Instagram Video Backup to Google Drive
Instagram Video Backup to Google Drive Automatically backup all your Instagram videos to Google Drive with a searchable metadata catalog in JSON format. What It Does This workflow provides a complete backup solution for your Instagram video content with intelligent caption parsing: Fetches your Instagram account ID and videos (VIDEO and REELS types) Parses captions into structured fields: Title: Everything before the first hashtag Description: Everything after the first hashtag (includes all tags) Tag List: All hashtags extracted as an array Description Full: Complete original caption text Downloads videos in maximum available quality from Instagram Uploads videos to a designated Google Drive folder Creates/updates a JSON metadata file with all video details Prevents duplicates using n8n Data Tables with account-level filtering Key Features Account-Level Tracking: The Data Table includes accountId so you can use the same table across multiple Instagram accounts. Each account's videos are tracked separately. Smart Caption Parsing: Automatically splits Instagram captions into title (before first #) and description (all hashtags and text after), with full text preserved in descriptionFull. Portable Catalog: The JSON file is stored in Google Drive alongside your videos, making it accessible anywhere without needing n8n. Maximum Quality: Uses Instagram Graph API's media_url field for highest available quality. Hashtag Extraction: Automatically extracts all hashtags into an array for easy filtering and analysis. Workflow Architecture Section 1: Fetch & Filter Get Instagram Account Info → Configuration → Fetch Media → Split Out Items → Filter Videos Only Get Instagram Account Info**: Fetches your Instagram account ID and username Configuration**: Stores account ID, Google Drive folder ID, and settings Fetch Media**: Gets up to 100 media items from Instagram Split Out Items**: Separates each media item for individual processing Filter Videos Only**: Keeps only VIDEO and REELS types (skips images) Section 2: Process Videos Check If Backed Up → IF Not Backed Up → Wait → Parse Caption → Download → Upload → Extract Metadata → Save Record → Aggregate For each video: Check If Already Backed Up: Queries Data Table by postId to avoid duplicates IF Not Already Backed Up: Skips if video already exists Wait: 5-second delay between downloads (prevents API rate limits) Parse Caption: Splits caption into title, description, tagList, descriptionFull Download Video: Downloads video file from Instagram to memory Upload to Google Drive: Uploads video to configured folder Extract Metadata: Creates structured metadata object with all fields Save Backup Record: Stores accountId, postId, googleDriveFileId, backedUpAt in Data Table Aggregate: Collects all new video metadata for JSON update Section 3: Update JSON Catalog End Loop → Download Existing JSON → Update JSON → Upload Updated JSON After all videos processed: Download Existing Metadata JSON: Gets current JSON file from Google Drive (if exists) Update Metadata JSON: Appends new video metadata to existing catalog Upload Updated Metadata JSON: Saves updated JSON back to Google Drive Setup Steps 1. Create Google Drive Folder Go to Google Drive Create a new folder named Instagram Video Backups (or any name you prefer) Open the folder and copy the Folder ID from the URL: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ABC123xyz... ^^^^^^^^^^^ This is your Folder ID 2. Create n8n Data Table Create a Data Table for deduplication tracking with account-level support: Table Name: Instagram Video Backups Schema: | Field Name | Type | Description | |------------|------|-------------| | accountId | string | Instagram account ID (allows multi-account use) | | postId | string (Primary Key) | Instagram post ID | | googleDriveFileId | string | Google Drive file ID for the video | | backedUpAt | string | ISO timestamp of backup | Why accountId? This allows you to use the same Data Table for multiple Instagram accounts. Each account's videos are tracked separately, preventing conflicts. 3. Configure Credentials You'll need two credential sets: Instagram Graph API (HTTP Bearer Auth) In n8n, create new credential: HTTP Bearer Auth Set header name: Authorization Set header value: Bearer YOUR_INSTAGRAM_ACCESS_TOKEN Name it: Instagram Graph API Getting Instagram Access Token: Follow Meta's Business Account setup guide Required permissions: instagram_graph_user_media Tokens expire after 60 days (requires manual refresh) Google Drive OAuth2 In n8n, create new credential: Google Drive OAuth2 API Follow OAuth flow to authorize your Google account Name it: Google Drive Account 4. Update Configuration Node In the workflow, open the Configuration node and update: { "googleDriveFolderId": "PASTE_YOUR_FOLDER_ID_HERE", "maxVideosPerRun": 100, "waitBetweenDownloads": 5, "metadataFileName": "instagram-backup-metadata.json" } Settings Explained: googleDriveFolderId: The folder ID you copied in step 1 maxVideosPerRun: Max videos to process per run (100 is safe for API limits) waitBetweenDownloads: