Linkedin competitor scraping workflow last node not working correctly

Hello n8n Community,
I’m seeking some assistance with a workflow I’ve built. The goal of the workflow is to scrape LinkedIn posts from a list of creators and save the relevant content into an Airtable base.

The entire workflow seems to be running correctly, but the final Airtable “Create a record” node is not saving any data. It appears that the records are not being created, or if they are, they are empty.

I suspect the issue might be with the configuration of the last node or an earlier data handling step. I have attached screenshots of the workflow and the Airtable configuration for reference.

Could someone please review the workflow and suggest what might be wrong? Specifically, I’m trying to understand why the data isn’t being passed to the final Airtable node correctly.
Thank you in advance for your help!

Please share your workflow

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qIlQUT-QyYGbxkoa3bYQe20OT63rnFwQ/view?usp=sharing 

@Wouter_Nigrini Hi Wouter, any good suggestions? I shared the workflow.

Jim

@jimvlieger apologies Ive been offline and busy with work the last few days. Let me go through your question and come back with a proper response. Give me a few hours to respond

Hi @Wouter_Nigrini

Thanks for replying.

The competitor scraping workflow is running but not functioning correctly. When I check the results in Airtable, the output does not sync properly. I suspect that my Apify and Airtable settings are configured incorrectly .. and probably more…

Workflow first part competitor scraping

Workflow second part competitor scraping

Airtable settings - wrong data sync from n8n

Create a record node ( values are probably incorrect )

Apify value is incorrect

Get exiscting post (settings are probably incorrect)

Set source 1 is incorrect?

Set source 2 (Do i miss values?)

Merge 1

Filter out

If new post excist

Switch content

In Apify the actor runs but always fail

I have my own linkedin profile as a test for scraping content but I dont see my content in airtable..

If you could help me sort out this workflow beast, I would really appreciate it :slight_smile:

Can you show me the Merge 2 nodes data in the left panel for this screen

Hi Wouter,

See below

So most values are null from the Merge which means this is where the issue is from being blank in your excel sheet. what are the variables looking like where you input into the merge? For example where is the likesCount variable being set?

Hi @Wouter_Nigrini,

I’ve checked, and I don’t see the likesCount variable anywhere in the Apify node’s output. I think this data should come from the LinkedIn scraper, right? The Apify node should be the source of the likesCount and other post-related data. What do you think?

Let me first take a step back and ask if my assumption is correct. Your question was around the excel columns which didnt populate and likesCount was one of them?

If so then yes, since you’re using the Merge Node, you’re merge that value from somewhere. Is this a variable youre looking for to populate in the excel?

Im not sure where likesCount is supposed to come from as I havnt worked with the linkedin node before. Can you maybe share your workflow in a codeblock? My view currently is very limited.

Hi Wouter,

See below link for all necesarry information and code block

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmlQZ8MG7HY

The likescount are from the scraped linkedin post so the connection must be from apify into airtable

So if I understand correctly, the linkedin data is scraped and added into an airtable? Does your airtable have the likesCount value populated?

Yes, its in my airtable

in his toturial it works so I think some nodes need to be re configurate.

i am a little bit lost … Tried already 100 options but its stil not working. Hopefully you can make this automation to work.

You need to debug the first scraping workflow you have. The values are not being pulled into your airtable.

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      "date": "2025-08-07 09:04:06",
      "relative": "1 week ago • Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn",
      "timestamp": 1754550246813
    },
    "text": "𝗪𝗮𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟳𝟯% 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗷𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘇𝗲𝘁 (en hoe het beter kan)\n\nDe meeste organisaties zetten één AI-assistent in voor alles.. een fundamentele denkfout die miljoenen euro's aan potentiële waarde vernietigt.\n\nWat als je in plaats daarvan een team samenstelt van gespecialiseerde AI agents die naadloos samenwerken?\n\n𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗸𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗶𝗷 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲: de strategie die toonaangevende Nederlandse bedrijven implementeren om hun concurrenten te overtreffen.\n\nHet principe is eenvoudig maar krachtig:\n\n• 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗮𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗸: Eén algemeen AI systeem dat worstelt met complexe processen\n\n• 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝗮𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗸: Meerdere gespecialiseerde AI agents die samenwerken onder centrale coördinatie\n\nEen Nederlandse logistieke speler implementeerde dit jaar een orchestratie laag die 5 verschillende AI-agents coördineert:\n- 𝗩𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁\n- 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁\n- 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁\n- 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁\n- 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁\n\nResultaat? 43% snellere doorlooptijden en 35% kostenbesparing binnen zes maanden.\n\n𝗗𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗸𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗻 𝘃𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘃𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲:\n\n1. Taaksplitsing: Verdeel complexe werkstromen in duidelijk afgebakende deeltaken\n\n2. Specialisatie: Train iedere agent om uitmuntend te zijn in één specifiek deelproces\n\n3. Communicatieprotocol: Ontwikkel een gestandaardiseerde manier waarop agents informatie uitwisselen\n\nBedrijven die deze aanpak omarmen, creëren een exponentieel schaalbare automatisering laag die menselijke teams bevrijdt voor strategisch werk.\n\nWelke complexe bedrijfsprocessen zou je transformeren met een georchestreerd AI team?\n\n#ai #aiagent #automation #openai #workflow #emailautomation #aiagents #techstack #efficiency #leadgen #B2BMarketing #LeadGeneration #MarketingAutomation #EmailMarketing #DigitalMarketing #GrowthHacking #MarketingStrategy #MachineLearning #n8n #GenerativeAI #google #hr #sales #cms #dxp #composable #chatgpt #marketing #hrm #finance #klantenservice",
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      }
    ]
  }
]

here the logg from the succesfully run in Apify.
Why are the values still incorrect in the airtable node create a record?

My wild guess is that youre trying to add values from a node which is NOT immediately before the “Create a record” node. When you use $json, it only looks at values from the direct previous node. Try changing “$json” to the explicit node name from where you got that result from above. I would assume it’s the node called “Apify - Scrape LinkedIn Posts” so use `$(’Apify - Scrape LinkedIn Posts’).first().json`

Hey Wouter, I believe I’ve found the solution. I’ve added an extra URL input in the Airtable field to make scraping data from the LinkedIn account easier

Airtable

Airtable node

In the ‘Create a Record’ node, I’ve added the input values from the Apify node. Because of the URL link, it will now receive the correct data

The result is an overview of the scraped LinkedIn post, complete with a rewritten example for immediate use on LinkedIn. If your competitors have viral content, you can now easily leverage their success

The only annoying thing is that the Apify app keeps scraping 88+ results, even though I’ve set the maximum to 3. I’ve sent a ticket to the Apify help desk since the problem is within their application. I will hold off on testing with multiple LinkedIn creators until I can confirm that the scraping settings are under control, as the current volume is causing me to use a significant number of tokens

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That looks better

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Thanks for the support!

@Wouter_Nigrini I’ve set up the Apify console correctly. The last 3 items of all LinkedIn profiles are being scraped. However, I don’t understand why a factor of 3 is being used in n8n. As you can see in the screenshot, exactly 3 messages per Linkedin profile are being scraped, but then multiplied by 3. Do you know which node I can adjust this in?