# Brightdata Linkedin

> Scrape LinkedIn data using BrightData Datasets API. Supports profiles, companies, jobs, posts, and people search. Offers both synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (batch) modes. Use when needing to collect LinkedIn profile data, company information, job listings, posts from profiles/companies, or search for people. Handles single and bulk operations with automatic batching.

- Skill: `buzzmatic/brightdata-linkedin` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add buzzmatic/brightdata-linkedin`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/buzzmatic/brightdata-linkedin/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Integrations & APIs
- Author: Buzzmatic (https://skillmd.com/u/buzzmatic)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/buzzmatic/brightdata-linkedin

---


# BrightData LinkedIn Scraper

LinkedIn data collection using BrightData's Datasets API (Web Scraper IDE). All operations save results to disk and return summaries to context.

## When to Use This Skill

**Use `brightdata-linkedin` (this skill) when:**
- Need LinkedIn job search by keyword/location (not just by URL)
- Need to discover posts from company pages or profiles
- Need people search functionality
- Want direct control over the Datasets API parameters
- Need both sync and async modes

**Use `brightdata` (SDK skill) when:**
- Scraping general websites, SERP, or Amazon data
- Using simple URL-based LinkedIn scraping
- Prefer the SDK abstraction layer

## Overview

This skill provides access to BrightData's LinkedIn scrapers for collecting:
- **People Profiles**: Full profile data from LinkedIn profile URLs
- **Company Information**: Company page data from LinkedIn company URLs
- **Job Listings**: Job details by URL or discover jobs by keyword/location
- **Posts**: Posts by URL or discover posts by company/profile
- **People Search**: Search results from LinkedIn people search URLs

## Quick Start

**Single Profile Scrape:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint profiles \
  --input "https://www.linkedin.com/in/username"
```

**Bulk Company Scrape:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint companies \
  --input companies.json \
  --batch
```

**Job Search by Keyword:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint jobs-search \
  --location "Berlin" \
  --keyword "software engineer" \
  --country DE \
  --job-type "Full-time"
```

## Available Endpoints

| Endpoint | Dataset ID | Input Type | Description |
|----------|-----------|------------|-------------|
| `profiles` | gd_l1viktl72bvl7bjuj0 | Profile URLs | LinkedIn people profile data |
| `companies` | gd_l1vikfnt1wgvvqz95w | Company URLs | LinkedIn company information |
| `jobs` | gd_lpfll7v5hcqtkxl6l | Job URLs | LinkedIn job listing details |
| `jobs-search` | gd_lpfll7v5hcqtkxl6l | Keyword + Location | Discover jobs by search criteria |
| `posts` | gd_lyy3tktm25m4avu764 | Post URLs | LinkedIn post content |
| `posts-company` | gd_lyy3tktm25m4avu764 | Company URLs | Posts from company pages |
| `posts-profile` | gd_lyy3tktm25m4avu764 | Profile URLs | Posts from user profiles |
| `people-search` | gd_m8d03he47z8nwb5xc | Search URLs | LinkedIn people search results |

## Parameters

### Common Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Default | Description |
|-----------|----------|---------|-------------|
| `--endpoint` | Yes | - | Endpoint type (see table above) |
| `--input` | Conditional | - | URL, or path to batch file (not for jobs-search) |
| `--batch` | No | false | Enable batch mode for file inputs |
| `--mode` | No | sync | API mode: `sync` (real-time) or `async` (background) |
| `--limit` | No | - | Limit number of results per input |

### Job Search Parameters (jobs-search endpoint)

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|-----------|----------|-------------|
| `--location` | Yes | Job location (e.g., "Berlin", "New York") |
| `--keyword` | No | Search keyword (e.g., "software engineer") |
| `--country` | No | Country code (e.g., "DE", "US", "FR") |
| `--time-range` | No | Time filter (Past 24 hours, Past week, Past month, Any time) |
| `--job-type` | No | Job type (Full-time, Part-time, Contract, Internship) |
| `--experience-level` | No | Experience level (Entry, Associate, Mid-Senior, Director, Executive) |
| `--remote` | No | Remote filter (On-site, Remote, Hybrid) |
| `--company` | No | Company name filter |

### Posts Discovery Parameters (posts-company, posts-profile)

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|-----------|----------|-------------|
| `--start-date` | No | Filter posts from date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| `--end-date` | No | Filter posts until date (YYYY-MM-DD) |

## Batch Operations

For scraping multiple URLs, use batch mode with a file input.

### JSON Format
```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.linkedin.com/in/person1",
    "https://www.linkedin.com/in/person2",
    "https://www.linkedin.com/in/person3"
  ]
}
```

Also supports: `inputs`, `data`, `items` keys, or a plain array.

### CSV Format
```csv
url
https://www.linkedin.com/in/person1
https://www.linkedin.com/in/person2
https://www.linkedin.com/in/person3
```

### TXT Format
```
https://www.linkedin.com/in/person1
https://www.linkedin.com/in/person2
https://www.linkedin.com/in/person3
```

### Batch Example
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint profiles \
  --input profiles.json \
  --batch
```

