Instagram User Highlights

Get a user’s story highlights by username or profile URL. Returns each highlight’s ID, title, story count, cover image, and dates.

Endpoint

GET /v1/instagram/user/highlights

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

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`username`	One required	Instagram username, with or without leading `@` (max 100 characters). Provide either `username` or `url`.
`url`	One required	Instagram profile URL, e.g. `https://instagram.com/natgeo` (max 500 characters). Provide either `username` or `url`.

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`highlights`	array	Array of the user’s story highlights, most recently updated first
`highlights[].highlight_id`	string	Highlight ID (use with the Highlight Stories endpoint)
`highlights[].title`	string	Highlight title
`highlights[].media_count`	integer	Number of stories in the highlight
`highlights[].cover_url`	string	Cover image URL (temporary; valid ~6-24 hours)
`highlights[].created_at`	string	Creation date and time
`highlights[].created_at_timestamp`	integer/null	Creation date as a Unix timestamp
`highlights[].updated_at`	string	Date and time a story was last added
`highlights[].updated_at_timestamp`	integer/null	Last-updated date as a Unix timestamp
`highlights[].is_pinned`	boolean	Whether the highlight is pinned on the profile
`highlights[].url`	string	Direct link to the highlight
`highlights[].author`	string	Owner’s Instagram username
`highlights[].author_id`	string	Owner’s Instagram user ID
`username`	string	The requested username
`count`	integer	Number of highlights returned

Example Request

cURL

curl "https://apidirect.io/v1/instagram/user/highlights?username=mrbeast" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://apidirect.io/v1/instagram/user/highlights",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    params={
        "username": "mrbeast"
    }
)
print(response.json())

Example Response

{
  "highlights": [
    {
      "highlight_id": "17929440964811872",
      "title": "Operation Chad",
      "media_count": 14,
      "cover_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/cover.jpg",
      "created_at": "2021-12-01 21:15:33",
      "created_at_timestamp": 1638393333,
      "updated_at": "2025-08-09 03:54:16",
      "updated_at_timestamp": 1754706856,
      "is_pinned": false,
      "url": "https://instagram.com/stories/highlights/17929440964811872/",
      "author": "mrbeast",
      "author_id": "2278169415"
    }
  ],
  "username": "mrbeast",
  "count": 9
}

Notes

Pass highlight_id to the Highlight Stories endpoint to get the stories inside a highlight.
An account with no highlights returns an empty highlights array. A private account returns 403 with code private_account, and a username that does not exist returns 404 with code not_found.