Back up Instagram videos to Google Drive with JSON metadata catalog

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Lucio

Last update

Last update 4 hours ago

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 =&gt; 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 =&gt;
  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 =&gt; {
  const videoDate = new Date(v.timestamp);
  return videoDate &gt;= startDate && videoDate &lt;= 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

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