# Instagram Story Downloader 📥 Highlights to MP4 & JPG, No Login (`dz_omar/instagram-story-downloader`) Actor

Download Instagram Story Highlights from public profiles — every video and photo saved as a permanent MP4/JPG file, plus titles, timestamps, links and whether a 24-hour story is live. No login, no cookies.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dz_omar/instagram-story-downloader.md
- **Developed by:** [FlowExtract API](https://apify.com/dz_omar) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Videos, Automation
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## 📥 Instagram Story Downloader — Save Story Highlights as MP4 & JPG, No Login

**Instagram Story Downloader** saves the **Story Highlights** of any public Instagram profile — every video
and photo, stored as a permanent file you can download any time — together with the highlight title,
position, post date, links and mentions. It also tells you whether the profile has a **24-hour story live
right now**.

No Instagram account, no cookies, no browser extension. Paste usernames or highlight links and run.

- 🎞️ **Every item of every highlight**: videos (MP4) and photos (JPG) at the best available resolution
- 💾 **Permanent files**: stored copies keep working after Instagram's own links expire
- 🟢 **Live-story check**: `has_active_story` + `latest_story_at` for every profile
- ⭐ **Whole profile or one highlight**: scan a profile, or download a single highlight by its link
- 🧾 **Clean, flat rows**: one row per photo/video, ready for spreadsheets, BI tools and AI agents
- 🔁 **Interruption-safe**: a run that is moved or restarted resumes without duplicate results or charges

### Why download Instagram Story Highlights?

Highlights are the stories a brand or creator chose to keep: product launches, FAQs, reviews, event
recaps, behind-the-scenes series. They are a curated archive of an account's best short-form content,
and they are only viewable inside Instagram's story player, with links that expire.

- **Brand & competitor monitoring**: keep a copy of every highlight a competitor publishes
- **Influencer marketing**: archive sponsored highlight content as campaign proof
- **Content research**: collect short-form video examples by niche
- **Social listening & AI datasets**: structured media + metadata for analysis and training
- **Backups**: save your own account's highlights as files

### What data does Instagram Story Downloader extract?

#### 🎞️ Highlight items (one row per photo or video)

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `username`, `user_id` | Profile that posted the highlight |
| `highlight_id`, `highlight_title`, `highlight_url` | The highlight it belongs to |
| `position` | 1-based position inside the highlight |
| `item_id`, `shortcode` | Instagram's ids for the story item |
| `media_type` | `video` or `image` |
| `taken_at`, `taken_at_unix` | When the story was originally posted |
| `file` | **Stored copy**: `url`, `download_url` (forces download), `file_name`, `size_bytes`, `content_type` |
| `video_url`, `image_url` | Instagram's direct media links (expire after a few days) |
| `video_duration_seconds`, `has_audio`, `width`, `height` | Media details |
| `link_urls`, `mentions`, `hashtags`, `locations`, `music` | Story stickers |
| `accessibility_caption` | Instagram's alt text, when present |

#### 👤 Profiles (one row per profile)

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `username`, `full_name`, `user_id`, `profile_url` | Identity |
| `has_active_story`, `latest_story_at` | Whether a 24-hour story is live, and when it was posted |
| `highlight_count`, `highlights[]` | Every highlight: id, title, link, cover image |
| `is_private`, `is_verified`, `follower_count` | Account details |

The dataset has three views: **Highlight items**, **Profiles** and **All fields**.

