Open in ChatGPT
Coding with AI?
Connect your agent to our MCP and let it integrate any endpoint for you in one shot.

Instagram User Posts

Get a user’s recent posts and reels (their feed) by profile URL or username. Returns post captions, engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares, views), author metadata, hashtags, and mentions. Supports fetching multiple pages in a single API call.

Endpoint

GET /v1/instagram/user/posts

Price: $0.006 per page Free tier: 50 requests/month

Parameters

Parameter Required Description
url No Instagram profile URL, e.g. https://instagram.com/natgeo (max 500 characters). Provide either url or username.
username No Instagram username, with or without leading @ (max 100 characters). Provide either url or username.
pages No Number of pages to fetch, 1-10 (default: 1). Each page returns up to 12 posts.
get_sentiment No Set to true to add AI emotion analysis (Plutchik’s Wheel) to each result. Adds +$0.001 per page to the cost. Returns emotion scores, dominant emotion, intensity, and polarity.

Provide exactly one of url or username.

Response Fields

Field Type Description
posts array Array of the user’s recent posts and reels
posts[].title string Post title (format: @username on Instagram)
posts[].url string Direct link to the post
posts[].date string Publication date and time
posts[].author string Instagram username
posts[].source string "Instagram"
posts[].domain string "instagram.com"
posts[].snippet string Post caption text
posts[].likes integer Number of likes
posts[].comments integer Number of comments
posts[].shares integer Number of shares
posts[].reposts integer Number of reposts
posts[].views integer/null Number of views/plays (null for image posts)
posts[].is_video boolean Whether the post is a video
posts[].media_type string Post type (e.g., "feed", "clips", "carousel_container")
posts[].author_verified boolean Whether the author is verified
posts[].author_name string Author’s display name
posts[].hashtags string[] Hashtags used in the caption
posts[].mentions string[] Usernames mentioned in the caption
posts[].media_id string Instagram media ID
posts[].thumbnail_url string URL of the post’s cover image (temporary; valid ~6–24 hours)
posts[].video_url string Direct video URL for video posts/reels; empty for images (temporary; valid ~6–24 hours)
posts[].video_duration number/null Video length in seconds (null for images)
posts[].width integer Media width in pixels
posts[].height integer Media height in pixels
posts[].carousel_media_count integer Number of items in a carousel post (0 for single-media posts)
posts[].is_paid_partnership boolean Whether the post is a paid partnership / branded content
posts[].location object/null Geotag: name, city, lat, lng (or null)
posts[].tagged_users array Users tagged in the post (username, full_name, user_id)
posts[].coauthors array Collaborators on the post (username, full_name, user_id, is_verified)
posts[].carousel_media array For carousel/album posts: each slide as media_id, is_video, image_url, video_url, width, height (empty for single-media posts)
posts[].audio object/null Audio track for reels/videos: type (music or original), title, artist, audio_id, duration_ms (null when no audio)
posts[].is_pinned boolean Whether the post is pinned to the top of the user’s profile
posts[].sentiment object/null Emotion analysis results. Only present when get_sentiment=true. Returns null if analysis fails.
posts[].sentiment.emotions object Plutchik emotion scores (0-100) for: joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, anticipation.
posts[].sentiment.dominant_emotion string The emotion with the highest score.
posts[].sentiment.emotional_intensity integer Overall emotional intensity on a scale of 0-10.
posts[].sentiment.polarity string Overall sentiment polarity: positive, negative, or neutral.
pages integer Number of pages fetched
count integer Total results returned

Example Request

cURL

curl "https://apidirect.io/v1/instagram/user/posts?url=https://instagram.com/natgeo&pages=2" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://apidirect.io/v1/instagram/user/posts",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    params={
        "url": "https://instagram.com/natgeo",
        "pages": 2
    }
)
print(response.json())

Example Response

{
  "posts": [
    {
      "title": "@natgeo on Instagram",
      "url": "https://instagram.com/p/DZkn1f0Flsc",
      "date": "2026-06-14 16:00:06",
      "author": "natgeo",
      "source": "Instagram",
      "domain": "instagram.com",
      "snippet": "Photograph by @petelas | A curious fox in the snow...",
      "likes": 530176,
      "comments": 5608,
      "shares": 9536,
      "reposts": 4353,
      "views": null,
      "is_video": false,
      "media_type": "carousel_container",
      "author_verified": true,
      "author_name": "National Geographic",
      "hashtags": [],
      "mentions": ["petelas"],
      "media_id": "3520497851234567890",
      "thumbnail_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/cover.jpg",
      "video_url": "",
      "video_duration": null,
      "width": 1080,
      "height": 1350,
      "carousel_media_count": 3,
      "is_paid_partnership": false,
      "location": {
        "name": "Serengeti National Park",
        "city": "Arusha",
        "lat": -2.3333,
        "lng": 34.8333
      },
      "tagged_users": [
        {"username": "natgeotv", "full_name": "National Geographic TV", "user_id": "18091046"}
      ],
      "coauthors": [],
      "carousel_media": [
        {"media_id": "3520497851234567891", "is_video": false, "image_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/slide1.jpg", "video_url": "", "width": 1080, "height": 1350},
        {"media_id": "3520497851234567892", "is_video": false, "image_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/slide2.jpg", "video_url": "", "width": 1080, "height": 1350},
        {"media_id": "3520497851234567893", "is_video": true, "image_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/slide3.jpg", "video_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/slide3.mp4", "width": 1080, "height": 1920}
      ],
      "audio": null,
      "is_pinned": false
    }
  ],
  "pages": 2,
  "count": 24
}

Notes

  • Posts are returned newest first, up to 12 per page. Use pages (1-10) to fetch more in a single call; you are billed per page requested.
  • Both regular posts and Reels are returned. Use media_type to distinguish them (clips for Reels).
  • If the account does not exist, the endpoint returns 404 with code not_found. You are not charged for not_found responses.
  • Private accounts return no posts.
User Profile Search Videos