Snapchat Spotlight Scraper

Collect public Snapchat Spotlight videos from creator profiles as structured data without a Snapchat login, browser runtime, residential proxy, or external API key. The Snapchat Spotlight Scraper returns media and preview URLs, public engagement metrics, captions, source-generated descriptions and keywords, creator metadata, context cards, timestamps, and stable Spotlight links.

The Actor reads the same server-rendered profile data used by Snapchat's public web experience. It processes up to 30 current Spotlight highlights per supplied profile, deduplicates them by story ID, and saves one video per dataset row for JSON, CSV, Excel, API, webhook, or scheduled workflows.

What can you use it for?

• Monitor public Spotlight output from a defined creator list.
• Compare public views, shares, comments, boosts, and recommendations.
• Build an influencer-research table with creator and video metadata.
• Review source-generated titles, descriptions, keywords, and detected language.
• Find video context such as original sound, lens, place, or creator cards.
• Track which public Spotlight items appear or disappear between snapshots.
• Feed a human-reviewed content-research workflow.
• Export direct media and preview URLs for short-lived internal processing.

This Actor collects public profile-page data. It does not sign in, follow users, send messages, post content, access private Snaps, or claim access to a creator's complete historical archive.

Input

{
  "usernames": ["nasa", "khaby.lame"],
  "maxProfiles": 10,
  "maxSpotlightsPerProfile": 10
}

Input fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
usernames	array	["nasa"]	Public Snapchat usernames, @handles, or full profile URLs.
maxProfiles	integer	10	Maximum supplied profiles processed, from 1 to 100.
maxSpotlightsPerProfile	integer	10	Maximum current Spotlight highlights retained per profile, from 1 to 30.

The default uses a public profile with current Spotlight highlights so a first run produces useful output. Usernames are normalized from plain handles, @handles, /add/ links, and snapchat.com/@... profile URLs. Duplicate usernames are processed once.

The 30-item maximum is intentional. Snapchat's public creator page exposes a bounded current-highlight set; this Actor reports that surface honestly instead of advertising unlimited historical pagination that the source does not provide.

Output

Each dataset item represents one public Spotlight story.

{
  "story_id": "W7_EDlXWTBiXAEEniNoMPwAAYexample",
  "spotlight_url": "https://www.snapchat.com/spotlight/W7_EDlXWTBiXAEEniNoMPwAAYexample",
  "media_type": "video",
  "media_url": "https://bolt-gcdn.sc-cdn.net/example",
  "preview_url": "https://bolt-gcdn.sc-cdn.net/example-preview",
  "attachment_url": null,
  "transcript_url": "https://bolt-gcdn.sc-cdn.net/example.vtt",
  "duration_ms": 6500,
  "width": 540,
  "height": 960,
  "uploaded_at": "2025-12-16T13:00:06+00:00",
  "title": "Source-generated public Spotlight title",
  "description": "Source-generated public Spotlight description.",
  "embedded_caption": "",
  "hashtags": [],
  "keywords": ["augmented reality", "creator video"],
  "detected_language": "en",
  "view_count": 19162,
  "share_count": 9,
  "comment_count": 26,
  "boost_count": 1019,
  "recommend_count": 29,
  "context_cards": [
    {
      "type": 2,
      "title": "Original Sound",
      "subtitle": "creator",
      "url": "",
      "thumbnail_url": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/example"
    }
  ],
  "lens_metadata": null,
  "creator_username": "creator",
  "creator_name": "Public Creator",
  "creator_url": "https://www.snapchat.com/@creator",
  "creator_profile_picture_url": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/example-profile",
  "creator_subscriber_count": 0,
  "creator_badge": 1,
  "creator_category": "public-profile-category-v3-people",
  "creator_subcategory": "public-profile-subcategory-v3-creator",
  "creator_bio": "Public profile bio",
  "rank": 1,
  "source_url": "https://www.snapchat.com/@creator",
  "scraped_at": "2026-07-11T12:00:00+00:00"
}

Media fields

• media_url is the current public Snapchat CDN resource for the Spotlight item.
• preview_url is the current thumbnail or preview image.
• spotlight_url is the public Snapchat Spotlight route when the source supplies an ID.
• transcript_url is the public subtitle or transcription resource when present.
• duration_ms, width, height, media_type, and uploaded_at describe the source media.

CDN URLs can expire or change. Use them promptly inside a legitimate workflow and keep the stable Spotlight URL and story ID as references. The Actor does not promise permanent media hosting.

