Scraping Threads by Meta When There's No API

Threads has 300 million monthly users and zero public API. Here's how I built a scraper that extracts posts, profiles, and engagement data without logging in. Why Threads? Instagram scrapers are the most popular actors on Apify — over 191,000 users. Threads is Instagram's text-first sibling with the same audience, same brands, same influencers. But when I looked for Threads data tools in early 2026, there were almost none. Meta has been protective of Threads data. No official API. No public data export. If you want to analyze what brands are posting, track influencer engagement, or build a monitoring tool, you're stuck manually scrolling. The Recon: How Does Threads Deliver Data? Before writing any code, I spent an hour with Chrome DevTools open on threads.net. Discovery 1: Threads Uses Meta's Barcelona GraphQL API Open the Network tab, visit any profile, and watch the requests. You'll see calls to www.threads.net/api/graphql with a doc_id parameter. POST https://www.threads.net/api/gr