Do I need a Instagram developer account?

No. There is no Instagram app, OAuth flow or app review. One InsightSocial API key works for this endpoint and every other platform, and your first 10 calls priced at 100 credits or less are free.

What does one call return?

One call returns the post in the data object of the standard response envelope. Fields the platform did not provide are listed in unavailable, so a null there means unknown, not zero.

What happens if the account is private or nothing is found?

You get an error or an empty result, and it costs 0 credits. The API reads public Instagram data only, so private accounts and deleted content come back as not found rather than as partial data.

Can I call the Instagram Post Stats API from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor?

Yes. Add the hosted MCP server at https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp to your AI app and sign in. The assistant finds this endpoint by name, shows its price and calls it with your credits.

GET /v1/instagram/post/stats

Instagram Post Stats API

Returns one post's engagement: likes, comments, and, on video posts only, the play count and the share count shown by the paper plane icon. Collab posts also list co-authors under ext.coauthors.

Get a free API key Full API reference

50–90 credits, metered · single call · failed calls free · 10 free calls to start

curl "https://api.insightsocial.app/v1/instagram/post/stats?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fp%2FCnpPou9hWqq%2F" \
-H "x-api-key: $INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY"

200 OKJSON

{
"success": true,
"platform": "instagram",
"endpoint": "/v1/instagram/post/stats",
"schema_version": "2",
"data": {
"post": {
"id": "<string>",
"url": "<string | null>",
"kind": "<string | null>",
"content": {
"text": "<string | null>",
"media_urls": "<array | null>",
"thumbnail_url": "<string | null>",
"duration_seconds": "<number | null>"
},
"author": {
"id": "<string | null>",
"username": "<string | null>",
"display_name": "<string | null>",
"avatar_url": "<string | null>",
"verified": "<boolean | null>"
},
"engagement": {
"views": "<integer | null>",
"likes": "<integer | null>",
"comments": "<integer | null>",
"shares": "<integer | null>",
"saves": "<integer | null>"
},
"flags": {
"nsfw": "<boolean | null>",
"spoiler": "<boolean | null>",
"pinned": "<boolean | null>",
"deleted": "<boolean>",
"likes_hidden": "<boolean | null>",
"comments_hidden": "<boolean | null>",
"shares_hidden": "<boolean | null>",
"views_hidden": "<boolean | null>",
"saves_hidden": "<boolean | null>"
},
"published_at": "<string | null>",
"language": "<string | null>",
"ext": "<object | null>"
}
},
"unavailable": [],
"credits_used": "<integer>"
}

When to use it

Use it when you need the share count for a single post, or the co-author list of one collab post; views also come on post itself, and photo posts return both numbers as null.

Parameters

Query parameters for GET /v1/instagram/post/stats. Send your key in the x-api-key header.

Name	Required	Description
url	Yes	URL of the Instagram post (a /p/, /reel/, or /tv/ link).
safe_url	No	When true, returns URL-safe media links suitable for embedding.
include	No	Set to saves (one token only) to ask a third source for a reel's save count (post.engagement.saves) and repost count (post.ext.repost_count) when the plain call returned without them. Photos and carousels are never looked up, because Instagram publishes no save count on them.

Response fields

The same unified schema every platform returns, so code written for Instagram works on the other eight. A field the platform did not provide is null and listed in unavailable.

Field	Type	Notes
id	string	An identifier, always a string. Never parse it as a number: several platforms use ids above 2^53.
url	string \| null
kind	string \| null	The format of the post. Format words only, never a platform name. short = short-form vertical video (a reel, a TikTok, a YouTube Short).
content.text	string \| null
content.media_urls	array \| null
content.thumbnail_url	string \| null
content.duration_seconds	number \| null
author.id	string \| null
author.username	string \| null
author.display_name	string \| null
author.avatar_url	string \| null
author.verified	boolean \| null
engagement.views	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
engagement.likes	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
engagement.comments	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
engagement.shares	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
engagement.saves	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
flags.nsfw	boolean \| null
flags.spoiler	boolean \| null
flags.pinned	boolean \| null
flags.deleted	boolean
flags.likes_hidden	boolean \| null
flags.comments_hidden	boolean \| null
flags.shares_hidden	boolean \| null
flags.views_hidden	boolean \| null
flags.saves_hidden	boolean \| null
published_at	string \| null	ISO-8601 timestamp in UTC, ending in Z.
language	string \| null	The content's language as the platform states it, e.g. en, pt-BR. Detected languages come later (§7.1).
ext	object \| null	Platform-specific fields, snake_case.

Every field, error and example is in the Instagram Post Stats API reference.

How much does the Instagram Post Stats API cost?

Metered: 50–90 credits a call. The ceiling is reserved when the call starts and you are charged what it actually read.

Failed calls are free
A call that errors or finds nothing costs 0 credits.
Know the price first
Add dry_run=1 and the response quotes the call without making it. Nothing is charged.
One balance
API calls and Chrome extension exports share the same credits, on the free plan too.

See plans and credit packs How credits work