Engagement and discovery fields

The public page can provide view_count, share_count, comment_count, boost_count, and recommend_count. These values are platform observations at scrape time, not audited campaign analytics. Snapchat can omit, round, delay, or experiment with them.

title, description, keywords, and detected_language may be generated or inferred by Snapchat's public content systems. The Actor preserves them as source metadata; it does not claim that the creator wrote them or that every label is accurate. Keep a human review step before using them in editorial or targeting decisions.

context_cards can represent public creator, sound, lens, or place context. The numeric type is retained because Snapchat's public schema can evolve. Downstream systems should not assume every Spotlight has the same cards.

A practical creator-monitoring workflow

1. Start with five to twenty public creator usernames.
2. Request ten Spotlight rows per profile and inspect the output.
3. Keep story_id, source_url, rank, and scraped_at in every export.
4. Store snapshots rather than overwriting the prior dataset.
5. Deduplicate across runs by story_id.
6. Compare engagement values only when the scrape times are known.
7. Review descriptions, keywords, and language labels manually.
8. Respect media rights and do not republish a video merely because its CDN URL is public.

For influencer research, pair Spotlight rows with the separate Snapchat Profile Scraper. The profile Actor focuses on public account-level fields, while this Actor produces one row per current Spotlight item. Keeping the workflows separate avoids paying per-video charges when only profile metadata is needed.

Scheduling and integrations

Save a tested configuration as an Apify Task, then add a schedule or webhook. Common destinations include:

• Google Sheets or Airtable for a reviewed creator watchlist;
• n8n, Make, or Zapier for workflow automation;
• BigQuery, Snowflake, PostgreSQL, or object storage for snapshots;
• Python or JavaScript services through the Apify API;
• internal dashboards for public creator and content comparisons.

A daily or weekly schedule is usually sufficient for current-profile monitoring. Avoid high-frequency collection without a defined business need. If a creator has no current public Spotlight highlights, the Actor logs that profile and continues with the remaining inputs. A run fails explicitly when none of the supplied profiles returns usable Spotlight media.

Pricing

This Actor uses transparent pay-per-event pricing:

• $0.005 when the Actor starts.
• $0.002 for each unique Spotlight row saved to the default dataset.

A 100-row run costs about $0.205 in Actor charges before ordinary Apify platform usage. Duplicate story IDs, unavailable profiles, rows discarded without media, and records beyond the configured limits do not create result charges. The price is lower than the closest current competing Snapchat Spotlight Actor's $0.09 start and $0.00299 result price.

Reliability and limits

The engine uses Chrome-compatible TLS impersonation and direct HTTP requests. It requires no proxy and launches no browser. Each request has an explicit timeout and up to three bounded retries. Input count and per-profile output are capped, and empty overall output fails instead of reporting a misleading successful run.

Snapchat can change its public profile schema, media availability, localization, or visibility rules. A profile may have Spotlight content in the app but expose no highlights on the anonymous public web page. Subscriber counts can be hidden or returned as zero. Deleted, restricted, region-limited, age-gated, or unavailable content is not bypassed.

Responsible use

Use this Actor only for legitimate research involving public data. Follow Snapchat's terms, applicable copyright and privacy law, and your organization's policies. Do not use it for harassment, stalking, sensitive profiling, deceptive targeting, spam, or unauthorized content republication. A public media URL does not transfer copyright or grant reuse rights.

This Actor is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Snapchat or Snap Inc.

Frequently asked questions

Does it require a Snapchat account?

No. It reads public creator-profile data anonymously.

Does it download videos to the dataset?

No. It returns the current public media URL and metadata. Dataset rows remain small and easy to export.

Is it an unlimited Spotlight archive scraper?

No. It captures up to 30 current Spotlight highlights exposed on each public profile page.

Why does a profile return no rows?

The creator may have no current public Spotlight highlights, may restrict public web visibility, or may be unavailable in the request region.

Are titles and keywords written by the creator?

Not necessarily. Some are source-generated Snapchat metadata. The Actor labels and documents them accordingly.

Can I schedule it?

Yes. Save an input as an Apify Task and attach a daily or weekly schedule. Keep timestamped snapshots for meaningful comparisons.

You might also like

• Snapchat Profile Scraper for public account-level metadata.
• TikTok Keyword Suggestions Scraper for public TikTok autocomplete research.
• SocialBlade Scraper for public cross-platform channel statistics.

If the Actor saved time or replaced manual work, leave a Store review. Reviews help prioritize endpoint monitoring, field improvements, and support.

Keywords: Snapchat Spotlight scraper, Snapchat video scraper, Snapchat creator analytics, Spotlight engagement data, Snapchat media URL, influencer research, Spotlight views scraper, public Snapchat profile data.