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Instagram Stories API

Scrape Instagram Stories data with one API call. Returns the active stories currently in a user's story tray. Each story includes its id, media URLs (image or video), thumbnail, duration, capture time, and the author. Pass either `handle` or `user_id`. Passing `user_id` is faster because no username lookup is needed. A user with no active stories returns an empty list — not an error.

Last updated August 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team

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Returns the stories a user has live right now, each with its id, image or video URLs, thumbnail, duration, capture time, and the author.

Use it to check an account's current story tray; an account with nothing live returns an empty list rather than an error.

Searching 48 platforms in parallel

·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
Instagram API

What can you do with the Stories API?

The Stories endpoint gives you structured Instagram data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.

Example Request

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/stories"
import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/stories",
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)

data = response.json()
const response = await fetch(
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/stories",
  {
    headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
  },
);

const data = await response.json();

Parameters

ParameterRequiredDescription
handleNoInstagram username without the @ symbol.
user_idNoInstagram numeric user ID. Use this for faster responses.
safe_urlNoWhen true, returns URL-safe media links suitable for embedding.
Example Response

What does the Instagram Stories API return?

Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.

Example response
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/profile/videos",
  "data": {
    "items": [
      {
        "post": {
          "id": "7658005300657638669",
          "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@charlidamelio/video/7658005300657638669",
          "content": {
            "text": "dc @lara.joanna ",
            "media_urls": "https://v19.tiktokcdn-eu.com/4a08329b68e24d90b840a05c9244ba65/6a498c37/video/tos/alisg/tos-alisg-ve-37c799-sg/ocXRU4saOAVGYeJRAAygAjFIzOGsgRf4peSeXk/?a=1233&bti=MzU8OGYpNHYpNzo5ZjEuLjpkLTptNDQwOg%3D%3D&&bt=1135&ft=ERfCkaZWD00Q12Nvr-HxzIxRA7lGF3_45SY&mime_type=video_mp4&rc=OTg8NGkzZTQ8PDo1NmQ2O0BpanEzd205cmRlPDMzZzczNEAvNWM0NDFfNi8xMjExNF5eYSNmMGwyMmQ0LzBhLS1kMS9zcw%3D%3D&vvpl=1&l=20260703224143F66ABC3BD3A97DB0685C&btag=e000b0000",
            "thumbnail_url": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-eu.com/tos-useast5-p-0068-tx/owxEmiGPia440JkI3PgALU3bB7aBAlzdBEsKB~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:300:400:q70.heic?dr=9232&refresh_token=bf18ce44&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=8AANrRWOCWfS6xtQ9JJiHB77vxo%3D&t=bacd0480&ps=933b5bde&shp=d05b14bd&shcp=132edbea&idc=no1a&biz_tag=tt_video&s=PUBLISH&sc=cover",
            "duration_seconds": 16.903
          },
          "author": {
            "username": "charlidamelio",
            "display_name": "charli d’amelio",
            "avatar_url": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-eu.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/ee31de49ddf64b45c5b2e3c55fbd0ea4~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:1080:1080:q70.heic?dr=9608&idc=no1a&ps=87d6e48a&refresh_token=e0b099bd&s=PUBLISH&sc=avatar&shcp=132edbea&shp=d05b14bd&t=223449c4&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=9SsuimlpGdsdlerisiaqvDVLV3c%3D",
            "verified": true
          },
          "engagement": {
            "views": 3417578,
            "likes": 501973,
            "comments": 2618,
            "shares": 6304,
            "saves": 22989
          },
          "flags": {
            "nsfw": null,
            "spoiler": null,
            "pinned": false,
            "deleted": false
          },
          "published_at": "2026-07-02T18:51:58.000Z",
          "ext": {
            "music_id": "7656080164593437471",
            "published_at_epoch": 1783018318
          }
        },
        "computed": {
          "engagement_rate": 0.14949,
          "language": null,
          "content_category": "other",
          "estimated_reach": 4101094
        }
      },
      {
        "post": {
          "id": "7657606229484670221",
          "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@charlidamelio/video/7657606229484670221",
          "content": {
            "text": "@Alexa Davis ",
