📸 Facebook Story Downloader & Media Metadata Scraper

The most complete Facebook Story Downloader on the Apify platform — download every individual story from any public Facebook Story URL with permanent, never-expiring download links for HD Video, SD Video, MP3 Audio, and Photo. Optionally unlock deep container-level media metadata for every story file.

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🚀 What This Facebook Story Downloader Does

This Facebook Story Downloader takes any public Facebook Story URL and automatically delivers:

• 🎬 Video HD — Highest quality video version, optimized for instant streaming
• 📹 Video SD — Standard quality version with a smaller file footprint
• 🎵 Audio MP3 — Audio track properly converted to MP3 format at 128 kbps — not an mp4 container disguised as audio
• 🖼️ Photo — Full-resolution story photo hosted permanently on Apify CDN
• 🖼️ Thumbnail — Story cover image uploaded permanently alongside all results
• 🔬 Media Metadata (optional toggle) — Deep codec-level inspection of every file: codec name, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, duration, sample rate, audio channels, pixel format, and more

All download links produced by this Facebook Story Downloader are hosted permanently on the Apify Key-Value Store — unlike raw Facebook CDN links that expire within hours, these links never expire and can be shared, embedded, or archived indefinitely.

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⚡ Key Features of This Facebook Story Downloader

Feature	Details
🔗 Permanent Download Links	All files uploaded to Apify CDN — links never expire
📦 Multi-Story Support	Each Facebook Story URL can contain multiple individual stories — all are automatically detected and downloaded
🎵 True MP3 Conversion	Audio is re-encoded to a proper MP3 file, not just renamed — plays correctly in every media player and browser
🎬 Web-Optimized Video	Videos are processed with faststart optimization for instant browser playback
🔬 Deep Media Analysis	Optional FFprobe-powered metadata extraction — codec, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, duration, and more
🛡️ Cloudflare Bypass	This Facebook Story Downloader uses advanced browser fingerprint impersonation to reliably pass Cloudflare protection
🔢 Batch Processing	Supply multiple Story URLs in a single run — each is processed independently
🧹 Clean Output	Structured JSON with every story numbered and every format clearly labeled
🔒 No Credentials Exposed	Internal implementation details, module names, and engine layers are never included in logs or output

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📥 Input Parameters

The Facebook Story Downloader accepts the following input parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
facebook_urls	Array of URL objects	✅ Yes	—	List of public Facebook Story URLs. Each URL may contain multiple individual stories.
include_media_metadata	Boolean	❌ No	false	When true, runs deep container-level analysis on every downloaded file and includes the metadata in the output.

Example Input

{
  "facebook_urls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/stories/122093654840067130/UzpfSVNDOjI2NjM1MDI5MzQwMDYwNzQ="
    }
  ],
  "include_media_metadata": false
}

---

📤 Output Structure

Every URL processed by this Facebook Story Downloader produces one structured result item pushed to the Apify dataset.

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📋 Top-Level Fields

Field	Type	Description
original_url	String	The Facebook Story URL that was submitted for processing
title	String	Story title extracted from the source (e.g., [Facebook Story] [4] [World Of Animals])
source	String	Media source identifier — typically FB-Story
thumbnail	String	Permanent Apify CDN URL for the story cover thumbnail (JPEG)
total_stories	Integer	Number of individual stories found and processed within the URL
stories	Array	Array of individual story result objects — see below

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🎬 Per-Story Fields

Each object inside the stories array contains:

Field	Type	Description
story_number	Integer	Sequential index of this story (1, 2, 3, ...)
video_hd	String	Permanent CDN URL — highest quality MP4 video with faststart optimization
video_sd	String	Permanent CDN URL — standard quality MP4 video with faststart optimization
audio_mp3	String	Permanent CDN URL — MP3 audio file (128 kbps, properly converted from source)
photo	String	Permanent CDN URL — story photo as a JPEG image
*_error	String	Present only if a specific format failed to download or upload — contains the error description without exposing internal details

---

🔬 Media Metadata Fields (when include_media_metadata is true)

When the metadata toggle is enabled, each story also includes additional fields alongside its download links.

video_hd_metadata and video_sd_metadata

Field	Description
codec_name	Video codec identifier (e.g., h264, vp9, av1)
codec_long_name	Human-readable codec name (e.g., H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / part 10)
profile	Codec encoding profile (e.g., High, Baseline, Main)
width	Video width in pixels
height	Video height in pixels
display_aspect_ratio	Aspect ratio string (e.g., 9:16 for vertical, 16:9 for landscape)
pix_fmt	Pixel format (e.g., yuv420p)
r_frame_rate	Frame rate as a fraction (e.g., 30/1)
avg_frame_rate	Average frame rate over the full video
bit_rate	Video bitrate in bits per second
max_bit_rate	Maximum bitrate if variable (VBR)
nb_frames	Total number of video frames
container_format_name	Container format (e.g., mov,mp4,m4a,3gp)
container_duration	Total duration in seconds (e.g., 12.533)
container_size	Total file size in bytes
container_bit_rate	Overall container bitrate in bits per second

audio_metadata

Field	Description
codec_name	Audio codec (always mp3 after conversion)
codec_long_name	Full codec name (e.g., MP3 (MPEG audio layer 3))
profile	Codec profile if applicable
sample_rate	Audio sample rate in Hz (e.g., 44100)
channels	Number of audio channels (e.g., 2 for stereo, 1 for mono)
channel_layout	Channel layout string (e.g., stereo)
bit_rate	Audio bitrate in bits per second (128000 for 128 kbps)
container_duration	Duration in seconds
container_size	File size in bytes

photo_metadata

Field	Description
file_size_bytes	JPEG file size in bytes
format	Always JPEG

---

📊 Example Output

The following examples show real output produced by the Facebook Story Downloader.

