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1¢ per story21 datapoints
Instagram Stories API
Extract a public Instagram account's currently-active Stories — media URLs, timestamps, links, music, and poster details — by username
Sample
Sample data
Here's a sample run pulling the active Stories for an Instagram account, showing the exact schema and results you can expect.
| # | Story ID | Shortcode | Username | Profile URL | Full Name | Is Verified | Media Type | Video Duration | Has Audio | Width | Height | Taken At | Expiring At | Is Paid Partnership | Poster Profile Pic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3950581425833009218_787132 | DbTSOAvCGBC | natgeo | National Geographic | true | Video | 15.018 | true | 716 | 1,274 | 2026-07-27T15:27:05Z | 2026-07-28T15:27:05Z | false | ||
2 | 3950691819364252232_787132 | DbTrUcuP3pI | natgeo | National Geographic | true | Image | — | — | 750 | 1,334 | 2026-07-27T19:06:26Z | 2026-07-28T19:06:26Z | false | ||
3 | 3950680562731336624_528817151 | DbTowpKpEOw | nasa | NASA | true | Image | — | — | 1,290 | 2,293 | 2026-07-27T18:44:04Z | 2026-07-28T18:44:04Z | false | ||
4 | 3950164231987140048_1697296 | DbRzXCsDBXQ | garyvee | Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk | true | Video | 60 | true | 720 | 1,280 | 2026-07-27T01:38:13Z | 2026-07-28T01:38:13Z | false | ||
5 | 3950830670670900984_1697296 | DbUK5AFDq74 | garyvee | Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk | true | Video | 29.966 | true | 720 | 1,280 | 2026-07-27T23:38:32Z | 2026-07-28T23:38:32Z | false | ||
6 | 3950230250509828169_217723373 | DbSCXvOpABJ | cnn | CNN | true | Image | — | — | 1,179 | 2,096 | 2026-07-27T03:49:22Z | 2026-07-28T03:49:22Z | false |
Playground
Run this API
Input Form
Look up the currently-active Stories for one or more public accounts by username or profile URL.
1¢ per story
Est. up to$0.011 stories
live
curl -X POST https://api.mindcase.co/v1/data/instagram/stories/run \
-H "Authorization: Bearer mk_live_YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"params": {
"usernames": []
}
}'Edit the form to update this live.
Overview
About Instagram Stories API
Instagram Stories extracts the Stories a public account has live right now — one row per active story, with its media (image or video URL, dimensions, and duration), when it was posted and when it expires, any link or music sticker, and the poster's handle, name, and verification.
Because Instagram Stories vanish 24 hours after posting, an account with no active story returns no rows — an empty result is a normal, successful run, not an error. Story view, reach, and like counts are owner-only analytics Instagram never exposes publicly, so they are not returned.
Real-time dataSelf-servePay per resultZero setup time
Examples
Use cases
A few common ways teams put Instagram Stories API to work — copy a prompt below to try it yourself.
Competitor story monitoring
Poll a set of rival brand accounts to capture the Stories they post before they disappear, archiving media, links, and timing for review.
Get the active stories for nike and adidas
Influencer campaign verification
Confirm that a creator actually posted the Story they were paid for, and capture the swipe-up link and paid-partnership flag as proof.
Check the current stories for garyvee
Breaking-news capture
Grab the link stickers publishers push to Stories to see which articles they are driving traffic to right now.
Pull the stories for cnn and natgeo
Trend and music tracking
Collect the songs and artists creators attach to their Stories to spot which tracks are trending across accounts.
Get the stories for selenagomez and cristiano
Get started
Ready to pull Instagram Stories?
Sign up to run live queries against Instagram Stories API via chat, form, or API.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Why did I get no rows back?
- Instagram Stories are ephemeral — they expire 24 hours after posting. If an account has no story live at the moment you run it, there is nothing to return, so you get zero rows. This is a successful, empty run, not an error. Try again when the account has posted a fresh story.
- Can I get story view, reach, or like counts?
- No. View, reach, and like counts on Stories are owner-only analytics that Instagram shows only to the account that posted them — they are not part of the public payload, so Instagram Stories cannot return them.
- Can I fetch stories for multiple accounts in one run?
- Yes. Pass an array of usernames or profile URLs in a single call and Instagram Stories fans out across all of them, returning one consolidated table with a Username column noting which account each story came from.
- How fresh is the data?
- Instagram Stories fetches live on every run, returning exactly the Stories an account has active at that moment, with no caching.
- What does each row include?
- Each row is one active story: its media type, image or video URL, dimensions and duration, when it was taken and when it expires, any link sticker (URL and title) and music sticker (title and artist), the paid-partnership flag, and the poster's username, name, verification, and profile picture.
Related
More Instagram APIs
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Extract top Instagram comments — text, timestamps, likes, commenter details, and thread sizes — from post or reel URLs
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Instagram Followers & Following API
Extract the followers or following list of any public Instagram account — handle, name, verification, and privacy
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Instagram Posts & Reels API
Extract Instagram posts and reels — captions, engagement, media, music, and authors — by profile (posts / reels / tagged tabs), post URL, hashtag, or keyword search
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Instagram Profiles API
Extract Instagram account data — bio, followers, verification, business info, links, and recent posts — by username or keyword search
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