Threads Scraper with Apify#

Scrape Meta Threads posts, search by keyword or hashtag, and extract engagement metrics. No login required.

Actor: futurizerush/meta-threads-scraper

Prerequisites#

Set APIFY_API_TOKEN in environment. Get a token at console.apify.com/account/integrations.

Execution Flow#

Apify runs are asynchronous. Every request follows 3 steps:

1. Start a run -- POST to the actor API, receive a run ID and dataset ID
2. Poll until done -- GET the run status, wait for SUCCEEDED
3. Fetch results -- GET the dataset items (returns a JSON array)

Typical run time: 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on max_posts.

Input Parameters#

ParameterTypeRequiredDescriptionmodeenumYes"user" (user posts), "keyword" (hashtag/tag), "search" (full-text keyword search)usernamesarray of stringsFor user modeUsernames without @ (e.g. ["zuck"])keywordsarray of stringsFor keyword/ search modeSingle-word keywords or hashtags (e.g. ["AI"], ["fashion"])search_filter``"top" / "recent"NoSort order. search mode only. Default: "top"``max_postsintegerNoMax posts per user/keyword. Default: 200start_datestringNoStart date (YYYY-MM-DD). search mode onlyend_datestringNoEnd date (YYYY-MM-DD). search mode only

Mode differences#

• user -- Scrape a user's timeline. Requires usernames.
• keyword -- Search by hashtag/tag. Requires keywords.
• search -- Full-text keyword search with sort and date filtering. Requires keywords. Supports search_filter, start_date, end_date.

Complete Example (Python)#

python

import requests, os, time

TOKEN = os.environ["APIFY_API_TOKEN"]
BASE = "https://api.apify.com/v2"

# Step 1: Start the run
response = requests.post(
    f"{BASE}/acts/futurizerush~meta-threads-scraper/runs?token={TOKEN}",
    json={"mode": "user", "usernames": ["futurizerush"], "max_posts": 5},
)
response.raise_for_status()
run = response.json()["data"]
run_id = run["id"]
dataset_id = run["defaultDatasetId"]

# Step 2: Poll until done
while True:
    status = requests.get(
        f"{BASE}/actor-runs/{run_id}?token={TOKEN}"
    ).json()["data"]["status"]
    if status == "SUCCEEDED":
        break
    if status in ("FAILED", "ABORTED", "TIMED-OUT"):
        raise RuntimeError(f"Run failed: {status}")
    time.sleep(5)

# Step 3: Fetch results (JSON array)
items = requests.get(
    f"{BASE}/datasets/{dataset_id}/items?token={TOKEN}"
).json()
for post in items:
    print(f"@{post['username']}: {post['text_content'][:80]}")
    print(f"  likes={post['like_count']} replies={post['reply_count']} views={post['view_count']}")

Search recent posts by keyword#

python

requests.post(
    f"{BASE}/acts/futurizerush~meta-threads-scraper/runs?token={TOKEN}",
    json={
        "mode": "search",
        "keywords": ["AI"],
        "search_filter": "recent",
        "max_posts": 10,
    },
)

Search by hashtag#

python

requests.post(
    f"{BASE}/acts/futurizerush~meta-threads-scraper/runs?token={TOKEN}",
    json={"mode": "keyword", "keywords": ["automation"], "max_posts": 20},
)

Complete Example (bash)#

bash

# Step 1: Start the run
RUN_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/futurizerush~meta-threads-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode": "user", "usernames": ["futurizerush"], "max_posts": 5}')

RUN_ID=$(echo "$RUN_RESPONSE" | jq -r '.data.id')
DATASET_ID=$(echo "$RUN_RESPONSE" | jq -r '.data.defaultDatasetId')

# Step 2: Poll until done
while true; do
  STATUS=$(curl -s "https://api.apify.com/v2/actor-runs/$RUN_ID?token=$APIFY_API_TOKEN" \
    | jq -r '.data.status')
  [ "$STATUS" = "SUCCEEDED" ] && break
  [ "$STATUS" = "FAILED" ] || [ "$STATUS" = "ABORTED" ] && echo "Failed: $STATUS" && exit 1
  sleep 5
done

# Step 3: Fetch results
curl -s "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/$DATASET_ID/items?token=$APIFY_API_TOKEN" | jq '.'

Output Format#

Each item in the results array (field names verified from real API output on 2026-04-11):

json

{
  "text_content": "Post text here...",
  "username": "lucky_dilkhush7970",
  "display_name": "Lucky Dilkhush",
  "profile_url": "https://www.threads.com/@lucky_dilkhush7970",
  "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com/...",
  "is_verified": false,
  "followers_count": 11,
  "bio": "",
  "like_count": 19,
  "reply_count": 7,
  "repost_count": 0,
  "quote_count": 0,
  "share_count": 1,
  "view_count": 602,
  "post_code": "DRyBIddEjav",
  "post_url": "https://www.threads.com/@lucky_dilkhush7970/post/DRyBIddEjav",
  "created_at": "2025-12-03T00:40:19+00:00",
  "created_at_timestamp": 1764722419,
  "has_media": true,
  "media_type": "photo",
  "media_url": "https://scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com/...",
  "media_urls": [],
  "hashtags": [],
  "mentions": [],
  "urls": [],
  "emails": [],
  "phones": [],
  "bio_links": [],
  "external_links": [],
  "is_pinned": false,
  "is_edited": false,
  "search_keyword": "AI",
  "scraped_at": "2026-04-11T05:24:26.152274+00:00"
}

Note: Field names use snake_case. Access with post['like_count'] not post['likeCount'].

Error Handling#

ErrorCauseFix401 UnauthorizedInvalid or missing API tokenCheck APIFY_API_TOKEN``FAILED: "At least one username is required"mode is "user" but usernames is missing or emptyAdd "usernames": ["name"]``FAILED: "No posts found"User has no public posts or Threads rate limitTry a different user or wait and retry

Tips#

• Use mode: "search" with search_filter: "recent" for real-time monitoring and alerting.
• Use mode: "keyword" for hashtag-based discovery.
• Use single-word keywords for best results (e.g. "AI", "fashion", "tech").
• No login or session ID required.
• Results are a JSON array, not a single object.
• All field names use snake_case (e.g. text_content, like_count, view_count).
• For reply/comment extraction, use the separate Threads Replies Scraper actor ( futurizerush/threads-replies-scraper).

Links#

• Actor page
• Apify API docs