### Job Search Batch

For job searches with multiple locations/keywords, create a JSON file:

```json
{
  "searches": [
    {"location": "Berlin", "keyword": "software engineer", "country": "DE"},
    {"location": "Munich", "keyword": "data scientist", "country": "DE"},
    {"location": "Hamburg", "keyword": "product manager", "country": "DE"}
  ]
}
```

```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint jobs-search \
  --input job_searches.json \
  --batch
```

## Sync vs Async Mode

### Synchronous Mode (Default)
- Results returned immediately in response
- Best for single requests or small batches
- Timeout: configurable (default 120s)

```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint profiles \
  --input "https://www.linkedin.com/in/username" \
  --mode sync
```

### Asynchronous Mode
- Request queued, returns snapshot_id
- Use for large batches or long-running jobs
- Retrieve results later with snapshot_id

```bash
# Submit async request
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint profiles \
  --input profiles.json \
  --batch \
  --mode async

# Check status and retrieve results
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/status.py \
  --snapshot-id <snapshot_id>
```

## Output Format

All operations return a summary to stdout:

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "endpoint": "profiles",
  "mode": "sync",
  "record_count": 5,
  "output_file": "output/brightdata_linkedin_profiles_5_20250125T123456.json",
  "summary": "Successfully scraped 5 LinkedIn profiles",
  "stats": {
    "total_inputs": 5,
    "successful": 5,
    "failed": 0
  }
}
```

### Raw Output File Structure

Saved to `output/brightdata_linkedin_{endpoint}_{timestamp}.json`:

```json
{
  "endpoint": "profiles",
  "dataset_id": "gd_l1viktl72bvl7bjuj0",
  "mode": "sync",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-25T12:34:56+00:00",
  "inputs_count": 5,
  "stats": {
    "total_inputs": 5,
    "successful": 5,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "input": {"url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/username"},
      "success": true,
      "data": { /* BrightData response */ }
    }
  ]
}
```

## API Configuration

Requires `BRIGHTDATA_API_TOKEN` in `.env`:

```env
BRIGHTDATA_API_TOKEN=your_api_token_here
```

Get your API token from the BrightData dashboard: https://brightdata.com/cp/

## Usage Examples

### Profile Scraping

**Single profile:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint profiles \
  --input "https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamhgates"
```

**Multiple profiles (comma-separated):**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint profiles \
  --input "https://www.linkedin.com/in/person1,https://www.linkedin.com/in/person2"
```

**Batch from file:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint profiles \
  --input profiles.txt \
  --batch
```

### Company Information

**Single company:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint companies \
  --input "https://www.linkedin.com/company/google"
```

### Job Search

**Basic search:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint jobs-search \
  --location "San Francisco" \
  --keyword "machine learning engineer"
```

**Advanced search with filters:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint jobs-search \
  --location "Berlin" \
  --keyword "senior software engineer" \
  --country DE \
  --job-type "Full-time" \
  --experience-level "Mid-Senior" \
  --remote "Remote" \
  --time-range "Past week"
```

### Posts Discovery

**Posts from a company:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint posts-company \
  --input "https://www.linkedin.com/company/google" \
  --start-date 2025-01-01 \
  --end-date 2025-01-25
```

**Posts from a profile:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint posts-profile \
  --input "https://www.linkedin.com/in/username"
```

### People Search

**Search results page:**
```bash
python skills/brightdata-linkedin/scripts/fetch.py \
  --endpoint people-search \
  --input "https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/people/?keywords=cto&origin=GLOBAL_SEARCH_HEADER"
```

## Error Handling

The script handles errors gracefully:

- **Partial success**: If some inputs fail, successful ones are still saved
- **Stats tracking**: Failed requests counted in `stats.failed`
- **Per-result errors**: Each failed result includes `error` message

Check the output:
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "stats": {
    "total_inputs": 10,
    "successful": 8,
    "failed": 2
  }
}
```

## Rate Limits and Pricing

- BrightData charges per successful data record
- Rate limits depend on your plan
- Use async mode for large batches to avoid timeouts
- Check your BrightData dashboard for usage and limits

## Limitations

- **Platform ToS**: Ensure compliance with LinkedIn's Terms of Service
- **Data freshness**: Some data may be cached
- **URL formats**: Requires valid LinkedIn URLs
- **Rate limits**: Subject to BrightData API limits

## Dependencies

No additional packages required beyond standard library. Uses `requests` for HTTP calls.