            "media_urls": "https://v19.tiktokcdn-eu.com/07ada727f60ed77f8504c4c9aee6f992/6a498c31/video/tos/alisg/tos-alisg-ve-37c799-sg/oAmE41FRfIDnKlQAZjDgfcEsqFENRqYDSBGUSB/?a=1233&bti=MzU8OGYpNHYpNzo5ZjEuLjpkLTptNDQwOg%3D%3D&&bt=857&ft=ERfCkaZWD00Q12Nvr-HxzIxRA7lGF3_45SY&mime_type=video_mp4&rc=NWU8OTg2aTw6ODlpNDU1PEBpanlrNmw5cmxuPDMzZzczNEBfLTEtMy8tXzYxLzYvYTNfYSNlbGVvMmRrYC9hLS1kMS9zcw%3D%3D&vvpl=1&l=20260703224143F66ABC3BD3A97DB0685C&btag=e000b0000",
            "thumbnail_url": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-eu.com/tos-useast5-p-0068-tx/ooZRDflKEE2SIFSfsAqgFBcFEORUAY4jBDl2Yc~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:300:400:q70.heic?dr=9232&refresh_token=0ee7ce0e&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=DiqCJ1sMgLvKp5k1aK2lKgBm7CU%3D&t=bacd0480&ps=933b5bde&shp=d05b14bd&shcp=132edbea&idc=no1a&biz_tag=tt_video&s=PUBLISH&sc=cover",
            "duration_seconds": 10.123
          },
          "author": {
            "username": "charlidamelio",
            "display_name": "charli d’amelio",
            "avatar_url": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-eu.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/ee31de49ddf64b45c5b2e3c55fbd0ea4~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:1080:1080:q70.heic?dr=9608&idc=no1a&ps=87d6e48a&refresh_token=e0b099bd&s=PUBLISH&sc=avatar&shcp=132edbea&shp=d05b14bd&t=223449c4&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=9SsuimlpGdsdlerisiaqvDVLV3c%3D",
            "verified": true
          },
          "engagement": {
            "views": 7205601,
            "likes": 739100,
            "comments": 1943,
            "shares": 6268,
            "saves": 28516
          },
          "flags": {
            "nsfw": null,
            "spoiler": null,
            "pinned": false,
            "deleted": false
          },
          "published_at": "2026-07-01T17:03:22.000Z",
          "ext": {
            "music_id": "7656080164593437471",
            "published_at_epoch": 1782925402
          }
        },
        "computed": {
          "engagement_rate": 0.103713,
          "language": null,
          "content_category": "other",
          "estimated_reach": 8646721
        }
      },
      {
        "post": {
          "id": "7657287641641143565",
          "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@charlidamelio/video/7657287641641143565",
          "content": {
            "text": null,
            "media_urls": "https://v19.tiktokcdn-eu.com/24d5a0ceaf069ce4435f27d4a1fb7fa5/6a498c2d/video/tos/alisg/tos-alisg-ve-37c799-sg/o4IuEqzEKBC3UgRghYEA5FEDZJDB2RL2JfePpS/?a=1233&bti=M0BzMzU8OGYpNzo5Zi5wIzEuLjpkNDQwOg%3D%3D&&bt=939&ft=ERfCkaZWD00Q12Nvr-HxzIxRA7lGF3_45SY&mime_type=video_mp4&rc=O2Q8M2k1Nzo7ODkzPGQ2NkBpM3VrZmo5cm01PDMzZzczNEBiYC0yLjU0XjQxNTMxX2FhYSNjZy5mMmRzYC9hLS1kMS9zcw%3D%3D&vvpl=1&l=20260703224143F66ABC3BD3A97DB0685C&btag=e000b0000",
            "thumbnail_url": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-eu.com/tos-useast5-p-0068-tx/oEEehFBRSDqxRYEZJgMgAQpzEf2PJiDEJNI7CB~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:300:400:q70.heic?dr=9232&refresh_token=7ef5f605&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=10x4mFTkwGHZf2I3P%2FcRrZr6vTo%3D&t=bacd0480&ps=933b5bde&shp=d05b14bd&shcp=132edbea&idc=no1a&biz_tag=tt_video&s=PUBLISH&sc=cover",
            "duration_seconds": 6.467
          },
          "author": {
            "username": "charlidamelio",
            "display_name": "charli d’amelio",
            "avatar_url": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-eu.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/ee31de49ddf64b45c5b2e3c55fbd0ea4~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:1080:1080:q70.heic?dr=9608&idc=no1a&ps=87d6e48a&refresh_token=e0b099bd&s=PUBLISH&sc=avatar&shcp=132edbea&shp=d05b14bd&t=223449c4&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=9SsuimlpGdsdlerisiaqvDVLV3c%3D",
            "verified": true
          },
          "engagement": {
            "views": 5941789,
            "likes": 941067,
            "comments": 3165,
            "shares": 17173,
            "saves": 18760
          },
          "flags": {
            "nsfw": null,
            "spoiler": null,
            "pinned": false,
            "deleted": false
          },
          "published_at": "2026-06-30T20:27:04.000Z",
          "ext": {
            "music_id": "7530783142774065975",
            "published_at_epoch": 1782851224
          }
        },
        "computed": {
          "engagement_rate": 0.161804,
          "language": null,
          "content_category": null,
          "estimated_reach": 7130147
        }
      }
    ],
    "next_cursor": "1782516110000",
    "total": 10
  },
  "dropped": 0,
  "credits_used": 1,
  "credits_remaining": 9999,
  "request_id": "req_example000000",
  "cached": false,
  "pagination": {
    "next_cursor": "sc.eyJ2IjoyLCJjIjoiMTc4MjUxNjExMDAwMCIsInAiOiJtYXhfY3Vyc29yIn0",
    "has_more": true,
    "page_size": 10
  }
}

