	Instagram’s original comment object, unchanged. Its shape can change without notice.

A post that delivered no comments returns a post_error row (type: "post_error", postUrl, error, status: error, throttled or unavailable). It is not billed. The job’s error_message then names up to five such posts, even when the job completed.

What logged-out means here

You get: comments and replies on public posts and reels, with the commenter’s handle, picture and verified badge. Not available:

Comments on private, deleted or region-blocked posts (a post_error row with status: "unavailable").
Reply counts, until the replies are collected.
A commenter’s full name and privacy, unless you turn on enrichCommenterProfiles.
Posts of private, age-restricted or unavailable accounts given as handles. They are skipped without a per-handle report; if no post is found at all, the job fails.

Completeness

scraper_metadata.coverage compares what was collected with the comment count each post shows:

Key	What it says
`weighted`	Comments collected ÷ comments the posts show, across the job. Prefer it to `mean`.
`mean`	The average of each post’s ratio; `null` when no post showed a count.
`posts_partial`, `posts_failed`, `posts_throttled`	Posts below the threshold, posts that failed, posts Instagram stopped serving.
`posts_exhausted`	The job ran out of posts before `maxComments`: raise `maxPosts`.
`comparable`	Whether the ratio is meaningful. A post’s count includes replies, so compare with `includeReplies: true`.

With replies on, scraper_metadata.replies adds replies_collected, parents_probed, parents_with_replies and parents_truncated. With enrichment on, scraper_metadata.enrichment adds requests, uniqueCommenters and failures.

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Concepts

Scrapers

Python SDK

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Inputs

Output

What logged-out means here

Completeness

​Run it

​Inputs

​Output

​What logged-out means here

​Completeness

Run it

Inputs

Output

What logged-out means here

Completeness