Snapchat User Stories Scraper

A powerful Apify actor that extracts Snapchat stories and highlights from public profiles. This actor scrapes all available stories, including main stories and highlights, along with their media URLs, timestamps, and metadata.

Why Choose Us?

• Real-time Data Collection: Stories are saved to the dataset as they're discovered, ensuring you don't lose data if the actor is interrupted
• Intelligent Proxy Management: Automatic fallback from direct connection → datacenter proxy → residential proxy with retries
• Comprehensive Data Extraction: Captures all stories, highlights, snaps, media URLs, timestamps, and metadata
• Bulk Processing: Process multiple usernames simultaneously
• Reliable & Fast: Optimized concurrent processing for efficient scraping
• Clean Output: Structured JSON data ready for analysis or integration

Key Features

• ✅ Extract Main Stories: Scrapes the main story feed from Snapchat profiles
• ✅ Extract Highlights: Automatically discovers and scrapes all highlights
• ✅ Media URLs: Captures both preview and full-resolution media URLs
• ✅ Timestamps: Includes creation timestamps for each snap
• ✅ Metadata: Extracts story titles, thumbnails, and other metadata
• ✅ Proxy Fallback: Automatic proxy rotation on blocks (no proxy → datacenter → residential)
• ✅ Real-time Saving: Data saved incrementally as it's collected
• ✅ Bulk Support: Process multiple usernames in a single run
• ✅ Error Handling: Graceful handling of missing or private content

Input

The actor accepts the following input parameters:

Input Schema

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.snapchat.com/@fcbarcelona",
    "fcbarcelona",
    "https://www.snapchat.com/@username"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Input Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
startUrls	Array	Yes	List of Snapchat usernames or profile URLs. You can provide either: • Full URLs: https://www.snapchat.com/@username • Just usernames: username or @username
proxyConfiguration	Object	No	Proxy settings. By default, no proxy is used. If Snapchat blocks requests, the actor automatically falls back to datacenter proxy, then residential proxy with 3 retries.

Input Examples

Single Username:

{
  "startUrls": ["fcbarcelona"]
}

Multiple Usernames:

{
  "startUrls": [
    "fcbarcelona",
    "https://www.snapchat.com/@nike",
    "@adidas"
  ]
}

With Proxy:

{
  "startUrls": ["fcbarcelona"],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Output

The actor outputs structured JSON data to the Apify dataset. Each story (main story or highlight) is saved as a separate dataset item.

Output Schema

{
  "username": "fcbarcelona",
  "storyTitle": "FC Barcelona",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/d/...",
  "highlightId": "a0b325e7-f21a-4fe3-8db7-5a4c4a68d01f",
  "snapList": [
    {
      "snapIndex": 0,
      "isSponsored": null,
      "snapTitle": null,
      "snapSubtitles": null,
      "lat": null,
      "lng": null,
      "hasAttachment": null,
      "intervalStartTimeMs": null,
      "audioTranscriptionObjectUrl": null,
      "createTime": "2025-12-29T22:22:38.000Z",
      "mediaPreviewUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/d/...",
      "mediaUrl": "https://cf-st.sc-cdn.net/i/..."
    }
  ],
  "storySubtitle": null,
  "storyShareId": null,
  "canonicalUrlSuffix": null,
  "emoji": null,
  "videoTrackUrl": null,
  "isAttributed": null
}

Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
username	String	The Snapchat username
storyTitle	String	Title of the story/highlight
thumbnailUrl	String	URL to the story thumbnail image
highlightId	String	Unique identifier for highlights (null for main stories)
snapList	Array	List of all snaps in the story
storySubtitle	String	Story subtitle (if available)
storyShareId	String	Share ID (if available)
canonicalUrlSuffix	String	Canonical URL suffix (if available)
emoji	String	Emoji associated with the story (if available)
videoTrackUrl	String	Video track URL (if available)
isAttributed	Boolean	Whether the story is attributed (if available)

Snap Object Fields

Each item in snapList contains:

