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Instagram

Options for posting via the API to Instagram

Instagram API Endpoint

Overview

Post images or videos directly to Instagram.
Instagram has the following requirements and restrictions:
  • Business Instagram Account connected with a Facebook Page - see here.
  • Only 25 Instagram posts are allowed over a 24 hour period - around 750 posts a month. See below for usedQuota
  • The post text may contain up to 30 hashtags (e.g. #wildtimes) and 3 username mentions (e.g. @natgeo).
  • @mention Instagram users will receive a notification.
  • Maximum 2,200 post characters.
  • Multi-image posts are supported via a carousel. Multiple videos are not supported.
  • Delete not supported using the /delete endpoint.
  • If your video doesn't end in a known video extension such as mp4, please use the isVideo parameter. See the /post endpoint for details.
Note: The aspect ratio of images & videos and the duration of video are very important to successfully post to Instagram. If they do not meet the requirements, the post will be rejected.
Please see the Instagram section of Image and Video Guidelines:
JSON for a basic post with an image and hashtags to Instagram:
{
"post": "The best IG ever #best #aweome https://www.instagram.com",
"mediaUrls": ["https://img.ayrshare.com/012/gb.jpg"],
"platforms": ["instagram"]
}
Hashtags are clickable in Instagram posts, but links are not.

Instagram Business Account

Your Instagram account must be a Business Account and connected with a Facebook Page. The setup is free and easy.
See here for detailed instructions:
You can post multiple images to Instagram as a carousel; up to 10 images may be use in a carousel. Just add your additional images to the mediaUrls array and the carousel will automatically be created. Videos are not supported in carousel.
"mediaUrls": ["https://url1.com", "https://url2.com" ...]; // Max 10 images

Instagram Reels

You can post a video to Instagram Reels API with the following instagramOptions.
{
"post": "The description of the video",
"mediaUrls": "https://img.ayrshare.com/012/reel.mp4",
"instagramOptions": {
"reels": true,
"shareReelsFeed": true
}
}
  • reels: set to true to post the video to Reels.
  • shareReelsFeed: set to true to share the reel in both the Feed and Reels tabs or false to only appear in the Reels tab. Neither value determines whether the reel actually appears in the Reels tab because the reel may not meet eligibility requirements or may not be selected by Instagram's algorithm.

Video Thumbnail

You may select a frame in the video or reel as the thumbnail image. Instagram does not support uploaded images for thumbnails.
{
...
"instagramOptions": {
"thumbNailOffset": 30000 // milliseconds
}
}
The offset is the location in milliseconds of the thumbnail frame. Default value is 0, which is the first frame of the video or reel.

User Tags & Locations

The Instagram user will be notified when you use their username in a post. Please be cautious to not spam users or post with their username repeatedly. If you do, Instagram will suspend or deactivate your account.
An image can be tagged with Instagram users and images/videos can be tagged with a location, for a given Facebook Page Id, using the instagramOptions parameter.

Location

A location is specified by a locationId, which is a Facebook Page ID or Facebook Page name. For example, Facebook page Id of the Guggenheim Museum is 7640348500 or Facebook page name "@guggenheimmuseum". Pages must be associated with a physical location.
// Using the Facebook Page Id - must be associated with a location
{
...
"instagramOptions": {
"locationId": 7640348500 // Guggenheim Museum Page Id
}
}
// Using the Facebook Page name - must be associated with a location
{
...
"instagramOptions": {
"locationId": "@guggenheimmuseum" // Guggenheim Museum Page name. Must begin with @
}
}

User Tags

Users are specified by a userTags containing an Array of objects with an Instagram username and x/y coordinates on the image. Only available for images.
  • Usernames must be public Instagram accounts.
  • x and y values must be float numbers that originate from the top-left of the image, with a range of 0.01.0.
{
...
"instagramOptions": {
"userTags": {
"username": "ayrshare", // Instagram username
"x": 0.5, // Float value, originates from the top-left of the image
"y": 1.0 // Float value, originates from the top-left of the image
}
}
}

Instagram Mentions

Mention another Instagram handle by adding @handle in the post text. For example:
{
"post": "The best social media API @Ayrshare ever!",
"mediaUrls": ["https://images.com"],
"platforms": ["instagram"]
}
Please review the important rules on mentions.

Auto Image Resize

Enterprise Plans required.
Images are automatically resized to 1080 x 1080 px to work with Instagram with the autoResize parameter. Please note, this will resize the image for all included platforms, so we recommend making one call for Instagram and a different /post call for additional platforms.
{
"post": "Let it go!",
"platforms": [
"instagram"
],
"mediaUrls": [
"https://images.ayrshare.com/imgs/GhostBusters.jpg"
],
"instagramOptions": {
"autoResize": true, // Enterprise Plans only
"locationId": 7640348500,
"userTags": [
{
"username": "ayrshare",
"x": 0.5,
"y": 0.5
},
{
"username": "ayrshare",
"x": 0.3,
"y": 0.2
}
]
}
}

Instagram Mentions

Mention other Instagram handles by simply including the handle beginning with the @ symbol in the post text. For example:
{
"post": "Love the @ayrshare social media api"
}
Please see here for more information on mentions.

Used Quota

The Instagram response will include the current usedQuota for the number of Instagram posts done over a rolling 24-hours period. Only 25 Instagram posts are permitted by Instagram in a 24-rolling-hour period.
{
"status": "success",
"errors": [],
"postIds": [
{
"status": "success",
"id": "17823977408036085",
"postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/CeBrkQuN1Kv/",
"usedQuota": 15,
"platform": "instagram"
}
],
"id": "l4FaPHSXWJNdmMfm3dIE"
"refId": "65806e8d9efd78a58c05566a887043329dcdc76b",
"post": "Luckily for Alice, the little magic bottle had now had its full effect."
}
If the quota has been reached, an error message will be returned.

Instagram Creator Accounts

Available for Business Plans.
By default only Instagram business accounts are allowed to link. You may allow your users to connect a creator account, but Instagram restricts publishing post to only business accounts.
Please see how to allow Instagram creator accounts in settings.

Instagram Stories

Instagram does not yet support publishing stories via their partner API integration.

FAQ

How do I add line breaks or rich text to a Instagram post?

Instagram line breaks can be added to a post with a special new line character.
Rich text, such as bold or italic lettering, can be added to a Instagram post with a few html elements.

Can I post Instagram Stories or Reels?

Instagram Stories posting is not yet supported by Facebook's official API integration. However Facebook Reels and Instagram Reels can be posted via Ayrshare's API.