Example captured from the TikTok API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your Instagram Stories response has the same fields.

API Details

How does the Instagram Stories API work?

Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.

Method

GET

Response

JSON

Why SocialCrawl

Why use SocialCrawl for Instagram Stories data?

We handle the complexity of Instagram data extraction so you can focus on building. Unified schema, AI enrichment, and zero platform logic in your code.

Developer First

How do you scrape social media data in seconds?

The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 48 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.

One schema, every platform

Query 48 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.

Computed fields, not just scraped

When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language — ready to use.

See your data before you code

Visual Data Explorer — paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.

import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
    params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
    headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json()
[ .JSON ]
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "username": "charlidamelio",
      "followers": 152400000
    },
    "engagement": {
      "likes": 12400000000,
      "engagement_rate": 0.087
    },
    "metadata": {
      "language": "en",
      "content_category": "lifestyle"
    }
  }
}
+ 48 platforms
FAQ

Have a question? We got answers

Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.

Contact us
How do I get a user's active Instagram stories with an API?
Send a GET request to /v1/instagram/stories with either the handle or the user_id parameter. SocialCrawl returns a JSON list of the stories currently in that user's tray, each with media URLs, thumbnail, duration, capture time, and author.
Should I pass handle or user_id to the stories endpoint?
Both work. Passing user_id is faster because SocialCrawl skips the username lookup step. If you only have the username, pass handle and the account is resolved for you before the stories are fetched.
What happens if the user has no active stories?
You get an empty list, not an error. Instagram stories expire after 24 hours, so an account with nothing live returns zero items and the call still succeeds normally.
How much does the Instagram Stories API cost per call?
Each call costs 5 credits on the advanced tier, regardless of how many stories are in the tray. New accounts get 100 free credits with no card, so you can test it right away.
Can I get CDN-safe media URLs for the stories?
Yes. Add the optional safe_url parameter and the response returns proxied, CDN-safe media URLs that are easier to fetch and store than the raw Instagram links, which helps with story archiving.

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