### ⚙️ How to use Instagram Story Downloader

1. Add one or more **profiles**: `nasa`, `@nasa` or `https://www.instagram.com/nasa/`
2. Optionally add **highlight links** to download specific highlights only
3. Keep **Save files permanently** on to get MP4/JPG files, or turn it off for data + Instagram links only
4. Set **Max highlight items** to control the size (and cost) of the run, then click **Start**

#### Input example

```json
{
  "profiles": ["nasa", "https://www.instagram.com/nike/"],
  "highlightUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18195781759377100/"],
  "downloadMedia": true,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "maxHighlightsPerProfile": 0
}
```

| Input | Description |
|---|---|
| `profiles` | Usernames, profile URLs or story links (a story link collects that profile's highlights) |
| `highlightUrls` | Highlight URLs, `highlight:<id>` or bare ids |
| `downloadMedia` | Store every file permanently (default `true`) |
| `maxItems` | Stop after this many photos/videos in the whole run; `0` = no limit (default `200`) |
| `maxHighlightsPerProfile` | Only the first N highlights of each profile; `0` = all |

### 📊 Sample output

```json
{
  "type": "highlight_item",
  "username": "nasa",
  "highlight_title": "Roman",
  "highlight_url": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18195781759377100/",
  "position": 1,
  "item_id": "3975089864169193671",
  "media_type": "video",
  "taken_at": "2026-08-30T11:00:53.000Z",
  "video_duration_seconds": 26.8,
  "file": {
    "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/…/records/video-nasa_18195781759377100_3975089864169193671.mp4?signature=…",
    "download_url": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/…/records/video-nasa_…mp4?signature=…&attachment=true",
    "file_name": "video-nasa_18195781759377100_3975089864169193671.mp4",
    "size_bytes": 912066,
    "content_type": "video/mp4"
  },
  "video_url": "https://instagram.fna.fbcdn.net/…mp4?…",
  "image_url": "https://instagram.fna.fbcdn.net/…jpg?…",
  "link_urls": ["https://go.nasa.gov/…"]
}
```

```json
{
  "type": "profile",
  "username": "nasa",
  "full_name": "NASA",
  "has_active_story": true,
  "latest_story_at": "2026-10-09T15:57:24.000Z",
  "highlight_count": 5,
  "highlights": [{ "highlight_id": "18195781759377100", "title": "Roman", "url": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18195781759377100/" }]
}
```

### 💰 Pricing

Pay per result. You are only charged for what is delivered to your dataset, never for a failed
lookup, a duplicate or anything not delivered.

| Event | Entry plan | Bronze | Silver | Gold+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Highlight item** (one photo or video) | $1.80 / 1,000 | $1.50 / 1,000 | $1.30 / 1,000 | $1.10 / 1,000 |
| **Profile scanned** (highlight list + live-story check) | $1.50 / 1,000 | $1.30 / 1,000 | $1.10 / 1,000 | $1.00 / 1,000 |

#### Stored files are billed by the Universal File Downloader

With **Save files permanently** on, files are stored by
[Universal File Downloader](https://apify.com/dz_omar/universal-downloader?fpr=smcx63), which runs on your
own Apify account and bills its own **File downloaded** event ($9.00 / 1,000 files on the entry plan,
$6.00 Bronze, $5.00 Silver, $4.00 Gold+) plus a few seconds of platform usage. You can see each download
run in your Apify Console. Turn the option off to pay only the events above.

**Your Max cost per run covers both.** When you set a spending limit, the Actor sizes the run so that its
own charges plus the file-storage charges stay within it.

Example: NASA's 5 highlights (89 photos and videos) on the entry plan cost about $0.16 as data only, or
about $0.96 with every file stored permanently.

### ❓ FAQ

**Do I need an Instagram account or cookies?**
No. The Actor reads only what Instagram shows publicly, with no login.

**Can it download 24-hour stories?**
Not in this version: Instagram only shows them to signed-in viewers. Every profile row tells you whether a
story is live right now (`has_active_story`, `latest_story_at`). Downloading live 24-hour stories is on the
roadmap below.

**What about private accounts?**
Only public content is supported. A private profile returns its profile row with `is_private: true` and no
highlight items.

**How long are stored files kept?**
Files live in your Apify storage and follow your plan's data-retention period. Download them or copy them
to your own storage for long-term archiving. Instagram's own `video_url` / `image_url` links expire after
a few days.

