Instagram Story Scraper

A powerful Actor that scrapes Instagram stories from one or multiple users. Each story is downloaded and tracked as a separate record with comprehensive metadata including download status, URLs, and media information.

Features

• 🔐 Secure Authentication - Uses Instagram session ID for reliable access
• 📱 Multi-User Support - Scrape stories from multiple Instagram accounts in one run
• 📊 Individual Story Records - Each story gets its own detailed record in the output
• 🎥 Media Support - Downloads both photos and videos
• 📝 Rich Metadata - Captures posting time, media type, file size, URLs, and more
• 🔄 Multiple Download Methods - Uses fallback methods to ensure successful downloads
• ⚙️ Flexible Configuration - Control story limits, delays, and targeting
• 📁 Organized Storage - Files saved with timestamps and indexed naming

Input Configuration

The actor accepts the following input parameters:

{
  "session_id": "YOUR_INSTAGRAM_SESSION_ID",
  "usernames": ["username1", "username2", "username3"],
  "delay_between_requests": 2,
  "story_limit": "all",
  "latest_only": false
}

Input Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
session_id	String	✅ Yes	Your Instagram session ID from browser cookies
usernames	Array/String	✅ Yes	Instagram username(s) to scrape. Can be a single string or array of usernames
username	String	No	Alternative field for single username (backward compatibility)
delay_between_requests	Number	No	Delay in seconds between requests (default: 2)
story_limit	Number/String	No	Number of stories to download per user, or "all" (default: "all")
latest_only	Boolean	No	Download only the latest story from each user (default: false)

Getting Your Session ID

1. Log into Instagram in your browser
2. Open Developer Tools (F12)
3. Go to Application/Storage → Cookies → instagram.com
4. Find and copy the value of sessionid cookie

⚠️ Important: Keep your session ID secure and don't share it publicly.

Output Format

The actor outputs one record for each story scraped. Each record contains:

{
  "username": "cryptodaily",
  "user_id": "60586511690",
  "scraping_timestamp": "2025-12-14T09:42:27.268488",
  "status": "completed",
  "story_index": 1,
  "story_id": "3786688183573256768",
  "media_type": "video",
  "posted_date": "2025-12-13",
  "posted_time": "12:20:28 UTC",
  "posted_datetime": "2025-12-13T12:20:28+00:00",
  "download_status": "success",
  "filename": "story_1_20251213_122028.mp4",
  "file_size": 262808,
  "photo_url": null,
  "photo_info": {},
  "video_url": "https://...",
  "video_info": {
    "video_url": "https://...",
    "thumbnail_url": "https://...",
    "duration": 5.014999866485596,
    "resolution": null
  },
  "error_message": null
}

Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
username	String	Instagram username
user_id	String	Instagram user ID
scraping_timestamp	String	ISO timestamp when scraping occurred
status	String	Overall status: "completed", "error", "processing", "no_stories", "user_not_found"
story_index	Number	Index of story for this user (1-based)
story_id	String	Instagram story ID
media_type	String	Type of media: "photo" or "video"
posted_date	String	Date story was posted (YYYY-MM-DD)
posted_time	String	Time story was posted (HH:MM:SS UTC)
posted_datetime	String	ISO datetime when story was posted
download_status	String	Download status: "success", "failed", "no_stories"
filename	String	Name of downloaded file
file_size	Number	Size of downloaded file in bytes
photo_url	String	Direct URL to photo (if photo)
photo_info	Object	Additional photo metadata (resolution, thumbnail)
video_url	String	Direct URL to video (if video)
video_info	Object	Video metadata (duration, thumbnail, resolution)
error_message	String	Error description if download failed

Usage Examples

Single User - All Stories

{
  "session_id": "your_session_id_here",
  "usernames": ["cryptodaily"]
}

Multiple Users - Latest Story Only

{
  "session_id": "your_session_id_here",
  "usernames": ["user1", "user2", "user3"],
  "latest_only": true
}

Limited Stories with Custom Delay

{
  "session_id": "your_session_id_here",
  "usernames": ["techblogger"],
  "story_limit": 5,
  "delay_between_requests": 3
}

Downloaded Files

Files are organized in the following structure:

downloads/
└── username/
    └── stories/
        ├── story_1_20251213_122028.mp4
        ├── story_2_20251214_063947.mp4
        └── ...

File naming format: story_{index}_{YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS}.{ext}

Rate Limiting

To avoid Instagram rate limits:

• Default delay of 2 seconds between requests
• Configurable delay via delay_between_requests
• Stories are processed sequentially
• Delay applied between users when scraping multiple accounts

Error Handling

The actor handles various error scenarios:

• User Not Found: Returns record with status: "user_not_found"
• No Active Stories: Returns record with status: "no_stories"
• Private Account: Records error if you don't follow the user
• Download Failures: Uses multiple fallback methods
• Authentication Issues: Fails gracefully with clear error messages

Limitations

• ⏰ Stories are only available for 24 hours on Instagram
• 🔒 Can only scrape stories from public accounts or accounts you follow
• 📊 Instagram API rate limits apply
• 🔐 Session ID expires and needs to be refreshed periodically

Support

For issues or questions:

• Check that your session ID is valid and not expired
• Ensure usernames are correct (without @ symbol is fine)
• Review the error messages in the output records
• Increase delay_between_requests if hitting rate limits

Privacy & Ethics

• Only scrape content you have permission to access
• Respect Instagram's Terms of Service
• Don't use for harassment or unauthorized data collection
• Keep session IDs secure