# Find Instagram reel creators

Search for reels, then enrich a limited number of distinct creators with public profile counts and, optionally, their account transparency country. Choose your page, creator, time and credit limits before running.

## Download the bounded workflow

[Download the Node.js workflow](https://www.monocrawl.com/examples/instagram-reel-creators.mjs). It uses the public API with your own key. Set `MONOCRAWL_API_KEY` in your environment, then run this free estimate with Node.js 22 or newer:

```
node instagram-reel-creators.mjs '{"query":"workout routine","maxCredits":25,"maxPages":2,"maxCreators":2,"includeCountry":true,"estimateOnly":true}'
```

Remove `estimateOnly` to execute. Every component gets a free price preview immediately before its call; `X-Max-Credits` caps that call and `maxCredits` caps the total. A cache hit can lower the actual charge. The estimate uses full component prices so it does not depend on a cache hit remaining available.

The default searches one page and does no creator lookups. `maxPages` accepts 1–5; `maxCreators` accepts 0–10. Each distinct handle is looked up once per run, including across pages. `maxDurationSeconds` defaults to 120 and accepts 1–300. Use the returned opaque cursor with the same query, date window and API key to continue.

For a broader reel-only search, explicitly request up to three pages with no creator lookups:

```
node instagram-reel-creators.mjs '{"query":"space exploration","maxPages":3,"maxCreators":0,"maxCredits":3,"estimateOnly":true}'
```

Remove `estimateOnly` after reviewing the price. Pages can be short or overlap; the workflow removes repeated IDs and does not promise 30 distinct results. Each acquired page keeps its normal price. `plays` retains the source’s supplied play or view count, including zero, and stays null when unknown. Search coverage remains indexed and can lag new posts.

## Component costs

| Step | When it runs | Current base price | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [`instagram/search-reels`](https://www.monocrawl.com/docs/endpoints/instagram/search-reels) | Once per acquired page | 1 credits | live · proven |
| [`instagram/profile`](https://www.monocrawl.com/docs/endpoints/instagram/profile) | Once per selected creator | 1 credits | live · proven |
| [`instagram/about`](https://www.monocrawl.com/docs/endpoints/instagram/about) | Once per selected creator when country is requested | 10 credits | live · proven |

The maximum base estimate is pages × search price + creators × (profile price + optional country price). Country lookup has its own normal price, including when the country is missing or does not match your filter. The result reports a ledger, known charges and any credit ceiling retained for an uncertain paid outcome.

The workflow stops when it reaches its limits. It never retries a paid request automatically. If a response is lost, it holds that call’s entire ceiling, stops further paid calls and reports `partial`; inspect account usage before starting another run.

## Country matching and missing values

Profile responses also expose `last_post_at` when a timeline sample supplies publication dates. It is the newest observed timestamp, even when older pinned posts appear first. `last_post_scope=returned_timeline` records that limit; an unavailable date stays null and does not mean the account has never posted.

`includeCountry=true` reads the creator’s public account transparency panel. Country means the source-reported account country; it does not establish filming location, nationality or a geographic search ranking. Profile counts and country stay null when missing. This workflow does not infer contact details from a biography.

Set `creatorCountry` to the full country label returned by the source, such as `Spain`. The workflow adds `creator_country_match` using an exact case-insensitive comparison. Unknown or unrequested country produces null. All reels are retained by default.

Use `filterCountry=true` with `creatorCountry` to keep matches only. The result separately counts other-country and unknown-country rows dropped. Creators beyond your lookup cap count as unknown; a filtered empty result does not mean that no creators exist in that country. Pagination and normal component charges are preserved.

## Explore a reel’s sound

When the source provides it, `audio_cluster_id` groups uploads of the same sound and can feed [instagram/audio-reels](https://www.monocrawl.com/docs/endpoints/instagram/audio-reels). A reel’s `music` can include the source’s title, artist, asset ID, duration, explicit flag and trending flag. Missing values stay null, and these observations can change over time.

An acquired audio page is a sample, not the sound’s lifetime reel count. A page length or missing total must not be used as a total-count metric. See [metric semantics](https://www.monocrawl.com/docs/metric-semantics) for the distinction between source counters and samples.

[instagram/search-music](https://www.monocrawl.com/docs/endpoints/instagram/search-music) finds tracks by title or artist and can return the source’s formatted Reels-count label and trend ranks. The formatted label is not an exact numeric count.