Scrape Threads Data: The Unofficial API Guide (Posts, Users, Replies)

Threads (by Instagram) has over 150 million monthly active users. It is becoming a serious competitor to X (Twitter).

For developers and data scientists, this is a new frontier.

• Sentiment Analysis: How does the vibe on Threads compare to X?
• Trend Tracking: What topics are trending on Threads?
• Influencer Tracking: Who is growing fastest on the new platform?

However, the Official Threads API is still in its infancy. It has strict rate limits, requires complex OAuth, and is mostly focused on publishing content, not reading public data at scale.

If you want to analyze the platform, you need an unofficial API.

In this guide, we'll explore how to scrape social media data from Threads using SociaVault.

Evaluating Threads data options? See our complete Threads API alternatives comparison.

What Data is Available?

Threads is text-first, but rich in media. You can extract:

1. User Profiles: Bio, follower count, profile pic, verified status.
2. Threads (Posts): Text content, image/video URLs, like count, reply count.
3. Replies: The conversation tree below a post.
4. Search Results: Finding posts by keyword.

Step 1: Scraping a User Profile

Let's say you want to track the growth of a brand like zuck or netflix.

import requests

API_KEY = "YOUR_SOCIAVAULT_API_KEY"
USERNAME = "zuck"

url = "https://api.sociavault.com/v1/scrape/threads/profile"
params = {"username": USERNAME}
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}

response = requests.get(url, params=params, headers=headers)
data = response.json()

user = data['data']
print(f"User: {user['username']}")
print(f"Followers: {user['follower_count']}")
print(f"Bio: {user['biography']}")

Use Case: Track follower growth daily to see which creators are migrating from Twitter to Threads.

Step 2: Scraping User Posts

To analyze what a user is talking about, you need their timeline.

url = "https://api.sociavault.com/v1/scrape/threads/posts"
params = {"username": USERNAME}

response = requests.get(url, params=params, headers=headers)
posts = response.json()['data']['items']

for post in posts:
    print(f"--- Post ID: {post['id']} ---")
    print(f"Text: {post['caption']['text']}")
    print(f"Likes: {post['like_count']}")
    print(f"Replies: {post['reply_count']}")

Use Case: Content repurposing. Find your best-performing Tweets and repost them to Threads (or vice versa).

Step 3: Keyword Search (Trend Monitoring)

This is the most powerful feature. You can search for keywords to see what people are saying about a topic.

Note: Threads search is algorithmic, not strictly chronological.

KEYWORD = "AI tools"
url = "https://api.sociavault.com/v1/scrape/threads/search"
params = {"query": KEYWORD}

response = requests.get(url, params=params, headers=headers)
results = response.json()['data']['items']

print(f"Found {len(results)} threads about '{KEYWORD}'")

Use Case: Brand monitoring. Alert your support team whenever someone mentions your company name on Threads.

Threads vs. Twitter (X) Scraping

Why scrape Threads instead of (or in addition to) Twitter?

1. Cost: Twitter's Enterprise API starts at $42,000/month. SociaVault's Threads API is pay-as-you-go (pennies per request).
2. Sentiment: Threads tends to have a more "positive/Instagram" vibe compared to Twitter's political intensity. Comparing the two gives a complete picture of public opinion.
3. Growth: Threads is growing; Twitter is stabilizing. Being early to Threads data gives you an edge.

Rate Limits & Best Practices

Threads is aggressive about blocking scrapers.

• Don't use Selenium: It's slow and easily detected.
• Don't use your own account: You will get banned.
• Use SociaVault: We handle the session management, IP rotation, and headers for you.

We recommend caching data. If you fetch a user's profile, don't fetch it again for at least 6-12 hours. Follower counts don't change that fast.

Conclusion

Threads is no longer just an experiment; it's a major platform. The official API is too restrictive for serious data analysis.

By using SociaVault, you can unlock the data inside Threads to build analytics tools, monitor trends, and understand the new social landscape.

Start scraping Threads: Get your API Key