X (Twitter) Scraper API

Use the Bright Data X (Twitter) Scraper API to extract structured data from profiles and posts. Handles up to 20 URLs per request.

Send an X.com URL, get structured JSON back. The Bright Data X Scraper API handles proxies, CAPTCHAs, and parsing so you can focus on your data pipeline.

New to Bright Data? Create a free account and get 5,000 free credits every month, no credit card required. That’s up to 5,000 X (Twitter) records to start scraping. See the free tier.

How it works

You send one or more X (formerly Twitter) URLs to the Bright Data X Scraper API. Bright Data handles the scraping infrastructure and returns clean, structured JSON.

Your app  -->  Bright Data API  -->  Structured JSON
           POST /datasets/v3/scrape
           Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

All requests use a dataset_id to specify the data type (profiles or posts) and return results in JSON, NDJSON, or CSV.

What the response looks like

A single record returned by the Bright Data X (Twitter) Scraper API. Run the request yourself in the quickstart.

{
  "user_name": "elonmusk",
  "name": "Elon Musk",
  "description": "Read @WallStreetSilv",
  "followers": 214000000,
  "following": 870,
  "number_of_tweets": 52000,
  "is_verified": true,
  "profile_image_link": "https://..."
}

Supported data types

Profiles

Follower counts, bios, verification status, profile images. Discover profiles by username.

Posts

Post text, likes, reposts, replies, media, and hashtags. Discover posts by profile URL.

Request methods

The Bright Data Scraper API supports two request methods. Choose based on your volume and latency needs.

Method	Endpoint	Best for
Synchronous	/scrape	Real-time lookups, up to 20 URLs
Asynchronous	/trigger	Batch jobs, 20 or more URLs, production pipelines

Learn more in Understanding sync vs. async requests.

Capabilities and limits

Capability	Detail
Output formats	JSON, NDJSON, CSV
Max URLs per sync request	20
Max URLs per async request	Unlimited, up to 1 GB of input per job
Data freshness	Real-time (scraped on demand)
Delivery options	API download, webhook, Amazon S3, Snowflake, Azure, GCS (all options)
Pricing	Pay per successful record (see pricing)

Common questions

Is the data scraped in real time?

Yes. Each request triggers a live scrape. There is no cached or stale data. Processing time varies with target-site conditions and scraper workload. The Bright Data X (Twitter) Scraper API does not publish a fixed response time. A synchronous request waits up to 1 minute, then returns a snapshot_id and continues asynchronously. Discovery requests always run asynchronously and take longer depending on result volume.

Why do response times change over time?

X (Twitter) changes how its pages are served, and the Bright Data X (Twitter) Scraper API collectors are updated to match. A collector update can change how long a scrape takes even when the success rate stays the same. For production workloads, build against the async workflow or webhook delivery so a longer run does not break the integration.

What is the difference between URL collection and discovery?

URL collection scrapes a specific X page you provide (e.g., a profile URL). Discovery finds X content matching search criteria (e.g., all posts from a profile URL) and scrapes the results. Discovery is only available via async requests.

How is this different from scraping using proxies or Web Unlocker?

When scraping using proxies or Web Unlocker, you still need to write and maintain your own parsing logic and update it whenever the target site changes its page structure. The Bright Data Scraper API handles the entire stack: proxy rotation, anti-bot bypassing and parsing. You send a URL or keyword and get clean, structured JSON back, with no scraping infrastructure or parser maintenance on your end.

Next steps

Quickstart

Scrape your first X profile in 5 minutes.

Send your first request

Full code examples in cURL, Python, and Node.js.

API reference

Endpoint specs, parameters, and response schemas.