Use Facebook Group Feed & Engagement Extractor with Python

Pull posts from any public Facebook group with full text, media, reaction breakdown, top comments and reshares, plus optional group member count, admins and rules.

1. Choose the data you need

Review the published README for supported collection modes, examples, and limits. The recipe below uses the current published input definition.

2. Prepare a source-based input

This JSON contains published prefills and required-field defaults. Review every value for your task before running it; it is not a promise of successful collection.

{
  "enrichGroupInfo": false,
  "fetchAllComments": false,
  "includeCommentReplies": true,
  "includeTopComments": true,
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 5,
  "maxItems": 3,
  "monitoringMode": false,
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.facebook.com/groups/pythondevelopers/"
  ]
}

Download input.example.json and save your reviewed copy as input.json.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`startUrls`	array	required	Facebook group URLs, bare group slugs or numeric IDs, or links to individual group posts.
`sortBy`	string	optional	How to order each group's feed.
`maxItems`	integer	optional	Maximum number of posts to return per group. Post links always return one post.
`includeTopComments`	boolean	optional	Include each post's inline top comments, with comment text, author, reactions and reply count.
`fetchAllComments`	boolean	optional	Fetch the full comment thread for each post, not just the inline top comments. This is slower and can add many rows of comment data.
`maxCommentsPerPost`	integer	optional	Comment budget per post, including replies. Only used when full comment threads are enabled.
`includeCommentReplies`	boolean	optional	Attach replies to each fetched comment. Only used when full comment threads are enabled.
`onlyPostsNewerThan`	string	optional	Keep posts created after this date. Use YYYY-MM-DD or a relative value such as '7 days' or '24 hours'. Applied while collecting posts.
`onlyPostsOlderThan`	string	optional	Keep posts created before this date. Use YYYY-MM-DD or a relative value such as '30 days'.
`searchKeyword`	string	optional	Keep only posts whose text contains this keyword (case-insensitive). Applied while collecting posts.
`enrichGroupInfo`	boolean	optional	Add the group's name, description, member count, creation date, privacy, rules and admins to posts. Works for public groups; private groups return their public profile only.
`monitoringMode`	boolean	optional	Return only posts not seen in a previous run for the same group or post link, so scheduled runs return just what is new.

3. Start an Actor run

Set APIFY_TOKEN in your environment. Python 3.10 or newer is sufficient; this recipe uses no third-party packages.

Execution may incur charges. Review current pricing on Apify. The request asks for a 120-second timeout and a charge limit; these settings are subject to Apify’s pricing and do not guarantee an all-inclusive spending cap.

import json
import os
import urllib.request

# Save the schema-derived example as input.json; review and edit it first.
with open("input.json", encoding="utf-8") as stream:
    actor_input = json.load(stream)

token = os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"]
request = urllib.request.Request(
    "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/aFlHZPCMOjot2Ym8e/runs?timeout=120&maxTotalChargeUsd=0.50",
    data=json.dumps(actor_input).encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + token, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
    method="POST",
)
# This starts a potentially billable run. Do not automatically retry this POST.
with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=40) as response:
    run = json.load(response)["data"]
print("Run ID:", run["id"])
print("Status:", run["status"])
# Inspect and download results in Apify Console once the run succeeds.

4. Inspect the actual results

Open the run in Apify Console and wait for a successful completion. Use the published output schema to locate results and the dataset schema to understand declared views. Missing or optional record fields must not be treated as guaranteed values.

Dataset of public Facebook group posts with text, media, reactions, comment threads, reshares and optional group profile data. Rows for private or empty groups carry a status message plus public group metadata when enrichment is enabled.

Questions before you run

Which inputs are required?

The published required fields are startUrls

What does this guide verify?

The fields, prefills, and schema links are rendered from the published build. This is a usage recipe, not a paid live extraction test. Source availability and collection results can vary.

What if the run request times out?

Check Apify Console before retrying. The first request may already have created a run. Do not automatically repeat a run-creation POST.

Open on Apify Full Actor reference

Generated from source build Dg4WzPhie7Uh9fl7g and its README and schemas. Source changes regenerate this guide; no third-party editorial claims are inferred.