Field	Type	Description
snapIndex	Integer	Index of the snap in the story (0-based)
createTime	String	ISO timestamp when the snap was created
mediaUrl	String	Full-resolution media URL
mediaPreviewUrl	String	Preview/thumbnail media URL
snapTitle	String	Title of the snap (if available)
snapSubtitles	String	Subtitles for the snap (if available)
lat	Number	Latitude coordinate (if available)
lng	Number	Longitude coordinate (if available)
isSponsored	Boolean	Whether the snap is sponsored (if available)
hasAttachment	Boolean	Whether the snap has attachments (if available)
intervalStartTimeMs	Number	Interval start time in milliseconds (if available)
audioTranscriptionObjectUrl	String	Audio transcription URL (if available)

🚀 How to Use the Actor (via Apify Console)

1. Log in at https://console.apify.com and navigate to Actors
2. Find the snapchat-user-stories-scraper actor and click on it
3. Configure Inputs:
   • Add Snapchat usernames or URLs in the startUrls field
   • Optionally configure proxy settings if needed
4. Run the Actor: Click the Start button
5. Monitor Progress: Watch real-time logs showing:
   • Which users are being processed
   • Stories and snaps being collected
   • Progress updates
6. Access Results: Once complete, go to the Dataset tab
7. Export Data: Download results as JSON, CSV, or Excel

Example Workflow

1. Enter usernames: ["fcbarcelona", "nike", "adidas"]
2. Start the actor
3. Wait for completion (logs show progress)
4. Download dataset with all stories and snaps

Best Use Cases

• Social Media Monitoring: Track brand stories and content from competitors
• Content Analysis: Analyze story patterns, posting frequency, and engagement
• Media Collection: Download and archive Snapchat stories and highlights
• Marketing Research: Study how brands use Snapchat for marketing
• Influencer Tracking: Monitor influencer content and story updates
• Data Analytics: Build datasets for social media analytics projects
• Content Aggregation: Collect stories from multiple accounts for analysis
• Archive Creation: Preserve public Snapchat content for historical records

Frequently Asked Questions

How many usernames can I process at once?

You can process as many usernames as needed. The actor processes them sequentially, and each username's stories are saved in real-time.

What happens if a profile is private?

The actor only scrapes publicly available content. If a profile is private or has no public stories, the actor will log that no data was collected for that username.

Do I need to configure a proxy?

No, by default the actor uses no proxy. However, if Snapchat blocks requests, the actor automatically falls back to datacenter proxy, then residential proxy with 3 retries.

How long does it take to scrape a profile?

It depends on the number of stories and highlights. Typically, a profile with 10-20 stories takes 30-60 seconds. The actor processes highlights concurrently for faster results.

Can I scrape old stories?

The actor scrapes all currently available public stories and highlights. It cannot access historical content that is no longer available.

What format is the output data?

The output is structured JSON saved to an Apify dataset. Each story (main story or highlight) is a separate dataset item. You can export it as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Are media URLs permanent?

Media URLs are provided by Snapchat's CDN and may expire over time. It's recommended to download media files soon after scraping if you need to preserve them.

Does the actor work with Snapchat accounts?

The actor scrapes public Snapchat profiles and does not require login credentials. It only accesses publicly available stories and highlights.

What if the actor fails for a username?

If scraping fails for a specific username, the actor logs the failure and continues with the next username. All successfully scraped data is saved in real-time, so you won't lose data from other usernames.

Can I schedule this actor to run regularly?

Yes! You can set up scheduled runs in Apify to automatically scrape profiles at regular intervals (daily, weekly, etc.).

Support and Feedback

💬 For custom solutions or feature requests, contact us at: dev.scraperengine@gmail.com

We're always looking to improve our actors based on user feedback. If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, please reach out!

Cautions

⚠️ Important Legal and Ethical Considerations:

• This actor collects data only from publicly available sources on Snapchat

• No data is taken from private accounts or password-protected content

• The end user is responsible for ensuring legal compliance with:

  • Data protection laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
  • Terms of Service of Snapchat
  • Copyright and intellectual property laws
  • Spam laws and regulations
  • Privacy laws in your jurisdiction

• Respect Rate Limits: The actor includes built-in delays and concurrency limits to respect Snapchat's servers

• Use Responsibly: Only scrape data you have permission to collect and use

• Media URLs: CDN URLs may expire; download media files if you need permanent storage

• Terms of Service: Ensure your use case complies with Snapchat's Terms of Service

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Version: 0.1
Last Updated: 2025