Facebook Group Insights Scraper

Facebook Group Insights Scraper extracts public Facebook group details from one to five exact group URLs without a Facebook login or cookie. Get group IDs, names, member counts and available About details for community research and directory enrichment—not posts, member lists or private group content.

Quick start

Paste public group URLs into groupUrls, then run the Actor and export the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel:

{
  "groupUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheapmealideas/" }
  ]
}

One successful group produces one dataset row. Public fields vary by group, and an unavailable or blocked target can produce no row. A completed run can therefore have an empty dataset. This alone does not establish that a group is private or deleted.

Prefer a video guide? This short Apify walkthrough shows you how to set up and run an Actor. It uses a different Actor, but the setup steps are the same.

https://youtu.be/1OW8gOqlZbY?t=25

What you get

One row per successfully collected public group, with its identity, name, public member-count text and available About fields. Optional descriptions can be shortened, counts can be rounded and unavailable values remain null or empty arrays. The dataset is group-level metadata rather than posts, membership lists or private Insights.

Who is it for?

• Community researchers reviewing known public groups and their visible descriptions.
• Directory teams enriching an existing list of exact group URLs.
• Market analysts comparing public count estimates across their own dated observations.
• Data teams keeping source-linked group metadata for manual review.

How you can use the data

• Enrich a known-group directory. Supply one to five exact URLs, such as the existing Cheap Meal Ideas example. Keep group_id, group_url, group_name, available description and public privacy labels beside your original directory entry.
• Compare public member-count observations. Save members_count, members_count_text and scraped_at with each export. Compare separate observations in your own spreadsheet, remembering that compact count text is rounded rather than a precise membership history.
• Review available About details manually. Inspect rules, creation time, public activity labels and source links when provided. These are public page fields, not member profiles, engagement history or private group analytics.
• Check batch coverage before updating your directory. Compare requested and successful counts and review completed/pending URLs. A completed target in the checkpoint does not necessarily mean a successful dataset row.

Input settings

URLs are validated before group requests. Invalid target input fails before the start event. The input form contains the detailed connection settings and limitations.

For a numeric-ID group, use the same input shape:

{
  "groupUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/2200032550/" }
  ]
}

Output data

Illustrative output shape, not a guarantee of current values or field availability:

{
  "status": "success",
  "group_id": "126966114029232",
  "group_name": "Cheap Meal Ideas",
  "group_url": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheapmealideas/",
  "description": "Public group description when available",
  "group_location": null,
  "privacy": "Public group",
  "members_count": 6000000,
  "members_count_text": "6.0M members",
  "rules": [],
  "scraped_at": "2026-08-29T00:00:00.000Z"
}

Unavailable optional values are null or, for rules, an empty array. Results follow input order with unsuccessful targets omitted. No sorting or ranking option is provided.

The RUN_SUMMARY key-value record reports requested, completed, successful, errors and stoppedForDeadline. It contains counts, not a per-target explanation. LIFECYCLE_CHECKPOINT identifies completed and pending URLs. Completed does not necessarily mean a successful row. These records are separate from the dataset.

Download your results

Open your run's dataset, choose Export and select JSON, CSV or Excel. JSON keeps nested fields together. CSV and Excel are useful when you want to review the records in a spreadsheet.

See Apify's download and export guide for the available formats and field options.

Tips for best results

• Supply one to five exact group URLs. This Actor enriches known groups rather than discovering new ones.
• Keep supported connection settings. The existing default is Apify Residential in the US, and direct access is not supported.
• Retain original count text with estimates. Compare rounded values cautiously instead of treating every change as an exact membership event.
• Compare successful counts with submitted targets. Summary counts do not provide a per-target explanation, and completed checkpoint entries are not all successful rows.
• Inspect missing fields and cover links before reuse. Descriptions can be short previews, and image URLs can expire.

Limits and caveats

Only public group-level metadata is supported without Facebook login or cookies. This is not a group-discovery tool or feed crawler, and it does not export posts, comments, member profiles, private content or administrators' private information. It is not affiliated with Facebook or Meta.

Facebook can restrict logged-out access or change its pages. An unavailable or blocked target can produce no row, including a completed empty dataset, without establishing that a group is private or deleted. Isolated unavailable targets are omitted while useful results remain available.

Optional values can be null, descriptions can be shortened and public counts can be rounded estimates. Rules can be an empty array, and signed cover-image URLs can expire. Results follow input order with unsuccessful targets omitted, without sorting or ranking controls.

A deadline can leave targets unfinished. RUN_SUMMARY reports requested, completed, successful, error and deadline-stop counts rather than per-target reasons. LIFECYCLE_CHECKPOINT lists completed and pending URLs, but completed does not necessarily mean a successful row. These records remain separate from the dataset.

Automation and integrations

Save your settings for next time

Once you have an input that works for you, save it as an Apify task. This keeps your settings together so you can use them again without filling in the form from scratch.

Run on a schedule

Need fresh results regularly? You can schedule the Actor or a saved task to run at a time that suits you.

Each scheduled run collects the data again. If you want to compare results or highlight changes, add that step in your own workflow.

