Instascrape - Instagram Hashtag Search Tool

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Objective

Develop a web-based tool that empowers users to explore Instagram posts associated with specific hashtags. The tool seamlessly integrates the Apify API, persists results in a Laravel-backed database, and offers a user-friendly React-based frontend. Additionally, a machine-to-machine API endpoint is implemented for programmatic access to search functionality.

Features

User Interface

1. Search Box:

   • A user-friendly search box allows users to input hashtags.

2. Display Area:

   • The interface includes a display area showcasing search results in a visually appealing React-based grid or list format.

Back-End Development (Laravel)

• Results from hashtag searches are efficiently stored in a Laravel-supported database.
• A machine-to-machine API endpoint is thoughtfully implemented, offering seamless programmatic access to search functionality.

Data Presentation (React)

• Instagram content is gracefully presented using React components, providing an immersive experience for users.

How to Use

Web Interface (React)

1. Clone the Repository:

   • Clone this repository to your local machine using the following command:

     git clone https://github.com/MfundoVala/instascrape.git

2. Install Dependencies:

   • Navigate to the project root directory and install the dependencies for both the React frontend and Laravel backend:

     cd instascrape
     cd client && npm install
     cd ../server && composer install

3. Database Configuration (Laravel):

   • Configure the database connection in Laravel by copying the .env.example file to a new file named .env and updating the necessary database credentials according to your database setup.

4. Apify API Credentials:

   • Acquire Apify API credentials (Apify Token at apify.com) and update them in the appropriate configuration files in the Laravel backend (APIFY_TOKEN).
   • If you cannot get credentials privately request them the .env file from me.

5. Run the Application:

   • Start the React frontend and Laravel backend. In separate terminal windows:
     • For React:

       cd client && npm start

     • For Laravel:

       cd backend && php artisan serve

6. Access the Tool:

   • Open your preferred browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000 to access the Instagram Hashtag Search Tool.

API Endpoint (Laravel)

• Leverage the Laravel-backed API endpoint for machine-to-machine calls.
• Make requests to the API and programmatically retrieve search results. -- Endpoints: -- [localhost]/api/getHashtagPosts - Returns and array of previously queried posts stored in Database -- [localhost]/api/scrapePostsByHashtag - Starts an Apify actor run to scrape posts by provided hashtag and returns an array of post information.

#NB:- Make sure your server is running at PORT 8000 ie http://127.0.0.1:8000/

Technologies Used

• Frontend: React, Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Laravel, PHP
• Database: MySQL
• API: Apify API for scrapiing and fetching posts

Contributions

Contributions are encouraged! Feel free to submit issues or pull requests to enhance the functionality of the tool.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.