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Instagram Comment API

Returns one comment's current text, like count, reply count, author, and timestamp, plus the post's total comment count for context.

GET /v1/instagram/comment

Last updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team

When to use the Instagram Comment API

Use it when you already know which comment you want, so you do not have to page through post/comments to find it again.

From the API reference

Resolves a single Instagram comment to a live comment object (current like count, reply count, author, timestamp) without you paginating the comment section. Pass comment_url (an https://www.instagram.com/p/{shortcode}/c/{commentId}/ permalink: reply permalinks .../c/{parent}/r/{reply}/ are best-effort) OR post_url + comment_id. Instead of a comment id you can search the comment section: author_username or text_contains return up to max matches under data.matches (a search that matches nothing returns 404 and is fully refunded). The response includes lookup.post_comment_count (the post's true total, so you can reason about scan coverage) and a lookup.position_hint: pass it back on a later lookup to make the re-check faster (the price is the same). Instagram does not expose pinned status or full reply threads to any provider, so flags.pinned stays null and deep reply lookups can return reply_not_resolvable. Flat 5 credits (15 with deep_scan=true); a not-found returns 404 and is fully refunded.

Searching 69 platforms in parallel

·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
Instagram API

What can you do with the Comment API?

The Comment endpoint gives you structured Instagram data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.

Example Request

# GET /v1/instagram/comment: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 13: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 13 --retry 3 -o response.json \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/comment?comment_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fp%2FCnpPou9hWqq%2Fc%2F18007013966365752%2F" && cat response.json
# GET /v1/instagram/comment: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid

import requests

API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 13  # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/comment"


def backoff(attempt):
    # Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
    return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)


def socialcrawl(params):
    # One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
    idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
    for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
        try:
            res = requests.get(
                URL,
                params=params,
                headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
                timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
            )
            body = res.json()
        except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
            # A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
            if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
                raise
            time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
            continue
        if body["success"]:
            return body
        error = body["error"]
        # Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
        if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
            return None  # refunded: nothing to read
        retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
        # SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
        permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
        if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
            raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
        # Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
        time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))


params = {
    "comment_url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/CnpPou9hWqq/c/18007013966365752/",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
    print(body["data"])
// GET /v1/instagram/comment: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 13_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;

type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
  | { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
  | { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };

const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);

async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
  // One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
  const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
  for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
    let res: Response;
    let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
    try {
      res = await fetch(url, {
        headers: {
          "x-api-key": API_KEY,
          "Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
        },
        signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
      });
      body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
    } catch (error) {
      // A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
      if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
      await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
      continue;
    }
    if (body.success) return body;
    // Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
    if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
    const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
    // SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
    const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
    if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
      throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
    }
    // Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
    await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
  }
}

const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/comment");
url.searchParams.set("comment_url", "https://www.instagram.com/p/CnpPou9hWqq/c/18007013966365752/");

const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);

Parameters

ParameterRequiredDescription
comment_urlNoAn Instagram comment permalink: `https://www.instagram.com/p/{shortcode}/c/{commentId}/` (or a reply permalink `.../c/{parent}/r/{reply}/`, best-effort). Mutually exclusive with `post_url`+`comment_id`.
post_urlNoThe post URL (a `/p/`, `/reel/`, `/reels/`, or `/tv/` link; an app share link `instagram.com/share/...` works too). Combine with `comment_id`, or with `author_username`/`text_contains` for a search.
comment_idNoThe target comment's numeric id (`pk`). Requires `post_url`.
author_usernameNoReturn up to `max` comments authored by this username (no comment id needed). Mutually exclusive with `text_contains` and any comment id.
text_containsNoReturn up to `max` comments whose text contains this snippet (case-insensitive). Mutually exclusive with `author_username` and any comment id.
deep_scanNoWiden the scan budget for deeply-buried comments (raises the per-chain page ceiling and deadline). Bills 15 credits instead of 5.
position_hintNoOpaque token from a prior lookup's `lookup.position_hint`. Passing it back replays just the last-known sort chain first, making a re-check of an already-found comment cheap.
maxNoFor `author_username`/`text_contains` search: max matches to return (1-20, default 5).
Example Response

What does the Instagram Comment API return?

Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.

Example response
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "instagram",
  "endpoint": "/v1/instagram/comment",
  "data": {
    "comment": {
      "id": "18007013966365752",
      "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/CnpPou9hWqq/c/18007013966365752/",
      "parent_id": null,
      "post_id": "CnpPou9hWqq",
      "text": "Sample comment text (redacted).",
      "author": {
        "username": "user_bf5c1c",
        "display_name": null,
        "avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_0e787d.png",
        "verified": false
      },
      "engagement": {
        "likes": 27,
        "replies": 0
      },
      "flags": {
        "pinned": null,
        "deleted": false
      },
      "published_at": "2024-03-04T06:07:32.000Z",
      "ext": {
        "lookup": {
          "found_via": "id_scan",
          "pages_fetched": 2,
          "comments_scanned": 15,
          "sort_basis": "popular",
          "position_hint": "eyJ2IjoxLCJwbGF0Zm9ybSI6Imluc3RhZ3JhbSIsInNvcnQiOiJwb3B1bGFyIiwiY3Vyc29yIjpudWxsLCJwYWdlIjowfQ",
          "post_comment_count": 16381
        }
      }
    },
    "lookup": {
      "found_via": "id_scan",
      "pages_fetched": 2,
      "comments_scanned": 15,
      "sort_basis": "popular",
      "position_hint": "eyJ2IjoxLCJwbGF0Zm9ybSI6Imluc3RhZ3JhbSIsInNvcnQiOiJwb3B1bGFyIiwiY3Vyc29yIjpudWxsLCJwYWdlIjowfQ",
      "post_comment_count": 16381
    },
    "computed": {
      "language": null
    }
  },
  "credits_used": 5,
  "request_id": "req_example000000",
  "cached": false,
  "credits_remaining": 9999,
  "source": "captured",
  "captured_at": "2026-10-02T15:36:59.743Z",
  "redacted": true
}

Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.

API Details

How does the Instagram Comment API work?

Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.

Method

GET

Response

JSON

Why SocialCrawl

Why use SocialCrawl for Instagram Comment data?

We handle the complexity of Instagram data extraction so you can focus on building. Unified schema, AI enrichment, and zero platform logic in your code.

Developer First

How do you scrape social media data in seconds?

The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.

One schema, every platform

Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.

Computed fields, not just scraped

When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.

See your data before you code

Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.

import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
    params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
    headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json()
[ .JSON ]
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "username": "charlidamelio",
      "followers": 152400000
    },
    "engagement": {
      "likes": 12400000000,
      "engagement_rate": 0.087
    },
    "metadata": {
      "language": "en",
      "content_category": "lifestyle"
    }
  }
}
+ 69 platforms
FAQ

Have a question? We got answers

Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.

Contact us
What does the Instagram Comment API return?
Returns one comment's current text, like count, reply count, author, and timestamp, plus the post's total comment count for context. The response uses the same JSON envelope as every SocialCrawl endpoint, with the data, credits_used and request_id fields.
When should I use the Instagram Comment endpoint?
Use it when you already know which comment you want, so you do not have to page through post/comments to find it again.
How much does the Instagram Comment API cost?
The price depends on the request, from 5 to 15 credits per call. Every new account gets 100 free credits. Credits for failed or empty calls are refunded automatically, and there is no subscription.
What parameters does the Instagram Comment API need?
No parameter is required, so the bare URL works. It also accepts 8 optional parameters, all listed on this page.
How do I call the Instagram Comment API?
Send a GET request to https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/comment with your API key in the x-api-key header. An Authorization: Bearer header works too.

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