Send results to your other tools

Use n8n, Make or Zapier to connect this scraper to the rest of your workflow. For example, you could pass its results to an AI assistant or add records to a spreadsheet. Follow the Apify integration guides for your chosen tool.

For a custom connection, an Apify webhook can notify your app when a run finishes or fails. Your app can then fetch the results or handle the failure.

API usage

Want to collect this data from your own app or automation? The examples below send input to the scraper and show how to collect its results.

The Node.js and Python examples wait for the run to finish before reading its results. The cURL example starts the run and returns its details. Wait for that run to finish, then use its defaultDatasetId to fetch the results.

For setup instructions, see Apify's JavaScript client guide, Python client guide and Actor runs API reference.

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fetch_cat~facebook-group-insights-scraper/runs' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data @- <<'JSON'
{
  "groupUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheapmealideas/"
    }
  ]
}
JSON

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('fetch_cat/facebook-group-insights-scraper').call({
  "groupUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheapmealideas/"
    }
  ]
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python

import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('fetch_cat/facebook-group-insights-scraper').call(run_input={'groupUrls': [{'url': 'https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheapmealideas/'}]})
print(client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items)

MCP and AI agents

You can ask your AI assistant to collect data with Facebook Group Insights Scraper and help you work with the results. The scraper returns the data, and your assistant can then summarize it, compare records or prepare notes.

Connect your assistant through the Apify MCP server. MCP gives your assistant a way to find this scraper, run it and read the results. Follow the official setup and sign-in guide for your app.

Easier setup with an Apify plugin

If you use a supported coding assistant, the official Apify plugin can set up the connection for you. It connects your assistant to Apify and includes instructions for common tasks. Follow the guide for your particular app.

Use Apify AI in Console

Prefer to keep everything in Apify? Open Apify AI in Console and ask it to find Fetch Cat's Facebook Group Insights Scraper. You can describe the data you want and ask questions about the results.

Apify AI is currently in beta. It asks for confirmation before starting an Actor, and normal run charges apply.

Choose your assistant

• Claude and Claude Code (Anthropic): Apify setup guide.
• ChatGPT and Codex (OpenAI): Apify setup guides.
• Grok Bot (xAI): Apify plugin guide.
• Gemini CLI (Google): MCP server setup guide. Use the server URL below with the HTTP configuration supported by Gemini CLI.

Connect just this scraper

To keep your setup focused on this scraper, add this server configuration to a compatible MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fetch_cat/facebook-group-insights-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Sign in to Apify when your client asks. If your client uses a Bearer token instead, follow its setup guide and keep the token in its secure configuration. Configuration formats vary by app, so use the linked guide if your client needs a different format.

Use Apify's general server

Already connected to the general Apify MCP server at https://mcp.apify.com? You can use it to find this scraper without adding another server. Ask your assistant to use Facebook Group Insights Scraper by Fetch Cat, or give it the identifier fetch_cat/facebook-group-insights-scraper.

Your assistant can check the available settings and retrieve the results from the returned run. If the run is still working, it should follow that run rather than start it again. Both connection options use Apify's hosted service.

Example requests

• “Use Fetch Cat’s Facebook Group Insights Scraper to retrieve public metadata for https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheapmealideas/. Show its name, public member-count text and available About description with the source link.”
• “Collect metadata for the 2 exact public Facebook group URLs I provide. Keep group IDs, privacy labels and count text so I can review my directory entries, without retrieving posts or member profiles.”
• “Retrieve group-level metadata for these 3 exact group URLs. Include observation times and distinguish successful rows from completed or pending targets before I compare rounded counts with my own earlier export.”

Normal Apify charges apply. Check the live Pricing tab before asking your assistant to run a larger batch.

Pay with x402

If your AI agent has a funded wallet, it can pay for Apify usage through x402. This experimental option lets an agent use Apify without a conventional account.

Apify AGI provides a prepaid API token with a spending cap after payment. Your agent can use that token to run this scraper through the Apify API or an authenticated MCP connection.

Some MCP setups also support paying for each request directly. That is a different payment option, so check the official guide for its availability.

Follow the official guide for wallet setup, supported payment options and current terms. Apify handles the payments. Keep wallet keys and payment tokens in your agent's secure configuration.

Other ways for agents to pay

Apify also supports MPP for prepaid access through AGI and Skyfire for eligible Actors. If your agent already uses one of these, see the agentic payment guide to choose the right setup.

Support and feedback

For custom additions or integrations, email hello@fetchcat.dev.

Found an error or have a feature request? Open an issue with the run URL, a non-sensitive input example and what you expected.

Need help sharing it? See Apify’s guide to sharing a run when reporting an issue. Sharing a run can give the developer access to its input, logs and results, so use a run that contains no sensitive data. Please leave out API tokens, passwords, cookies, private documents and personal data. Use a public sample URL or a redacted example instead.

Tried this scraper? We'd love to hear how it worked for you. Leave a review to help others choose the right tool and help us improve it. Your feedback means a lot to us.

Made with care for curious people, AI agents and the possibilities in data. ♥