Instagram

Complete skill for managing Instagram professional accounts through the Instagram API with Instagram Login (Business Login). Covers content publishing, messaging, comment moderation, insights, and profile management.

Out of scope — defer to other skills

Request	Send them to
Paid Instagram / Facebook ads, boosting a post, Advantage+	meta-ads
Competitor ad research from the Meta Ad Library	meta-ads-library
TikTok publishing	tiktok
LinkedIn document or carousel posts	linkedin

Requirements

• Hyper MCP installed and connected. https://app.hyperfx.ai/mcp
• Instagram integration connected at https://app.hyperfx.ai/integrations — this skill uses the Instagram API with Instagram Login (NOT the older Instagram Graph API via Facebook Login).
• For organization posts to a company page, the connected account must have permission to post for that organization.

If instagram_get_me is not in the tool list, stop and tell the user to enable Hyper MCP and connect Instagram.

Tool surface

Tool group	Tools
Account	instagram_get_me, instagram_get_user (look up any public IG profile by username or ID — useful for researching commenters and DM contacts)
Publishing	instagram_create_photo_container, instagram_create_reel_container, instagram_create_carousel_container, instagram_check_container_status, instagram_publish_media, instagram_check_publishing_limit
Media library	instagram_list_media, instagram_get_media, instagram_get_album_children, instagram_list_stories, instagram_get_tagged_media
Comments	instagram_list_comments, instagram_post_comment, instagram_reply_to_comment, instagram_hide_comment, instagram_delete_comment, instagram_toggle_comments
Direct Messages	instagram_list_conversations, instagram_get_conversation_messages, instagram_get_message, instagram_send_message, instagram_send_media_message, instagram_send_post_message, instagram_react_to_message
Insights	instagram_get_account_insights, instagram_get_media_insights

Critical Rules

CRITICAL: This toolkit uses the Instagram API with Instagram Login (not the older Instagram Graph API via Facebook Login). Metric names and available fields differ from the older API. Always use the metric names documented in this skill.

CRITICAL: The engagement metric does NOT exist in this API. Use individual metrics like likes, comments, shares, total_interactions instead.

CRITICAL: The impressions metric is NOT valid for account-level insights. Use reach or views instead.

CRITICAL: Content publishing uses a two-step container workflow: (1) create a media container, (2) publish it. For video content, poll the container status until FINISHED before publishing.

CRITICAL: Instagram DM responses must be sent within 24 hours of the user's last message (standard messaging window). The Human Agent tag extends this to 7 days if approved.

IMPORTANT: Publishing rate limit is 100 API-published posts per 24-hour rolling window. Carousels count as 1 post. Always call instagram_check_publishing_limit before bulk publishing.

CRITICAL: Do NOT use the location_id parameter on photo, reel, or carousel containers unless the user explicitly provides a verified Facebook Page ID. This integration uses Instagram Business Login which cannot look up or validate location IDs. Passing an invalid or guessed ID will cause a 400 error (Param location_id is not a valid location page ID). If a user asks for location tagging, explain that they need to provide their Facebook Page ID with location data.

CRITICAL: When passing media URLs (image_url, video_url, cover_url, media_url) to any Instagram tool, use the URL exactly as returned by the source tool — most commonly the url field from read_file or display_file. Do NOT:

• Reconstruct or shorten the URL.
• Drop, change, or invent any query parameters (signatures, timestamps, etc.).
• Substitute a different host.
• Copy a URL from memory or transcribe it character-by-character — call read_file again instead.

Hyper-hosted CDN URLs are automatically resized and re-signed for Meta when needed, so just hand them through verbatim. A single-character corruption in a presigned signature causes Meta to return a misleading 9004 / 2207052: Only photo or video can be accepted as media type error.

IMPORTANT: Always call instagram_get_me first to get the user's IG user ID. Most endpoints require this ID.

Phase 1: Account Setup

Get the connected account

instagram_get_me()

Returns: user_id, username, name, account_type, profile_picture_url, followers_count, follows_count, media_count, biography, website.

Store the user_id — it's required for most subsequent calls.

Phase 2: Content Publishing

Publishing workflow

1. Create a media container (photo, reel, story, or carousel).
2. Check container status (required for video / reels — poll until FINISHED).
3. Publish the container.
4. Verify by listing recent media.

Single photo post

instagram_create_photo_container(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    image_url="https://example.com/photo.jpg",   # Public JPEG URL, max 8MB
    caption="Your caption here #hashtag",
    alt_text="Accessibility description",
)
# Returns container ID

instagram_publish_media(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    creation_id="<container_id>",
)

Reel (short-form video)

instagram_create_reel_container(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    video_url="https://example.com/video.mp4",   # Public MP4/MOV, max 300MB, 3s-15min
    caption="Reel caption #reels",
    cover_url="https://example.com/cover.jpg",   # Optional cover image
    share_to_feed=True,
)

# MUST poll status for video content
instagram_check_container_status(container_id="<container_id>")
# Wait until status_code == "FINISHED", poll once per minute, max 5 minutes

instagram_publish_media(user_id="<user_id>", creation_id="<container_id>")

Story (24-hour expiry)

Note: Story publishing is not yet supported by this MCP integration. To read currently active stories use:

instagram_list_stories(user_id="<user_id>")

If the user asks to post a story, inform them this capability is not yet available and suggest posting a Reel with share_to_feed=True as an alternative.

