scraping-twitter-profiles

Scraping Twitter Profiles

Bulk profile data export for any set of Twitter/X usernames. Returns account-level metadata: follower counts, bios, join dates, verification status.

Prerequisites

• APIFY_TOKEN environment variable set
• Optional: Apify MCP server installed

Inputs

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Notes
startUrls	array	Optional	[]	Twitter profile or tweet URLs
twitterHandles	array	Optional	[]	Twitter usernames (without @)
twitterUserIds	array	Optional	[]	Twitter user IDs
getFollowers	boolean	Optional	false	Extract follower lists
getFollowing	boolean	Optional	false	Extract following lists
getRetweeters	boolean	Optional	false	Extract retweeters of a tweet URL
includeUnavailableUsers	boolean	Optional	false	Include unavailable/suspended users
maxItems	number	Optional	Unlimited	Maximum users to return
customMapFunction	string	Optional	—	JavaScript function to transform each output object

Workflow

Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Normalize username list
- [ ] Step 2: Run twitter-user-scraper
- [ ] Step 3: Poll for SUCCEEDED
- [ ] Step 4: Deliver profile dataset

Step 1: Normalize

Remove @ symbols, deduplicate, validate no empty strings.

Step 2: Run the Actor

Recommended — run_actor.js (handles waiting, output, and file saving automatically):

# Quick answer (prints table to chat)
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~twitter-user-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}'

# Save as CSV
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~twitter-user-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.csv --format csv

# Save as JSON
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~twitter-user-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.json --format json

APIFY_TOKEN must be set in environment or .env file.

If Apify MCP is available:

Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~twitter-user-scraper"
Input:
{
  "usernames": ["handle1", "handle2", "handle3"]
}

REST API fallback:

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~twitter-user-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"usernames": ["handle1", "handle2"]}'

Save id as RUN_ID. Poll until status = SUCCEEDED:

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/actor-runs/$RUN_ID?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" | grep '"status"'

Fetch results:

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/actor-runs/$RUN_ID/dataset/items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN&format=json"

Step 3: Handle Edge Cases

• Missing accounts in results: Account suspended, deleted, or handle changed. Note missing handles in output.
• Private accounts: Returns profile metadata but no tweet content — flag isPrivate: true rows.
• Deactivated accounts: Returns null or empty object — exclude from final dataset.

Output Format

# Twitter Profile Dataset
Accounts requested: N | Accounts returned: N | Missing: N

| Username | Display Name | Followers | Following | Tweets | Verified | Bio (truncated) | Joined |
|----------|-------------|-----------|-----------|--------|----------|-----------------|--------|
| ...      | ...         | ...       | ...       | ...    | ...      | ...             | ...    |

Available fields: username, displayName, followersCount, followingCount, tweetCount,
isVerified, isBlueVerified, description, location, url, profileImageUrl, createdAt, isPrivate

Troubleshooting

Some handles missing from results: Accounts may be suspended or renamed — cross-reference manually. Large lists (> 1000): Break into batches of 500 and run sequentially.