RAW API: Best Practices & Onboarding (For Developers)

How RAW API Works

The RAW API gives you access to live, unaggregated influencer data:

Follower lists
Recent content (posts & stories)
Comments, tags, and mentions
Hashtags used in posts
Post metadata (likes, comments, timestamps)

Use Cases Include:

Real-time campaign tracking
Custom influencer enrichment
Sentiment analysis
Audience overlap modeling

ℹ️ Modash does not alter, enrich, or aggregate RAW API data — responses mirror what's available publicly at the time of the request.

🔒 If a user’s content or profile is private, Modash will not return that data.

ℹ️ Some endpoints (like /user-tags-feed or /hashtag-feed) may return variable batch sizes depending on platform response constraints.

🔧 Key Use Cases & Endpoints

Use Case	Relevant Endpoints
Real-time content monitoring	`/user-feed`, `/user-stories`, `/media-info`
Audience overlap analysis	`/user-followers` (compare across users)
Sentiment & comment tracking	`/media-comments`, `/media-comment-replies`, `/user-tags-feed`
Content classification	`/user-feed`, `/media-comments`, `/media-info`
Instagram user/hashtag search	`/search` (platform-native; returns IG usernames/hashtags without filtering or aggregation)

Each endpoint returns raw JSON data directly from public platforms. You'll need to structure, enrich, or deduplicate the data on your end.

Per-Request Limits

Endpoint	Max per request
`/user-feed`	12 posts (Instagram)
`/user-stories`	All active stories available; no fixed limit. Cache applies only if the initial request fails.
`/user-followers`	100 followers
`/media-comments`	20 comments
`/user-tags-feed`	Number of posts varies; use pagination via `end_cursor`
`/media-info`	1 post per request — returns likes, comments, tags, paid status, etc.

Integration Tips

Queueing & Rate Limits

Handle 429 Too Many Requests using exponential backoff
Avoid concurrent requests per influencer

Retry Strategy (JavaScript):

javascriptCopyEditconst delays = [1000, 2000, 4000]; for (let delay of delays) { try { const res = await fetch(url); if (res.ok) break; } catch { await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, delay)); } }

Caching

Cache follower snapshots, post data, or comments when reprocessing the same influencer
Reduces API load and improves repeat query speed
⚠️ Thumbnail URLs (e.g., from /user-feed) may expire quickly — store if needed

Story Caching Behavior

Story content is cached for up to 3 hours only if the initial fetch fails
If a story expires from the source platform, it cannot be retrieved later

Data Enrichment Flow (Optional)

Use the RAW API to enrich workflows from the Discovery API:

Use Discovery API to shortlist influencers
Fetch recent posts via /user-feed
Analyze hashtags, metadata, or comment sentiment via /media-comments or /media-info
Use /user-followers to model audience overlap

Developer Notes

RAW API responses are unprocessed, direct from public data sources
Private, deleted, or restricted content may return null or be excluded
All timestamps are in UNIX format (milliseconds)