LinkedIn scraper quickstart

Set up the Bright Data LinkedIn Scraper API and collect your first profile, company or job as structured JSON in under 5 minutes with cURL, Python or Node.js.

This tutorial shows you how to scrape a LinkedIn profile and get structured JSON data using the Bright Data LinkedIn Scraper API.

Prerequisites

• A Bright Data account
• cURL, Python 3, or Node.js 18+ installed

1. Get your API key

   Go to the user settings page in your Bright Data account and copy your API key.

   If you don’t have an account yet, sign up at brightdata.com. New accounts get 5,000 free credits every month, no credit card required. See the free tier.

   Your API key is shown only once when created. Copy and store it securely.

2. Send a request

   We’ll use the Profiles endpoint with a synchronous request. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your API key:

   cURL

   curl -X POST \
     "https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/v3/scrape?dataset_id=gd_l1viktl72bvl7bjuj0&format=json" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '[{"url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella"}]'
   

   You should see a 200 status code. This takes 10-30 seconds.

3. Review the response

   The Bright Data LinkedIn Scraper API returns a JSON array with structured profile data:

   [
     {
       "name": "Satya Nadella",
       "city": "Redmond",
       "country_code": "US",
       "current_company": {
         "name": "Microsoft",
         "link": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft"
       },
       "followers": 10842560,
       "connections": 500,
       "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella"
     }
   ]
   

   Each profile object includes 50+ fields covering identity, location, current company, follower counts and social activity. See the full response schema.

You’ve successfully scraped your first LinkedIn profile using the Bright Data LinkedIn Scraper API.

Since November 13, 2025, LinkedIn has restricted public access to the Position, Experience and Education fields. Fill rates for those three dropped from 50-64 percent to roughly 2 percent, and they now return sticky data from cache rather than a fresh scrape. All other fields refresh normally. See LinkedIn data policy change for the full field status table and alternatives.

Common questions

Can I scrape multiple profiles in one request?

Yes. Add more objects to the input array. Synchronous requests support up to 20 URLs. For larger batches, use the async /trigger endpoint.

[
  {"url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella"},
  {"url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffweiner08"},
  {"url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbranson"}
]

Getting a 401 or 403 error?

Verify your API key is correct and hasn’t expired. Generate a new token from Account settings. See the authentication guide for details.

Request is timing out?

Synchronous requests have a 1-minute timeout. If the request exceeds this limit, it automatically switches to async and returns a snapshot_id. Use the async workflow for large batches.

Empty or partial response data?

Verify the LinkedIn profile URL is publicly accessible and correctly formatted. The URL should follow the pattern https://www.linkedin.com/in/username.

Next steps

Send your first request

Explore all four endpoint types with full examples.

Async batch requests

Scrape hundreds of URLs in a single batch job.

Set up webhooks

Receive results automatically when scraping completes.