**Can I monitor accounts on a schedule?**
Yes. Create a task with your profiles and schedule it. Each run's profile rows show which accounts have a
live story at that moment.

**Why did a highlight return fewer items than I see on Instagram?**
Check `maxItems` and `maxHighlightsPerProfile`. Instagram can also hide items that are age-restricted or
region-locked from public viewers.

### 🗺️ Coming soon

- **24-hour stories**: download live stories (photos, videos, stickers) from public profiles
- **Only-new mode**: on scheduled runs, return only items not delivered before
- **Story URL input**: download a single live story from its link

Have a feature request? Email <flowextractapi@outlook.com>.

### 🔗 Related Actors

- [Instagram Reel Comment Scraper](https://apify.com/dz_omar/instagram-comment-scraper?fpr=smcx63): comments from public Reels and posts
- [Universal File Downloader](https://apify.com/dz_omar/universal-downloader?fpr=smcx63): store any file from a URL

### Support

- 🌐 **Website:** [flowextractapi.com](https://flowextractapi.com)
- 📧 **Email:** <flowextractapi@outlook.com>
- 💬 **GitHub:** [FlowExtractAPI](https://github.com/FlowExtractAPI)
- 💼 **LinkedIn:** [flowextract-api](https://www.linkedin.com/in/flowextract-api/)
- 🐦 **X (Twitter):** [@FlowExtractAPI](https://x.com/FlowExtractAPI)
- 📱 **Facebook:** [flowextractapi](https://www.facebook.com/flowextractapi)
- 🎵 **TikTok:** [@flowextractapi](https://www.tiktok.com/@flowextractapi)

### Legal & compliance

- **Public data only** — processes publicly available data.
- **Rate limiting** — respects source-service limits and terms of use.
- **Data protection** — no storage of personal information or unauthorized data collection.
- **Commercial use** — suitable for business intelligence and research.
- No affiliation with or endorsement by Instagram or Meta is implied.

***

*Instagram Story Downloader — by FlowExtract API. Turn any website into structured data.*

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/dz_omar/instagram-story-downloader/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `profiles` (type: `array`):

Public accounts whose **Story Highlights** you want. Each line can be:

- a username: `nasa` or `@nasa`
- a profile URL: `https://www.instagram.com/nasa/`
- a story link: `https://www.instagram.com/stories/nasa/…/` — that profile's highlights are collected

Every profile also returns `has_active_story` (a 24-hour story is live right now). Downloading 24-hour stories themselves is not part of this version.

## `highlightUrls` (type: `array`):

Specific highlights to download, without scanning the whole profile:

- `https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18195781759377100/`
- `18195781759377100` or `highlight:18195781759377100`

## `downloadMedia` (type: `boolean`):

Store every video and photo as a file you can download any time, using the <a href='https://apify.com/dz_omar/universal-downloader?fpr=smcx63'>Universal File Downloader</a> on your account (billed separately per file — see Pricing). Turn off to get only Instagram's direct media links, which stop working after a few days.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many highlight items (photos + videos) across all profiles. `0` = no limit. Profile summary rows are not counted.

## `maxHighlightsPerProfile` (type: `integer`):

Collect only the first N highlights of each profile (in the order shown on the profile). `0` = all highlights. Applies to profiles, not to highlight URLs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "profiles": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "downloadMedia": true,
  "maxItems": 50,
  "maxHighlightsPerProfile": 0
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `profiles` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "profiles": [
        "nasa"
    ],
    "maxItems": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dz_omar/instagram-story-downloader").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "profiles": ["nasa"],
    "maxItems": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dz_omar/instagram-story-downloader").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "profiles": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "maxItems": 50
}' |
apify call dz_omar/instagram-story-downloader --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,dz_omar/instagram-story-downloader"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/YZzbOOwcfIOlUCer2/builds/ytgJgeICT12HLzhJh/openapi.json