Seconds to wait between downloads (prevents rate limits) metadataFileName: Name of the JSON catalog file in Google Drive Note: accountId and accountUsername are automatically populated from Instagram API. 5. Test & Activate Click Manual Trigger to test the workflow Check Google Drive folder for: Video files named instagram_{postId}.mp4 JSON file named instagram-backup-metadata.json Verify Data Table has records with accountId and postId Activate the Schedule Trigger for daily automatic backups Metadata JSON Structure The JSON file stored in Google Drive has this structure: { "lastUpdated": "2026-02-01T10:00:00Z", "totalVideos": 42, "videos": [ { "accountId": "17841400123456789", "instagramId": "123456789", "permalink": "https://instagram.com/p/ABC123", "title": "Amazing sunset at the beach!", "description": "#travel #nature #sunset", "tagList": ["travel", "nature", "sunset"], "descriptionFull": "Amazing sunset at the beach! #travel #nature #sunset", "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z", "mediaType": "VIDEO", "googleDriveFileId": "1ABC123xyz...", "googleDriveFileName": "instagram_123456789.mp4", "backedUpAt": "2026-02-01T10:00:00Z" } ] } Field Descriptions accountId**: Instagram account ID (from Graph API /me endpoint) instagramId**: Instagram post ID (unique identifier) permalink**: Direct link to Instagram post title**: Caption text before the first hashtag description**: Caption text from first hashtag onward (includes all tags) tagList**: Array of hashtags without the # symbol descriptionFull**: Complete original caption (preserves full text) timestamp**: When the video was originally posted to Instagram mediaType**: VIDEO or REELS googleDriveFileId**: Google Drive file ID (use to access file via Drive API) googleDriveFileName**: Filename in Google Drive (instagram_{postId}.mp4) backedUpAt**: When the video was backed up (ISO timestamp) Caption Parsing Logic The Parse Caption Code node splits Instagram captions intelligently: Example Caption: "Amazing sunset at the beach! 🌅 #travel #nature #sunset" Parsed Fields: title**: "Amazing sunset at the beach! 🌅" description**: "#travel #nature #sunset" tagList**: ["travel", "nature", "sunset"] descriptionFull**: "Amazing sunset at the beach! 🌅 #travel #nature #sunset" Edge Cases: No hashtags**: Entire caption becomes title, description is empty Hashtag at start**: title is empty, entire caption becomes description Multiple lines**: Preserves all line breaks in descriptionFull Multi-Account Usage Using the same Data Table for multiple accounts: Import this workflow multiple times (once per Instagram account) Configure each workflow with different Instagram credentials Use the same Data Table name in all workflows: Instagram Video Backups Each workflow automatically filters by its own accountId Benefits: Single deduplication table for all accounts Easy to query all backups across accounts Prevents conflicts between accounts with same post IDs Querying specific account backups: // In Data Table or external script const accountBackups = allBackups.filter( backup => backup.accountId === "17841400123456789" ); API Quotas & Limits Instagram Graph API Rate Limits**: 200 calls/hour per user token (standard) This Workflow**: 2 calls total (1 for account info, 1 for media fetch) Impact**: Can run safely within free tier limits Google Drive API Rate Limits**: 1,000 requests per 100 seconds per user This Workflow**: 2 calls per video (upload video + final JSON update) Impact**: 100 videos = ~200 calls, well within limits Recommended Schedule Daily (midnight)**: Default, safe for most accounts Weekly**: Good for accounts with infrequent posting Manual**: On-demand backups when needed Troubleshooting No videos are being backed up Check Instagram credentials: Open "Get Instagram Account Info" node Click "Execute Node" Look for error messages about authentication Verify account has videos: Instagram Graph API only returns VIDEO and REELS Won't backup images or carousels (by design) accountId is empty in Data Table Account info fetch failed: Check Instagram credentials have correct permissions Verify token hasn't expired (60-day limit) Test "Get Instagram Account Info" node separately JSON file has wrong title/description Caption parsing issue: Open "Parse Caption" Code node Check the output to see parsed fields Verify caption has hashtags (if no hashtags, entire caption becomes title) Custom parsing logic: Edit the "Parse Caption" Code node to adjust splitting logic: // Current: splits at FIRST hashtag const firstHashtagIndex = caption.indexOf('#'); // Alternative: split at specific word const splitWord = 'DESCRIPTION:'; const splitIndex = caption.indexOf(splitWord); Duplicate videos in Google Drive Data Table issues: Verify table name is exactly: Instagram Video Backups Check table has postId as primary key Verify accountId field exists Workflow execution failed mid-run: If workflow fails after upload but before saving to Data Table, video won't be tracked Safe to delete duplicate video in Google Drive and re-run Rate limit errors Instagram rate limits: