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.

How do I get every result, not just the first page?

This endpoint pages. Each response carries pagination.next_cursor and pagination.has_more. Send next_cursor back unchanged as the cursor parameter and stop when has_more is false. Every page is a separate call and is charged as one.

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 Search Reels 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/search/reels

Instagram Search Reels API

Returns reels matching a keyword, each with its view count, like count, and author; share and save counts are not included on this endpoint.

Get a free API key Full API reference

10–650 credits, metered · cursor pagination · failed calls free · 10 free calls to start

curl "https://api.insightsocial.app/v1/instagram/search/reels?query=workout+routine" \
-H "x-api-key: $INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY"

200 OKJSON

{
"success": true,
"platform": "instagram",
"endpoint": "/v1/instagram/search/reels",
"schema_version": "2",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"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>"
}
}
]
},
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": "<string | null>",
"has_more": "<boolean>"
},
"unavailable": [],
"credits_used": "<integer>"
}

When to use it

Use it for keyword based reel discovery; search/hashtag is the better choice when you have a specific tag rather than a phrase. Pass a result URL to post/stats for a reel's share count.

Parameters

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

Name	Required	Description
query	Yes	Search keyword or phrase to find Instagram reels
date_posted	No	Date posted
page	No	The page number to return.
region	No	Two-letter market code (ES, MX, DE, BR, KR, FR) to localise the results. Instagram does not rank search by country, so the market's own name is appended to your query (fitness with ES searches fitness españa), unless the query already names the market or is already written in the market's own script (Hangul for KR), which Instagram localises by itself. It favours creators from the market but does not promise that every creator is from it; send country for that. For a topic about a place, such as eSIMs or travel, a phrasing locals use works better (esim móvil rather than esim). Same price as a plain call. Only these markets are supported; any other code is refused with the list, at no charge. A typo is a free 400.
include	No	Send creator to add each reel's creator card, read from the creator's About this account panel: post.ext.author_country, author_followers, author_following, author_posts_count, author_public_email and author_public_phone, plus the creator's name, avatar and verified flag where the row lacks them. author_country is the country the creator declares there, not where the reel was filmed; it is null when Instagram does not publish one, and nothing is guessed. A typo is a free 400.
country	No	Two-letter market code (ES, MX, DE, BR, KR, FR) to keep only reels whose creator is based in that market, read from the creator's own profile (post.ext.author_country). Adds the creator card (include=creator) and, when region is not sent, localises the query for the same market. When no row matches, the page is items: [] with the warning country_no_match, and the lookups are still billed. A page left empty only because the creator lookups failed costs nothing. Works with max_pages. A typo is a free 400.
min_views	No	Keep only rows with at least this many views (post.engagement.views). A row whose view count is unknown is discarded, so every returned row meets the floor.
max_age_days	No	Keep only rows published within this many days (post.published_at), 1 to 3650. A row with no date is discarded.
sort_rows	No	views: return the kept rows ordered by view count, highest first, across every page walked. Rows without a view count go last.
max_pages	No	1 to 5 (default 1). Walk up to this many pages in one call and return the rows from all of them (after any filter). Each page walked is billed as one call to this endpoint; the whole walk counts once against your rate limit.
cursor	No	The pagination.next_cursor from the previous page, sent back unchanged. Omit it for the first page.

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 Search Reels API reference.

How much does the Instagram Search Reels API cost?

Metered: 10–650 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