Carousel (2-10 items)

# Step 1: create child containers (each with is_carousel_item=True for photos)
instagram_create_photo_container(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    image_url="https://example.com/photo1.jpg",
    is_carousel_item=True,
)
# Repeat for each image / video

# Step 2: create the carousel container with child IDs
instagram_create_carousel_container(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    children=["<child_id_1>", "<child_id_2>", "<child_id_3>"],
    caption="Carousel caption",
)

# Step 3: publish
instagram_publish_media(user_id="<user_id>", creation_id="<carousel_container_id>")

Content limits

Type	Format	Max size	Duration
Photo	JPEG	8MB	—
Reel	MP4 / MOV	300MB	3s – 15min
Story image	JPEG	8MB	—
Story video	MP4 / MOV	100MB	3s – 60s
Caption	Text	2200 chars	30 hashtags, 20 @tags
Carousel	Mixed	2 – 10 items	—

Phase 3: Comment Moderation

Read comments

instagram_list_comments(media_id="<media_id>")

Post a comment

instagram_post_comment(media_id="<media_id>", message="Great post!")

Reply to a comment

instagram_reply_to_comment(comment_id="<comment_id>", message="Thanks!")

Moderate comments

# Hide spam / inappropriate comments
instagram_hide_comment(comment_id="<comment_id>", hide=True)

# Delete a comment (only the media owner can delete)
instagram_delete_comment(comment_id="<comment_id>")

# Toggle comments on / off for a post
instagram_toggle_comments(media_id="<media_id>", comment_enabled=False)

Respond to mentions

Note: Mention-specific tools (instagram_reply_to_mention, instagram_get_mentioned_media, instagram_get_mentioned_comment) are not yet available in this MCP integration. Mentions appear as comments on your media — respond to them using instagram_reply_to_comment with the comment ID from instagram_list_comments.

Phase 4: Direct Messages (CRM)

List conversations

instagram_list_conversations(user_id="<user_id>")

Read messages

# Get message IDs from a conversation
instagram_get_conversation_messages(conversation_id="<conversation_id>")

# Get full message details (only 20 most recent are queryable)
instagram_get_message(message_id="<message_id>")

Send messages

# Text message
instagram_send_message(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    recipient_id="<recipient_igsid>",   # From the message's 'from' field
    text="Thanks for reaching out!",
)

# Media attachment (image, video, audio, PDF)
instagram_send_media_message(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    recipient_id="<recipient_igsid>",
    media_type="image",                 # image, video, audio, or file
    media_url="https://example.com/photo.jpg",
)

# Share a published post via DM
instagram_send_post_message(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    recipient_id="<recipient_igsid>",
    post_id="<media_id>",               # Must be your own post
)

# React to a message
instagram_react_to_message(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    recipient_id="<recipient_igsid>",
    message_id="<message_id>",
    reaction="love",
)

Messaging constraints

• The recipient must have initiated the conversation first.
• 24-hour response window from the user's last message (7 days with the Human Agent tag).
• Text messages: UTF-8, max 1000 bytes.
• Media limits: images (PNG / JPEG, 8MB), videos (MP4 / OGG, 25MB), audio (AAC / WAV, 25MB), files (PDF, 25MB).

Phase 5: Analytics & Insights

Account-level insights

instagram_get_account_insights(
    user_id="<user_id>",
    metric=["reach", "profile_views", "follower_count", "accounts_engaged", "total_interactions"],
    period="week",
)

Note: Some metrics (profile_views, total_interactions, demographic metrics) require instagram_business_manage_insights permission and a Business account — they will be silently omitted for Creator accounts. If a metric is missing from the response, check the account type returned by instagram_get_me.

Valid account metrics:

Metric	Description
reach	Unique accounts that saw any content.
follower_count	Total followers (lifetime period only).
website_clicks	Clicks on the website link in the profile.
profile_views	Profile page views.
online_followers	Followers online at a given time.
accounts_engaged	Unique accounts that interacted.
total_interactions	Total likes, comments, shares, saves, replies.
likes	Total likes across all content.
comments	Total comments across all content.
shares	Total shares across all content.
saves	Total saves across all content.
replies	Total replies (stories / messages).
follows_and_unfollows	Net follower changes.
profile_links_taps	Taps on profile links.
views	Total content views.
engaged_audience_demographics	Demographics of the engaged audience.
reached_audience_demographics	Demographics of the reached audience.
follower_demographics	Demographics of followers.

Invalid account metrics: impressions, email_contacts, phone_call_clicks, text_message_clicks, get_directions_clicks.

Media-level insights

instagram_get_media_insights(
    media_id="<media_id>",
    metric=["reach", "likes", "comments", "saved", "shares", "total_interactions"],
)

• Common metrics (all non-Story media): reach, saved, likes, comments, shares, total_interactions, views.
• Reel-only extras (auto-stripped for non-Reels): ig_reels_avg_watch_time, ig_reels_video_view_total_time, clips_replays_count, ig_reels_aggregated_all_plays_count.
• Story-only metrics: reach, replies, follows, navigation, profile_visits, profile_activity, views.

Tip: When unsure if media is a Reel, just use the common metrics. Reel-only metrics sent to non-Reel media will be auto-stripped by the server.

Invalid media metrics: engagement, impressions, plays, saves — for media use saved (not saves; saves is account-level only).

Period values

Period	Description
day	Daily breakdown.
week	Weekly breakdown.
days_28	28-day breakdown.
month	Monthly breakdown.
lifetime	All time (required for follower_count).

Phase 6: Media & Story Management

Browse media library

# List recent posts (up to 10K)
instagram_list_media(user_id="<user_id>", limit=25)

# Get details of a specific post
instagram_get_media(media_id="<media_id>")

# Get carousel children
instagram_get_album_children(media_id="<carousel_media_id>")

# List active stories (24h window)
instagram_list_stories(user_id="<user_id>")

# Get tagged media
instagram_get_tagged_media(user_id="<user_id>")