Reduce maxVideosPerRun to 50 or 25 Increase waitBetweenDownloads to 10 seconds Google Drive rate limits: Unlikely with default settings If occurs, reduce maxVideosPerRun Caption has special characters (emojis, line breaks) Emojis preserved: All emojis are preserved in descriptionFull May appear in title or description depending on position Line breaks: Line breaks are preserved in descriptionFull May affect title/description split if hashtags are on new lines Advanced Customization Change Backup Folder Update googleDriveFolderId in Configuration node to any Google Drive folder ID. Change Schedule Edit the Schedule Trigger node: Daily midnight: 0 0 * * * (default) Every 12 hours: 0 */12 * * * Weekly Sunday: 0 0 * * 0 Custom: Use crontab.guru to generate expression Organize Videos by Date To create monthly subfolders (e.g., 2026-02/video.mp4): Before "Upload to Google Drive" node, add "Google Drive - Create Folder" node Folder name: ={{ $now.format('yyyy-MM') }} Parent folder: ={{ $('Configuration').item.json.googleDriveFolderId }} Update upload node to use created folder ID Download Videos Locally Too To keep local copies in addition to Google Drive: After "Download Video" node, add Write Binary File node File path: /path/to/backup/{{ $('Extract Metadata').item.json.googleDriveFileName }} Connect in parallel with "Upload to Google Drive" Custom Caption Parsing To use different title/description split logic: Option 1: Split at specific keyword const splitKeyword = 'DESCRIPTION:'; const splitIndex = caption.indexOf(splitKeyword); if (splitIndex === -1) { title = caption.trim(); description = ''; } else { title = caption.substring(0, splitIndex).trim(); description = caption.substring(splitIndex + splitKeyword.length).trim(); } Option 2: Use first sentence as title const sentenceEnd = caption.match(/[.!?]/); const endIndex = sentenceEnd ? caption.indexOf(sentenceEnd[0]) + 1 : -1; if (endIndex === -1) { title = caption.trim(); description = ''; } else { title = caption.substring(0, endIndex).trim(); description = caption.substring(endIndex).trim(); } Filter by Account in JSON To create separate JSON files per account: Update "Update Metadata JSON" Code node to filter by accountId Change metadataFileName to include account username: instagram-backup-{{ $('Configuration').item.json.accountUsername }}.json Use Cases Search Videos by Hashtag Download the JSON file from Google Drive, then: // Load JSON const metadata = require('./instagram-backup-metadata.json'); // Find all #travel videos const travelVideos = metadata.videos.filter(v => v.tagList.includes('travel') ); console.log(Found ${travelVideos.length} travel videos); Find Videos by Date Range const startDate = new Date('2026-01-01'); const endDate = new Date('2026-01-31'); const videosInRange = metadata.videos.filter(v => { const videoDate = new Date(v.timestamp); return videoDate >= startDate && videoDate <= endDate; }); Generate Reports Import JSON into Google Sheets or Excel to analyze: Most used hashtags Videos per month Backup coverage percentage Videos by account (if using multi-account setup) Migrate to Another Platform The JSON catalog includes permalinks and timestamps, making it easy to: Re-upload to YouTube, TikTok, etc. Generate video sitemap for website Create video archive with searchable metadata Known Limitations Only videos: Doesn't backup images or carousel posts (by design) Token expiration: Instagram tokens expire after 60 days, requires manual refresh Storage limits: Google Drive free tier is 15GB No analytics: Doesn't track views, likes, or comments Single folder: All videos in one folder (can be customized, see Advanced Customization) Caption parsing: Assumes first hashtag splits title/description (customizable) Data Privacy Videos are downloaded to n8n temporarily, then uploaded to Google Drive n8n doesn't permanently store video files Metadata JSON contains only public Instagram data Google Drive files are private to your account Instagram access token is encrypted by n8n credentials system Account ID is public data from Instagram Graph API Version History v1.0** (2026-02-01): Initial release Daily automatic backups Google Drive storage JSON metadata catalog with smart caption parsing Multi-account support via accountId Deduplication via Data Tables Title/description/tagList extraction Related Workflows Upload from Instagram to YouTube**: Cross-post videos to YouTube with metadata Instagram to X**: Share posts to Twitter/X Instagram Account Information Tracker**: Track follower metrics and insights over time Additional Resources Instagram Graph API Documentation Google Drive API Documentation n8n Data Tables Guide Instagram Access Token Setup Support If you encounter issues: Check Troubleshooting section above Review n8n execution logs for error details Verify all credentials are active and have required permissions Test with Manual Trigger before relying on Schedule Trigger Check "Parse Caption" node output if title/description is incorrect. An n8n automation workflow template by Lucio.
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