Snapchat Discover Scraper

Extract publisher stories, creator profiles, and preview snap media from Snapchat's public Discover feed — no login required. Each record includes the story title, thumbnail, publish timestamp, HLS video track URL, full creator profile, and a preview snap with its media URL.

What This Actor Does

• Fetches Snapchat's public snapchat.com/discover page
• Extracts all embedded publisher story and creator entities from the page's normalized data cache
• Returns one structured record per Discover story with creator profile, preview snap, and media URLs
• Works without login, cookies, or a browser — no authentication needed

Input

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
maxStories	integer	No	50	Maximum number of Discover stories to extract (1–200). Snapchat typically embeds 8–12 stories per page load.
proxyConfiguration	object	No	—	Optional proxy settings. Leave empty to run without a proxy first.

Example Input

{
  "maxStories": 20
}

Output

One record per Discover story. Snapchat typically serves 8–12 stories per page, so actual output count may be lower than maxStories.

Top-Level Story Fields

Field	Type	Description
storyId	string	Unique story identifier
storyType	string	Story content type — typically SHOW for publisher shows
title	string	Story or episode title
thumbnailUrl	string	CDN URL for the story cover image
publishedAt	string	ISO 8601 UTC timestamp of when the story was published
videoTrackUrl	string	HLS .m3u8 playlist URL for the story's video stream
tapId	string	Internal Snapchat tap/interaction identifier
totalSnaps	integer	Total number of snaps in the full story
scrapedAt	string	ISO 8601 UTC timestamp of when this record was collected

creator Object

Field	Type	Description
businessProfileId	string	Unique publisher profile identifier (UUID)
title	string	Publisher or show name
bio	string	Publisher description or show tagline
snapcodeImageUrl	string	URL to the publisher's Snapcode image
profilePictureUrl	string	Publisher logo or profile picture CDN URL
squareHeroImageUrl	string	Square hero banner image CDN URL
primaryColor	string	Brand hex color code (e.g. #9B55A0)

previewSnap Object

Field	Type	Description
snapId	string	Unique snap identifier
mediaUrl	string	CDN media URL for the preview snap (video or image)
mediaPreviewUrl	string	Low-resolution thumbnail CDN URL for the preview snap
mediaType	string	Media type: VIDEO or IMAGE

Example Output

{
  "storyId": "1536443087702016",
  "storyType": "SHOW",
  "title": "Like Mom Like Daughter",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/aps/bolt_df/aHR0cHM6Ly9jZi...",
  "publishedAt": "2025-08-04T01:00:28+00:00",
  "videoTrackUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/d/3nHzLWe4SUg168m5tmr4G.1202.m3u8?...",
  "tapId": "5207393312001032846",
  "totalSnaps": 10,
  "creator": {
    "businessProfileId": "b538d529-753e-4e99-ae2f-3f2138f628f9",
    "title": "On The Streets",
    "bio": "This show is all about making someone's day better. Here you will see public challenges, street tricks, and fun activities.",
    "snapcodeImageUrl": "https://www.snapchat.com/deeplink/discover/snapcode/L3AvYjUzOGQ1MjktNzUzZS...",
    "profilePictureUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/aps/bolt_df/aHR0cHM6Ly9jZi...",
    "squareHeroImageUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/aps/bolt_df/aHR0cHM6Ly9jZi...",
    "primaryColor": "#9B55A0"
  },
  "previewSnap": {
    "snapId": "1536443087702022",
    "mediaUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/d/6pgLhPB8xRrQsrCGPQ9gY.111?...",
    "mediaPreviewUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/d/zmYKO5bnRhvpPox3yegdM.380?...",
    "mediaType": "VIDEO"
  },
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-28T06:58:20.757222+00:00"
}

Use Cases

• Publisher research — compile a database of Snapchat Discover publishers, their bios, brand colors, and show metadata
• Content trend analysis — track which types of shows appear in Discover and monitor publish patterns over time
• Media archiving — collect story thumbnails, preview snap URLs, and HLS stream links for content documentation
• Marketing intelligence — identify active publishers in specific content verticals (fitness, comedy, news, etc.)
• Developer integrations — use videoTrackUrl HLS links and creator profile data to build Discover-aware applications

FAQ

Do I need a Snapchat account or cookies? No. Snapchat's Discover page is publicly accessible without login or authentication. The actor fetches the page as an anonymous visitor.

Why does the output have fewer stories than maxStories? Snapchat's Discover page typically embeds 8–12 stories per page load. The maxStories limit caps the output if more were somehow available — it does not trigger multiple page fetches. The actual count depends on how many stories Snapchat has embedded at the time of the run.

How often does the Discover feed change? Snapchat refreshes its Discover feed throughout the day. Running the actor at different times will produce different stories, publisher selections, and episode titles.

What is videoTrackUrl? An .m3u8 HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) playlist URL for the story's video content. This can be played directly with any HLS-compatible player (e.g. VLC, ffmpeg, or a web <video> element with an HLS library). It represents the full multi-quality adaptive bitrate stream for the story.

What is tapId? An internal Snapchat identifier used to reference this story in Snapchat's interaction tracking system. It is included for completeness and may be useful for cross-referencing with Snapchat's engagement APIs.

What happens if no stories are found? If the page returns an insufficient number of embedded entities (fewer than 5), the actor emits a single status record with "status": "no_content" and a reason explaining the condition. This allows downstream systems to detect and handle empty runs gracefully.

Does this actor need a proxy? No proxy is required for standard use. Snapchat's Discover page is publicly accessible. For high-frequency or scheduled runs, adding an Apify proxy can improve reliability.

---

Other Snapchat Scrapers

Explore the full Snapchat scraper suite on Apify:

Actor	Description
Snapchat Profile Scraper	Full profile metadata, highlights, lenses, and spotlight data
Snapchat Hashtag Scraper	Spotlight videos by hashtag or topic with AI metadata
Snapchat User Stories Scraper	Curated highlights and active story snaps
Snapchat Spotlight Video Downloader	Download Spotlight videos with AI metadata, transcripts, and comments
Snapchat Search Scraper	Search across videos, lenses, users, places, and shows
Snapchat Lens Scraper	AR lens metadata, trending lenses, and creator info
Snapchat Publisher Scraper	Discover publisher pages, shows, episodes, and spotlights
Snapchat Ads Gallery Scraper	EU/UK ad transparency library — ads and sponsored content
Snapchat Spotlight Comments Scraper	Comment threads from Spotlight videos
Snapchat Topic Scraper	Spotlight videos by topic with related tags
Snapchat Snapcode Scraper	Download Snapcode images (SVG/PNG) for any username
Snapchat Snap Map Scraper	Public Snap Map places and their latest snaps
Snapchat Discover Scraper	Shows and stories from Snapchat's Discover feed