Scrape Creator Profile

Extract structured profile data from a content creator's public page. Returns a normalized JSON object regardless of platform.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill for any request that involves:

• Looking up a creator, influencer, streamer, or public figure's profile
• Fetching follower counts, bio, links, recent content, or engagement stats
• Comparing multiple creators
• Building lead lists or research reports about creators
• Monitoring a creator's stats over time

If the user provides a URL, jump straight to Step 2. If they only give a name or handle, start at Step 1.

Step 1 — Resolve the Profile URL

If the user gave a username/handle without a URL:

1. Construct the likely URL using the platform mapping below.
2. If the platform is ambiguous, try the most likely one first (see detection hints), then ask the user to confirm.

Platform URL Patterns

Detection Hints

• @ prefix with short handle → likely Twitter/X or Instagram
• "yt:" or "youtube" keyword → YouTube
• "channel", "subscribe", "views" → YouTube
• "stream", "live" → Twitch
• "reel", "story", "ig:" → Instagram
• "tiktok", "tt:" or handle with numbers → TikTok
• Professional title + name → LinkedIn

Step 2 — Fetch the Profile Page

2a. Try plain web_fetch first

web_fetch(url)

Check if the response contains useful profile data (bio, follower count, etc.). If the content is mostly JS placeholders, empty <div>s, or a login wall, move to 2b.

2b. Use browser (managed mode) for JS-heavy sites

Platforms that almost always require browser mode:

• Instagram — always requires browser
• TikTok — always requires browser
• LinkedIn — login wall without session; use browser if session cookies available
• YouTube — web_fetch usually works; use browser if blocked

Browser steps:

1. Open the profile URL in managed browser mode.
2. Wait for the main content container to render (look for follower/subscriber counts, bio text).
3. Take a DOM snapshot.
4. Extract data from the snapshot using the field map in Step 3.

2c. Apify fallback (if APIFY_API_TOKEN is set)

For persistent blocks, use the Apify actor for that platform. See references/apify-actors.md for actor IDs and call patterns.

Step 3 — Extract Structured Fields

Parse the fetched content and populate the following fields. Mark any missing field as null — do not guess.

{
  "platform": "string",          // youtube | instagram | tiktok | twitter | linkedin | twitch | substack | github | patreon | other
  "handle": "string",            // @-prefixed username
  "display_name": "string",      // Full display name
  "verified": true | false,
  "bio": "string",               // Profile description / about text
  "profile_url": "string",       // Canonical URL used to scrape
  "avatar_url": "string | null",
  "external_links": ["string"],  // Any links in bio or link-in-bio
  "stats": {
    "followers": "number | null",
    "following": "number | null",
    "subscribers": "number | null",
    "total_views": "number | null",
    "total_posts": "number | null",
    "monthly_listeners": "number | null",  // Spotify-style, if applicable
    "engagement_rate": "number | null"     // Percentage, if computable
  },
  "recent_content": [
    {
      "title": "string | null",
      "url": "string",
      "published_at": "ISO 8601 string | null",
      "views": "number | null",
      "likes": "number | null",
      "comments": "number | null"
    }
    // Up to 5 most recent items
  ],
  "contact_info": {
    "email": "string | null",    // Only if publicly listed in bio/links
    "website": "string | null"
  },
  "scraped_at": "ISO 8601 UTC timestamp"
}

Privacy rule: Only capture fields that are explicitly public on the profile page. Do not infer, deduce, or cross-reference private information. Do not store or relay phone numbers even if visible.

Platform-specific extraction hints

See references/platform-selectors.md for CSS selectors and JSON-LD paths per platform. Quick reference:

• YouTube: subscriber count in #subscriber-count or meta itemprop=interactionCount; description in #description-inner
• Twitter/X: follower count in [data-testid="UserProfileHeader_Items"]; bio in [data-testid="UserDescription"]
• Instagram: JSON blob in window._sharedData or <script type="application/ld+json">
• TikTok: JSON blob in <script id="__UNIVERSAL_DATA_FOR_REHYDRATION__">
• GitHub: itemprop attributes: name, description, follows, worksFor
• LinkedIn: Open Graph tags for name, title, headline

Step 4 — Normalize Numbers

Convert abbreviated counts to integers before storing:

• "12.3K" → 12300
• "4.5M" → 4500000
• "1B" → 1000000000
• "1,234" → 1234

Use the helper script:

python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/scrape-creator-profile/scripts/normalize_count.py "12.3K"

Step 5 — Output

Default output (conversational)

Present a clean summary in chat:

**[Display Name]** (@handle) · Platform
✅ Verified  |  👥 X followers  |  📝 Y posts

Bio: "..."

Top links: url1, url2

Recent content:
  1. "Video Title" — X views (date)
  2. ...

[Full JSON available on request]

Structured output (when user asks for JSON, export, or data)

Return or save the full normalized JSON object from Step 3.

To save to disk:

python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/scrape-creator-profile/scripts/save_profile.py \
  --data '<json>' \
  --output ~/creator-profiles/{handle}_{platform}.json

Step 6 — Multi-Profile Mode

If the user supplies multiple handles or URLs (comma-separated, line-separated, or a list):

1. Process each profile sequentially (respect CREATOR_SCRAPE_DELAY_MS between requests, default 1500 ms).
2. Collect results into an array.
3. Output a comparison table if ≤ 5 profiles; offer to save CSV if > 5.

python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/scrape-creator-profile/scripts/compare_profiles.py \
  --profiles '<json array>' \
  --format table   # or csv

Error Handling

Legal & Ethical Guardrails

• Only scrape public profiles. Do not scrape private accounts even if technically accessible.
• Do not extract, store, or relay private contact information (DMs, non-public email, phone numbers).
• Respect robots.txt disallow rules unless the user explicitly overrides and accepts responsibility.
• Do not use this skill to build surveillance systems, stalking tools, or targeted harassment infrastructure.
• If the user's intent appears to be harassment or doxxing, refuse and explain why.

Reference Files

• references/platform-selectors.md — CSS selectors and JSON-LD paths per platform
• references/apify-actors.md — Apify actor IDs and call patterns for fallback scraping
• scripts/normalize_count.py — Converts "12.3K" → 12300
• scripts/save_profile.py — Saves profile JSON to disk
• scripts/compare_profiles.py — Builds comparison table or CSV from multiple profiles