Instagram reference
Instagram API guide
Retrieve public profiles, posts, reels and comments. Begin with an account or a post URL, then choose the content or discussion you need.
Quickstart
Start with Instagram
Retrieve public profiles, posts, reels and comments. Begin with an account or a post URL, then choose the content or discussion you need.
These requests use your API key and can spend credits. Check the current price on the endpoint page; each new page is a separate request. Later examples use illustrative identifiers: replace them with values from your earlier response.
1. Read the public profile
A profile describes the account; private account analytics are not part of this response. Parameters and current cost →
curl "https://www.monocrawl.com/v1/instagram/profile?handle=nasa" \ -H "x-api-key: mn_your_key_here"
2. Collect a page of posts
Use the returned post URLs to open individual posts or retrieve comments. Parameters and current cost →
curl "https://www.monocrawl.com/v1/instagram/posts?handle=nasa" \ -H "x-api-key: mn_your_key_here"
3. Read the discussion
Replace the example URL with a returned post URL. Comments use the default order. Continue with the returned cursor and the same post URL; omit sort. Parameters and current cost →
curl "https://www.monocrawl.com/v1/instagram/post-comments?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fp%2FB9KI0D2HHe7%2F" \ -H "x-api-key: mn_your_key_here"
Filters and coverage
Choose filters with the source behavior in mind
| Control | Behavior and limits |
|---|---|
| Account and post identifiers | Use a username for account reads and the returned Instagram URL for a post lookup. A post’s numeric ID and its URL shortcode are different identifiers. Private or removed content may be unavailable. Endpoint reference → |
| Posts versus Reels | Choose posts for the account post feed and reels for its Reel feed. Neither endpoint promises every historical publication or identical fields for photos and videos. Video play counts may be absent on photos. Endpoint reference → |
| Comment ordering | Comments use the default order; explicit top or recent sorting is not supported. Omit sort and keep the same post URL when following the returned cursor. Unsupported sorting is rejected before any source call or credit charge. Endpoint reference → |
| Replies | Top-level comments and replies are separate calls. A reply count does not mean the reply bodies are already included. Pass the parent identifier required by the replies endpoint. Endpoint reference → |
| Derived engagement | This calculation uses a bounded page of posts with both like and comment counts, divided by the returned follower count. Missing counts are excluded, not replaced with zero. See Computed fields for the exact formula. Endpoint reference → |
Source availability, ordering and field coverage can change. Inspect warnings and partial-result metadata alongside the rows. See runnable workflows, metric semantics, computed fields and the pagination matrix.
Choose an endpoint
Match the operation to your task
| Your task | Endpoint | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Find an account by name | search-profiles | Discover accounts first, then use the chosen handle for profile and feed reads. |
| A post or reel you already know | post | Read one public item by URL. |
| Video content from an account | reels | Choose reels specifically rather than assuming every feed item is a reel. |
| Engagement over a sample | engagement | Calculates a rate from a profile and one posts page; inspect the usable sample size. |
Explore all documented operations by purpose below. Each endpoint reference contains its accepted parameters and current price.
Other operations
Posts and media
Accounts and audiences
Comments and replies
Transcripts
Operations
Each row is a registry operation: expand it for parameters, a curl built from the registry's own examples, and a Markdown copy of the whole entry. The badge on the right is the operation's state, read at request time — we publish all three rather than rounding up. Recorded proof is historical, not a guarantee of current availability.
- live · proven
- a real upstream response has been served through this API and recorded
- wired · unproven
- a real-data route is registered, but qualifying proof is absent; permission or capacity restrictions may apply
- sample · free
- no live upstream — /v1 refuses it, /sandbox returns a marked sample
Elsewhere
The same registry, other shapes
- Instagram overview — supported data categories and use cases for this platform.
- Full endpoint reference — every platform on one page.
/openapi.jsonor/openapi.yaml— the machine-readable contract, for Postman, Insomnia or a client generator.GET /v1/utility/endpoints?platform=instagram— the same rows to your code at runtime, for 0 credits.