Instagram Public Data API
Find public profiles and collect posts, Reels, comments, follower counts, engagement metrics and media metadata through one consistent asynchronous API workflow.
Available Instagram APIs
Choose a focused endpoint for profile discovery, account metrics, public posts, Reels or comments. Every endpoint uses the same SocQ authentication and task-result pattern.
What Instagram data can you retrieve?
SocQ normalizes public Instagram results into stable JSON records so product teams do not need to maintain separate browser automation and response-cleanup pipelines.
Profiles and discovery
Search public accounts and return usernames, display names, biographies, profile URLs, avatars, verification status and visible account signals.
Follower and account counts
Retrieve visible follower, following and post counts for public usernames or profile URLs.
Public posts
Collect captions, authors, timestamps, media references, hashtags, mentions and visible likes or comments by username.
Public Reels
Collect Reel captions, media references, play and engagement counts, duration, hashtags, mentions and audio metadata when available.
Public comments
Collect comment text, author fields, timestamps, post references and visible like or reply counts from public Instagram post URLs.
SocQ vs Instagram Graph API
The two products solve different integration problems. SocQ is designed for normalized public-data collection; Meta's official API is designed primarily for authorized professional accounts and platform actions.
| Capability | SocQ | Instagram Graph API |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use | Public profile, content and comment data collection | Manage authorized Business and Creator accounts |
| Customer OAuth | SocQ API key; no customer Instagram OAuth | Meta app setup and account authorization |
| Publishing | Not supported | Supported for eligible professional accounts |
| Private content | Not supported | Only data granted through authorized permissions |
| Response format | Normalized across SocQ endpoints | Native Meta Graph response shapes |
How the Instagram API works
All Instagram endpoints follow the same asynchronous workflow, which keeps long-running collection outside your request thread.
1. Submit a task
Send a POST request with a query, usernames, or public profile and content URLs, plus an optional results limit.
2. Poll task status
Use the returned task ID until the task succeeds or fails. Apply backoff instead of tight retry loops.
3. Read normalized results
Fetch result items, store stable IDs and follow next_cursor when more records are available.
Authenticate with a SocQ API key. This example starts a public Instagram profile search; posts, Reels, comments and follower counts use the same task workflow.
curl -X POST "https://api.socq.ai/v1/instagram/search" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SOCQ_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"query":"sustainable travel","results_limit":25}'
# Poll GET /v1/tasks/{task_id}
# Read GET /v1/tasks/{task_id}?limit=50Common Instagram API use cases
Creator discovery
Find relevant public profiles, then enrich selected accounts with posts, Reels and visible follower metrics.
Content monitoring
Track public posts, Reels and selected public comment records for campaigns, competitors, creators or recurring content formats.
Analytics enrichment
Add visible social identity and engagement fields to internal dashboards, data warehouses and reporting systems.
Research directories
Build reviewable public-account and content datasets with stable URLs, IDs and collection timestamps.
Limits and public-data policy
SocQ is scoped to publicly available Instagram results. Availability can change as accounts, content and public source responses change.
- Private, restricted, removed or login-only content is outside the supported boundary.
- Some public records may omit counters, comment fields, media references, biographies or audio fields.
- Use conservative request rates, cursor pagination and backoff after rate-pressure responses.
- Do not use the API to publish, edit or delete Instagram content.
Instagram API frequently asked questions
Is this the official Instagram Graph API?
No. SocQ provides normalized access to supported public Instagram results. Use Meta's Graph API when you need authorized account management or publishing.
Do users need to connect their Instagram account?
No customer Instagram OAuth is required for the supported public-data endpoints. Requests use a SocQ API key.
Can the API access private profiles?
No. Private, restricted and login-only Instagram content is not supported.
How is usage priced?
Each endpoint displays its current per-result credit price. Billing is based on normalized result records returned by the task.