Instagram Highlight Stories

Get the stories saved in a highlight by highlight ID or URL. Returns the highlight’s title and cover, plus each story’s media URLs, post date, link stickers, mentions, tagged users, location, and audio.

Endpoint

GET /v1/instagram/highlight/stories

Price: $0.006 per request Free tier: 50 requests/month

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`highlight_id`	Yes	Highlight ID from the User Highlights endpoint, e.g. `17987606483520330`, or a highlight URL like `https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17987606483520330/` (max 500 characters)

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`highlight`	object	The highlight
`highlight.highlight_id`	string	Highlight ID
`highlight.title`	string	Highlight title
`highlight.media_count`	integer	Number of stories in the highlight
`highlight.cover_url`	string	Cover image URL (temporary; valid ~6-24 hours)
`highlight.created_at`	string	Creation date and time
`highlight.created_at_timestamp`	integer/null	Creation date as a Unix timestamp
`highlight.updated_at`	string	Date and time a story was last added
`highlight.updated_at_timestamp`	integer/null	Last-updated date as a Unix timestamp
`highlight.is_pinned`	boolean	Whether the highlight is pinned on the profile
`highlight.url`	string	Direct link to the highlight
`highlight.author`	string	Owner’s Instagram username
`highlight.author_id`	string	Owner’s Instagram user ID
`stories`	array	The stories in the highlight, oldest first
`stories[].title`	string	Story title (format: `@username on Instagram`)
`stories[].url`	string	Direct link to the story
`stories[].date`	string	Publication date and time
`stories[].date_timestamp`	integer/null	Publication date as a Unix timestamp
`stories[].expires_at`	string	Always empty (highlight stories do not expire)
`stories[].expires_at_timestamp`	integer/null	Always `null` (highlight stories do not expire)
`stories[].author`	string	Instagram username
`stories[].author_id`	string	Author’s Instagram user ID
`stories[].author_name`	string	Author’s display name
`stories[].author_verified`	boolean	Whether the author is verified
`stories[].source`	string	`"Instagram"`
`stories[].domain`	string	`"instagram.com"`
`stories[].snippet`	string	Story caption text (usually empty)
`stories[].is_video`	boolean	Whether the story is a video
`stories[].media_type`	string	`"story"`
`stories[].media_id`	string	Instagram media ID
`stories[].thumbnail_url`	string	Story image or video cover (temporary; valid ~6-24 hours)
`stories[].video_url`	string	Direct video URL for video stories, empty for images (temporary; valid ~6-24 hours)
`stories[].video_duration`	number/null	Video length in seconds (`null` for images)
`stories[].width`	integer	Media width in pixels
`stories[].height`	integer	Media height in pixels
`stories[].location`	object/null	Geotag: `name`, `city`, `lat`, `lng` (or `null`)
`stories[].tagged_users`	array	Users tagged in the story (`username`, `full_name`, `user_id`)
`stories[].mentions`	string[]	Usernames mentioned in the story
`stories[].links`	array	Link stickers (`url`, `title`)
`stories[].audio`	object/null	Audio track: `type`, `title`, `artist`, `audio_id`, `duration_ms` (`null` when none)
`stories[].coauthors`	array	Collaborators on the story (`username`, `full_name`, `user_id`, `is_verified`)
`stories[].is_paid_partnership`	boolean	Whether the story is a paid partnership
`count`	integer	Number of stories returned

Example Request

cURL

curl "https://apidirect.io/v1/instagram/highlight/stories?highlight_id=17987606483520330" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://apidirect.io/v1/instagram/highlight/stories",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    params={
        "highlight_id": "17987606483520330"
    }
)
print(response.json())

Example Response

{
  "highlight": {
    "highlight_id": "17987606483520330",
    "title": "Football 🏈",
    "media_count": 4,
    "cover_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/cover.jpg",
    "created_at": "2023-10-24 03:48:13",
    "created_at_timestamp": 1698114493,
    "updated_at": "2023-10-24 03:51:23",
    "updated_at_timestamp": 1698114683,
    "is_pinned": false,
    "url": "https://instagram.com/stories/highlights/17987606483520330/",
    "author": "mrbeast",
    "author_id": "2278169415"
  },
  "stories": [
    {
      "title": "@mrbeast on Instagram",
      "url": "https://instagram.com/stories/mrbeast/3219347044383400902/",
      "date": "2023-10-22 17:34:53",
      "date_timestamp": 1697996093,
      "expires_at": "",
      "expires_at_timestamp": null,
      "author": "mrbeast",
      "author_id": "2278169415",
      "author_name": "MrBeast",
      "author_verified": true,
      "source": "Instagram",
      "domain": "instagram.com",
      "snippet": "",
      "is_video": false,
      "media_type": "story",
      "media_id": "3219347044383400902",
      "thumbnail_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/story.jpg",
      "video_url": "",
      "video_duration": null,
      "width": 1284,
      "height": 2282,
      "location": null,
      "tagged_users": [],
      "mentions": [
        "buccaneers"
      ],
      "links": [],
      "audio": null,
      "coauthors": [],
      "is_paid_partnership": false
    }
  ],
  "count": 4
}

Notes

Get highlight_id from the User Highlights endpoint. Highlight stories do not expire, so expires_at is empty.
Media URLs are temporary CDN links that expire after roughly 6-24 hours.