How to scrape Instagram Transcript with Ruby

Transcript of a reel (videos under 2 minutes). This tutorial gets it with a short Ruby program and the Instagram Transcript API. Each successful call costs 2 credits; errors and not-found answers are free.

1. Get an API key

Sign in to get a key and 100 free credits, no card. Then put the key in an environment variable so it stays out of your code:

export SCRAPEIO_API_KEY="your_key_here"

2. Set up Ruby

Ruby 3; net/http and json are built in

3. Write the code

Save this as scrape.rb. Replace PASTE_URL_HERE with a real url.

require "json"
require "net/http"

params = { "url" => "PASTE_URL_HERE" }

def call(params)
  uri = URI("https://scrapeio.com/v2/instagram/media/transcript")
  uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)
  req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
  req["x-api-key"] = ENV.fetch("SCRAPEIO_API_KEY")
  res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, use_ssl: true) { |http| http.request(req) }
  raise "HTTP #{res.code}" unless res.code == "200"
  JSON.parse(res.body)["data"]
end

puts JSON.pretty_generate(call(params))

4. Run it

ruby scrape.rb

The response has the same envelope on every endpoint: success, cached, credits_used, credits_remaining and data. Shared fields such as handle, followers, plays, likes and created_at have the same names on every platform.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`url` (required)	string	Instagram reel URL.

Errors and what you pay

Status	Meaning	Charged
`200`	Success	Yes, unless cached
`400`	A parameter is missing or wrong	No
`401`	The key is missing or invalid	No
`402`	Not enough credits	No
`403`	The account or post is private	No
`404`	Not found on the platform	No
`429`	More than 300 requests a minute	No
`502`	Every source is down; retry shortly	No

Same endpoint in other languages

Python · Node.js · JavaScript · TypeScript · Go · Rust · Java · C# · PHP · Kotlin · Swift · R

Prefer no code?

Connect the MCP server to Claude Code, Cursor or Codex and ask in plain English. The agent uses the instagram_transcript tool for you.

100 free credits, no card. Credits never expire.

Get API key