# Instagram Highlights API (https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/instagram/highlights)

> Returns a list of story highlight collections for an Instagram user including highlight titles, cover images, and item counts.

TL;DR: `GET /v1/instagram/highlights` costs 1 credit per call and returns SocialCrawl's unified JSON schema. Single x-api-key auth, 100 free credits on signup.

## Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `user_id` | no | Instagram user id. Use for faster response times. |
| `handle` | no | Instagram username without the @ symbol |
| `since` | no | Only rows published on or after this date: YYYY-MM-DD (midnight UTC) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Rows older than it are left off each page. This list is not in date order, so the walk does not stop at the date: keep following `next_cursor`, and each page costs what a page costs even when every row on it is filtered out. A row with no date is kept. `published_after`, `start_date`, `from_date`, `publish_time` (`yesterday`, `this-week`, `this-month`, `last-3-months`, `last-6-months`) and `max_age_days` are accepted and applied as `since`. |
| `until` | no | Only rows published on or before this date: YYYY-MM-DD (that whole UTC day is included) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Newer rows are left off each page and the walk does not stop, so older pages follow. A row with no date is kept. `published_before`, `end_date` and `to_date` are accepted and applied as `until`. |

## Code example

```bash
curl -G "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/highlights" \
  --data-urlencode "handle=instagram" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## FAQ

### How do I get Instagram story highlights with an API?

Send a GET request to /v1/instagram/highlights with either the handle (username) or user_id parameter. SocialCrawl returns a JSON array of the user's highlight collections including each collection's title, cover image, and item count.

### What is an Instagram story highlight?

A highlight is a collection of past stories the user has pinned permanently to their profile. Unlike regular stories, highlights do not expire after 24 hours, so they remain available to scrape at any time.

### Can I see the individual stories inside a highlight?

This endpoint returns the highlight collections themselves. To fetch the actual story items inside a specific highlight, take the highlight ID from this response and call the highlight-detail endpoint with that ID.

### Can I pass handle or user_id?

Either works. Pass user_id if you already have it from a prior profile call. It skips the username-to-ID lookup and returns faster. Otherwise pass handle with the username and SocialCrawl will resolve it.

### How much does the Instagram Highlights API cost?

One request costs 1 credit on the standard tier. New accounts receive 100 free credits with no card on file, so you can list highlights for about 100 users before deciding whether to top up.

See the full Instagram API: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/instagram

## Pricing

- Standard endpoints: 1 credit per call
- Advanced endpoints: 5 credits per call
- Premium endpoints: 10 credits per call
- 100 free credits on signup, no credit card required. Cached responses cost 0 credits. Credit packs never expire.
- Full pricing: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/pricing

## Explore with AI

Questions this API answers, phrased for an AI assistant:

- How to archive Instagram story highlights programmatically
- Instagram API to list pinned story highlights for any user