Without Metadata (include_media_metadata: false)

{
  "original_url": "https://www.facebook.com/stories/122093654840067130/UzpfSVNDOjI2NjM1MDI5MzQwMDYwNzQ=",
  "title": "[Facebook Story] [4] [World Of Animals]",
  "source": "FB-Story",
  "thumbnail": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/thumb_abc123.jpg?disableContentDisposition=true",
  "total_stories": 4,
  "stories": [
    {
      "story_number": 1,
      "video_hd": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/video_hd_abc123.mp4?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "video_sd": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/video_sd_abc123.mp4?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "audio_mp3": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/audio_abc123.mp3?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "photo": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/photo_abc123.jpg?disableContentDisposition=true"
    },
    {
      "story_number": 2,
      "video_hd": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/video_hd_def456.mp4?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "video_sd": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/video_sd_def456.mp4?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "audio_mp3": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/audio_def456.mp3?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "photo": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/photo_def456.jpg?disableContentDisposition=true"
    }
  ]
}

With Metadata (include_media_metadata: true)

{
  "original_url": "https://www.facebook.com/stories/122093654840067130/...",
  "title": "[Facebook Story] [4] [World Of Animals]",
  "source": "FB-Story",
  "thumbnail": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/thumb_abc123.jpg?disableContentDisposition=true",
  "total_stories": 4,
  "stories": [
    {
      "story_number": 1,
      "video_hd": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/video_hd_abc123.mp4?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "video_hd_metadata": {
        "codec_name": "h264",
        "codec_long_name": "H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / part 10",
        "profile": "High",
        "width": 720,
        "height": 1280,
        "display_aspect_ratio": "9:16",
        "pix_fmt": "yuv420p",
        "r_frame_rate": "30/1",
        "avg_frame_rate": "30/1",
        "bit_rate": "2465223",
        "nb_frames": "375",
        "container_format_name": "mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2",
        "container_duration": "12.533333",
        "container_size": "3861295",
        "container_bit_rate": "2466272"
      },
      "video_sd": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/video_sd_abc123.mp4?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "video_sd_metadata": {
        "codec_name": "h264",
        "profile": "Baseline",
        "width": 360,
        "height": 640,
        "display_aspect_ratio": "9:16",
        "r_frame_rate": "30/1",
        "bit_rate": "666456",
        "container_duration": "12.533333",
        "container_size": "1044812"
      },
      "audio_mp3": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/audio_abc123.mp3?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "audio_metadata": {
        "codec_name": "mp3",
        "codec_long_name": "MP3 (MPEG audio layer 3)",
        "sample_rate": "44100",
        "channels": 2,
        "channel_layout": "stereo",
        "bit_rate": "128000",
        "container_duration": "12.503484",
        "container_size": "200058"
      },
      "photo": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/STORE_ID/records/photo_abc123.jpg?disableContentDisposition=true",
      "photo_metadata": {
        "file_size_bytes": 89432,
        "format": "JPEG"
      }
    }
  ]
}

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🎯 Use Cases for the Facebook Story Downloader

• Content Archiving — Use this Facebook Story Downloader to preserve public Facebook Stories before they disappear after 24 hours, with permanent CDN links that last forever
• Media Research — Analyse story content, quality, and format across multiple Facebook pages or profiles
• Social Media Monitoring — Track and archive story media for brand monitoring, competitive intelligence, or trend analysis
• Content Repurposing — Download stories for republishing across other platforms, newsletters, or presentations
• Quality Auditing — Enable the metadata toggle to audit resolution, codec, bitrate, and aspect ratio at scale
• Digital Asset Management — Build a permanent media library of Facebook story content with categorised download links
• Investigative Research — Use this Facebook Story Downloader to archive public stories as evidence with timestamped, immutable CDN links

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⚙️ Technical Notes

The following technical details apply to this Facebook Story Downloader:

• Only public Facebook Stories can be downloaded. Private, friends-only, or deleted stories are not accessible.
• Facebook Story links expire after the standard 24-hour window — run this actor while stories are still live to get the download links before they disappear.
• Audio is re-encoded to proper MP3 format — the source audio arrives inside a video container, and this actor extracts and converts it to a standalone MP3 file that plays correctly in all media players and browsers.
• Videos are processed with MP4 faststart (moov atom moved to the front), enabling instant in-browser playback and progressive loading without downloading the entire file first.
• If a single format (e.g., HD video for one story) fails to process, the actor logs the error and continues — other formats and other stories are not affected.
• Each Facebook Story URL may contain multiple individual stories (typically 1–9). This Facebook Story Downloader detects and downloads all of them in a single run.
• All temporary files are cleaned up from the container after upload — the actor leaves no orphaned files.

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❓ Troubleshooting

Use the table below to diagnose common issues with the Facebook Story Downloader:

Symptom	Likely Cause	Solution
CSRF token not found	Temporary page structure change	Retry the run — usually auto-resolves
API request failed: 403	Story URL is private or the story has expired	Verify the story is public and still active
0 stories found	URL format not recognised	Provide the full story URL from Facebook — the Facebook Story Downloader requires the complete unshortened link
KV upload failed	File too large for available memory	Increase memory allocation in actor settings
Thumbnail upload failed	CDN URL expired before download	Actor falls back to including the original thumbnail URL
video_hd_error in output	Format unavailable for that specific story	HD may not exist for photo-only stories; video_sd and photo will still be present