Instagram Stories are one of the most engaging features on the platform. For brands, creators, and marketers, stories give a quick way to share updates, promotions, or behind-the-scenes moments. But if you want to analyze how your stories are performing—or fetch them programmatically for reports or dashboards—you’ll need the Instagram Graph API.

This guide explains how to retrieve story details, required permissions, and important limitations you should know before building.

Why Fetch Stories with API?

Stories are temporary (24 hours) and can easily get lost if you don’t capture their performance. Using the Graph API, you can:

Retrieve story details like ID, type, and media URL.

Save story media (image or video) to your app or reports.

Get insights such as reach, impressions, and replies.

Automate reporting for campaigns and client accounts.

API Endpoint:

To get active stories from a Business or Creator account, use the following endpoint:

GET /{user-id}/stories?fields=id,media_type,media_url&access_token={token}

{user-id} → Your Instagram Business/Creator account ID.

fields → The information you want to retrieve (id, media_type, media_url, etc.).

{token} → A valid long-lived access token.

Example request:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v23.0/17841400008460056/stories?fields=id,media_type,media_url&access_token=EAAJZC...

Sample response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "17957143823040547",
      "media_type": "IMAGE",
      "media_url": "https://instagram.fblr2-4.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-15/12345_n.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "17962233429012589",
      "media_type": "VIDEO",
      "media_url": "https://instagram.fblr2-4.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-15/67890_n.mp4"
    }
  ]
}

Purpose:

Retrieve active stories from the authenticated Business account.

Access media details like image URL or video URL.

Required Permissions:

instagram_basic → Read profile and media (including stories).

pages_show_list → Needed to connect the Instagram account via Facebook Page.

instagram_manage_insights → Required if you want story performance insights (like impressions, reach).

Story Insights:

If you want to go beyond just fetching story media and also check performance metrics, call the story ID with the insights edge.

GET /{ig-story-id}/insights?metric=impressions,reach,replies,exits

Example response:

{
  "data": [
    { "name": "impressions", "values": [ { "value": 1300 } ] },
    { "name": "reach", "values": [ { "value": 1100 } ] },
    { "name": "replies", "values": [ { "value": 23 } ] },
    { "name": "exits", "values": [ { "value": 12 } ] }
  ]
}

Sample Image:

Key Notes

Only active stories (within 24 hours) can be fetched. Expired stories won’t be available.

You must be using an Instagram Business or Creator account. Personal accounts are not supported.

Insights are only available for your own account’s stories, not for competitors.

A long-lived access token is required to keep API calls stable. Short-lived tokens expire quickly.

API responses return media URLs—if you need to archive stories, you’ll have to save these URLs before they expire.

Conclusions:

The Instagram Graph API makes it possible for brands and developers to capture story data in real time. Whether you’re building custom analytics dashboards, automating reports for clients, or simply saving campaign creatives, fetching story details through the API is essential.

By combining story metadata (ID, media type, media URL) with performance insights (impressions, reach, replies), you’ll have a complete picture of how your stories perform before they disappear.

Collect Instagram Story metrics, performance reports and other insights using Instagram Graph API