> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.scraper.creatorlookup.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> Social media scraping API with credit-based billing

# Creator Scraper API

Creator Scraper is an in-house social media scraping API that provides structured data from Instagram profiles, posts, and comments through a simple REST interface.

## What it does

* **Profile data** — follower counts, bios, verification status, contact info
* **Posts** — captions, engagement metrics, media URLs, hashtags, tagged users
* **Comments** — text, usernames, timestamps, like counts
* **Reliable delivery** — automatic retries, proxy rotation, and caching

## How it works

```
Your App  →  REST API  →  Job Queue  →  Scraper Workers  →  Instagram
                ↕              ↕
            Postgres        Redis
          (API keys,     (cache, rate
           usage logs)    limiting, queue)
```

1. Your application sends a request with an API key
2. The API checks credits and rate limits, then enqueues a scrape job
3. A worker picks up the job, scrapes Instagram through residential proxies
4. Results are cached in Redis and persisted to Postgres
5. The API returns structured JSON data

## Key features

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Credit-based billing" icon="coins">
    Each endpoint has a fixed credit cost. Check your balance anytime via the API.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Automatic caching" icon="bolt">
    Responses are cached (profiles 1hr, posts 15min, comments 5min) for fast repeat requests.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Residential proxies" icon="shield-halved">
    All requests route through Decodo residential proxies with automatic rotation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Rate limiting" icon="gauge-high">
    Per-key rate limits protect your account and ensure fair usage.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Supported platforms

| Platform  | Status      |
| --------- | ----------- |
| Instagram | Available   |
| TikTok    | Coming soon |