# Instagram Stories & Highlights Scraper (`toolzerhub/instagram-stories-highlights-scraper`) Actor

Three ways to read an Instagram account's stories: what is currently active, the highlight tray (covers and titles), and the individual stories saved inside one highlight by its ID. No Instagram login required to read public accounts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/toolzerhub/instagram-stories-highlights-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ToolzerHub](https://apify.com/toolzerhub) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, For creators, Automation
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.40 / 1,000 results

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Instagram Stories & Highlights Scraper

Read a public Instagram account's highlight tray, the stories saved inside one highlight, or whatever stories are live right now. Give it a username. No login, no cookies.

### Pick a mode

| Mode | Give it | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| Highlight tray | **usernamesOrIds** | Every highlight on the profile — covers and titles |
| Active stories | **usernamesOrIds** | Stories live at this moment |
| Stories in a highlight | **highlightId** | The individual stories saved inside one highlight |

Highlight tray is the default because it always has something to return. Read the next question before you switch to Active stories.

### Input

| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| **usernamesOrIds** | Handles without the @, numeric IDs, or both mixed |
| **highlightId** | The `instagram.com/stories/highlights/…` link, the number at the end of it, or the `highlight:` form — all three work |
| **Max results** | Per identifier. `0` removes the bound. |

### Output

`source_identifier` · `highlight_title` · `taken_at`

### Questions

**Active stories returned nothing for a busy account.**
That is almost always correct rather than broken. Stories expire after 24 hours, so an account has none for most of the day. Checked against `@instagram` on a weekday, the answer was zero — and its highlight tray returned seven rows at the same moment. If you need something that is always there, use the highlight tray.

**How do I get a highlight ID?**
Run Highlight tray first — each row is a highlight and carries its ID. Or open the highlight on the web and copy the URL; paste the whole link into **highlightId** and the number is pulled out of it.

**Can I get stories from a private account?**
No. Public accounts only. A private account returns nothing here.

**Does it download the images and videos?**
The rows carry what Instagram returns about each story, including its media URLs. Those URLs are signed and expire — fetch anything you want to keep soon after the run, not weeks later.

**Do highlights come back in the order shown on the profile?**
They come back in the order Instagram serves them, which is the tray order at the time of the run. Someone reordering their tray changes it. Sort on `taken_at` if you need the chronology of the stories themselves.

### The rest of the family

[Instagram Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/toolzerhub/instagram-profile-scraper) — the account behind the tray.
[Instagram Posts, Reels & Reposts Scraper](https://apify.com/toolzerhub/instagram-posts-reels-scraper) — its permanent grid.
[Instagram Scraper - All In One](https://apify.com/toolzerhub/instagram-all-in-one-scraper) — every mode in this family.

### Support

Questions, bugs, or feature requests: **contact@toolzerhub.com**

Browse the rest: [apify.com/toolzerhub](https://apify.com/toolzerhub)

# Actor input Schema

## `scraperType` (type: `string`):

Choose the dataset for this run, then fill in the section for that mode below.

## `usernamesOrIds` (type: `array`):

One or more Instagram usernames or numeric user IDs, mixed freely — this mode accepts either.

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

The maximum number of records to save per identifier or search term. A value of 0 removes the bound and the run continues until the source has no more to give.

## `highlightId` (type: `string`):

Paste the highlight's instagram.com/stories/highlights/... link, or just the number at the end of it. You can also get this from the Stories & Highlights actor's "List highlight covers" mode.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "scraperType": "userHighlights",
  "usernamesOrIds": [
    "instagram"
  ],
  "maxItems": 25,
  "highlightId": "highlight:18142207969557132"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Every record collected during this run

# 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 = {
    "scraperType": "userHighlights",
    "usernamesOrIds": [
        "instagram"
    ],
    "maxItems": 25,
    "highlightId": "highlight:18142207969557132"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("toolzerhub/instagram-stories-highlights-scraper").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 = {
    "scraperType": "userHighlights",
    "usernamesOrIds": ["instagram"],
    "maxItems": 25,
    "highlightId": "highlight:18142207969557132",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("toolzerhub/instagram-stories-highlights-scraper").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 '{
  "scraperType": "userHighlights",
  "usernamesOrIds": [
    "instagram"
  ],
  "maxItems": 25,
  "highlightId": "highlight:18142207969557132"
}' |
apify call toolzerhub/instagram-stories-highlights-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,toolzerhub/instagram-stories-highlights-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

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/g0SCgtYMjWP3KcDcv/builds/sd7TfAgke5rf08t4d/openapi.json