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.

All APIs

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	Image URL	Video URL	Video Duration	Has Audio	Width	Height	Taken At	Expiring At	Is Paid Partnership	Link URL	Link Title	Poster Profile Pic
1	3964977242590919849_787132	DcGbct3I7yp	natgeo	www.instagram.com/natgeo/	National Geographic	true	Image	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com	—	—	—	1,170	2,080	2026-08-16T12:09:05Z	2026-08-17T12:09:05Z	false	nationalgeographic.com/health/article/gut-microbiome-stress-response?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=instagram::cmp=editorial::add=igs20260816health-peoplestressresponsepremiumhedcard	Visit Link	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com
2	3965184867903735135_787132	DcHKqEAKAVf	natgeo	www.instagram.com/natgeo/	National Geographic	true	Image	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com	—	—	—	1,170	2,080	2026-08-16T19:01:39Z	2026-08-17T19:01:39Z	false	—	—	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com
3	3965192114886700749_787132	DcHMThSAG7N	natgeo	www.instagram.com/natgeo/	National Geographic	true	Video	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com	scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m78/AQMUriyCEUIsrwejotAy76NGMrIoDFw2sEl_78KtaU9WPT4REyCTlLbL_GXO-dm-VQ60q6iNfJ5XS4PW0MUk4hxaOAqKDeFcBoMPUVM.mp4?_nc_cat=101&_nc_sid=5e9851&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_ohc=S4Z4LHiyTYcQ7kNvwFF_nkb&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6Inhwdl9wcm9ncmVzc2l2ZS5JTlNUQUdSQU0uU1RPUlkuQzIuNzIwLmRhc2hfYmFzZWxpbmVfMV92MSIsInhwdl9hc3NldF9pZCI6MTg2ODcxMzU1MzgwMTkxMzMsImFzc2V0X2FnZV9kYXlzIjowLCJ2aV91c2VjYXNlX2lkIjoxMDEwMCwiZHVyYXRpb25fcyI6NjAsInVybGdlbl9zb3VyY2UiOiJ3d3cifQ%3D%3D&ccb=17-1&vs=ec362b29dfa347f&_nc_vs=HBksFQIYUWlnX3hwdl9wbGFjZW1lbnRfcGVybWFuZW50X3YyL0IzNDlGMjVFNjVDMDQ3Q0JGRDdEMUI0NEUxNzIxRDhEX3ZpZGVvX2Rhc2hpbml0Lm1wNBUAAsgBEgAVAhhRaWdfeHB2X3BsYWNlbWVudF9wZXJtYW5lbnRfdjIvNzQ0Njg4NTRDOTg2OUM2QjI2MjM1NDE0RThDRjlBQkJfYXVkaW9fZGFzaGluaXQubXA0FQICyAESACgAGAAbAogHdXNlX29pbAExEnByb2dyZXNzaXZlX3JlY2lwZQExFQAAJvrs57m59rFCFQIoAkMyLBdATgU_fO2RaBgSZGFzaF9iYXNlbGluZV8xX3YxEQB16Adl6J0BAA&_nc_gid=PJHoOnkihB5aHt5gHARAMQ&_nc_ss=703ba&_nc_zt=28&oh=00_AQFqOProHHV1YmVnLWml06188K5rZuIRLPuGf3TnPmFg_A&oe=6A847BBA	60.041	true	720	1,280	2026-08-16T19:15:43Z	2026-08-17T19:15:43Z	false	—	—	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com
4	3965244668886654781_787132	DcHYQSAgB89	natgeo	www.instagram.com/natgeo/	National Geographic	true	Video	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m78/AQP1Aw9Qnl71twFxgZzw8VArTrAKdK-hElOkKrn0nXGPMHMAnWalPViuOot_g7pHV4aiEKf7yF5Z8xThHOlT18mAp5iv8CEacYisCIE.mp4?_nc_cat=100&_nc_sid=5e9851&_nc_ht=scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_ohc=2m34xqCLFaEQ7kNvwFln5LG&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6Inhwdl9wcm9ncmVzc2l2ZS5JTlNUQUdSQU0uU1RPUlkuQzIuNzIwLmRhc2hfYmFzZWxpbmVfMV92MSIsInhwdl9hc3NldF9pZCI6MTg2ODcxNjgzNjEwMTkxMzMsImFzc2V0X2FnZV9kYXlzIjowLCJ2aV91c2VjYXNlX2lkIjoxMDEwMCwiZHVyYXRpb25fcyI6NjAsInVybGdlbl9zb3VyY2UiOiJ3d3cifQ%3D%3D&ccb=17-1&vs=dc25808d193dc670&_nc_vs=HBksFQIYUWlnX3hwdl9wbGFjZW1lbnRfcGVybWFuZW50X3YyL0JFNEYyMTYzMjA5MjhFMzJFMEQ0OEYxODg2QjBBQjlDX3ZpZGVvX2Rhc2hpbml0Lm1wNBUAAsgBEgAVAhhRaWdfeHB2X3BsYWNlbWVudF9wZXJtYW5lbnRfdjIvQTc0QjczODUwQjM2NTVFRjA2OUIxM0ZGREQ2NTFEOEJfYXVkaW9fZGFzaGluaXQubXA0FQICyAESACgAGAAbAogHdXNlX29pbAExEnByb2dyZXNzaXZlX3JlY2lwZQExFQAAJvrboYCu-LFCFQIoAkMyLBdATgAAAAAAABgSZGFzaF9iYXNlbGluZV8xX3YxEQB16Adl6J0BAA&_nc_gid=PJHoOnkihB5aHt5gHARAMQ&_nc_ss=703ba&_nc_zt=28&oh=00_AQHTNcdidah5e56BnKPrjucXErK-_9eRAL5xieZkv8MA4w&oe=6A847325	60.022	true	1,080	1,920	2026-08-16T21:00:04Z	2026-08-17T21:00:04Z	false	on.natgeo.com/ed4d72	Visit Link	scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com

Playground

Run this API

Input Form

Fill in the fields below or .

1¢ per story

Est. up to$0.011 stories

Profiles*

live

curl -X POST "https://api.mindcase.co/v1/data/instagram/stories/run?wait=true" \
  -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?

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 APIs

See all →

Instagram Comments API

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

Instagram posts and reels: captions, engagement, media, music and authors. By profile (posts, reels, tagged), post URL, hashtag or keyword.

Instagram0.2¢ per post

TikTok Posts API

TikTok videos and photo posts by profile, hashtag, keyword, post URL or sound, with engagement metrics, author stats, hashtags, mentions and music.

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Facebook Posts and Groups API

Posts and reels from any public Facebook page, profile or group: text, author, reactions by type, comments, shares, views, media, links and mentions.

Facebook0.5¢ per post

LinkedIn Posts API

LinkedIn posts from any profile, company, post or feed URL, or by search with author, mention and content-type filters. Same clean record either way.

LinkedIn0.2¢ per post

Guides

Instagram guides

All posts →

October 14, 2026

Instagram Follower Growth Benchmarking for Competitor Accounts

One follower count means nothing on its own. A daily snapshot across a competitor set, compared week over week, is what actually tells you who's pulling ahead.

instagramautomation

October 12, 2026

Automate Instagram Profile Enrichment for New Leads

Trigger a profile pull the moment a lead signs up with an Instagram handle, and filter out low-quality matches before they ever reach your CRM.

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October 10, 2026

Tracking Instagram Stories Before They Disappear

Stories vanish in 24 hours and leave no public trace afterward. A pull that runs after the fact returns nothing — the polling schedule is the whole problem.

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