Instagram

GET /v1/instagram/channel-reels

Instagram Channel Reels API

Latest Reels from a public Instagram profile — pass userId to skip resolve; ceil(n×0.3) credits; nextCursor + hasMore.

~6 credits (0.3/result) per request

Try in Playground Get your API key — free Read the docs

TL;DR

Latest Reels from a public Instagram profile — pass userId to skip resolve; ceil(n×0.3) credits; nextCursor + hasMore. The Instagram Channel Reels API (Instagram) is a single authenticated GET request to /v1/instagram/channel-reels that responds with clean JSON and costs ~6 credits (0.3/result). Pass cache=true for a free 24h cache hit; default is always fresh. Start with 100 free credits — no credit card.

What is the Instagram Channel Reels API?

Send a profile URL/@handle or a numeric userId and get that account's recent Reels (videos only) plus a top-level user{} profile block (id, username, displayName, url, verified, followers, avatar, isPrivate) so you do not need a second channel-details call. Prefer userId when you already have it (from basic-profile or profile-search) — it skips handle→ID resolve (the old sequential path alone could cost ~80s; url/@handle now uses the same raced resolver as profile-search). Each Reel includes videoUrl, thumbnailUrl, caption (not a duplicated description), likes, comments, duration, and publish date. reels[].author is the clip owner — the clips tab includes collabs, so the first author is not always the channel. Read data.user for the requested account. Billing is ceil(n × 0.3) credits on the returned reel count (17 → 6, 5 → 2). Metrics when Instagram exposes them: engagement.views + viewsSource. Cursor pagination via nextCursor; hasMore is true until the end of the list. Pass cache=true for the 24h shared cache.

What you get

Reels only (photos/carousels filtered out)
Top-level user{} (channel owner — not reels[0].author)
userId skips resolve (~80s saved vs legacy sequential WPI)
engagement.views + viewsSource when available
nextCursor + hasMore pagination
Credits: ceil(returned × 0.3), minimum 1

Try it

Open in Playground

Fill in the parameters below and copy a ready-to-run request, or open the live Playground to run it against your account (no API key paste).

Parameters

urloptionalstringInstagram profile URL, @handle, or username. Omit when userId is set. The URL platform must match this endpoint's platform.userIdoptionalstringInstagram numeric user ID (e.g. 173560420). Skips handle→ID resolve (legacy sequential WPI alone could cost ~80s). Prefer when you already have the ID from basic-profile or profile-search.limitoptionalintegerMax items to return (default 20, max 200). Billed per result.cursoroptionalstringPagination cursor. Leave empty for the first page; then pass nextCursor from the previous response (clips:{userId}:{opaque} on the native Reels path, or legacy {mediaId}_{userId}). Stop when hasMore is false.cacheoptionalbooleanSet true to serve from the 24h response cache (0 credits on hit). Default false — always fetch fresh.

API keyoptionalPaste your key to get a ready-to-run snippet. It stays in your browser.Sign in to run live

curl "https://api.captapi.com/v1/instagram/channel-reels?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fcristiano%2F" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer capt_live_..."
# or: -H "x-api-key: capt_live_..."

Edit the parameters and the code updates instantly. Switch languages and hit copy.

Example response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/cristiano/",
    "userId": "173560420",
    "totalReturned": 2,
    "reels": [
      {
        "platform": "instagram",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DabKed0MBRm/",
        "id": "3934784773501752422",
        "postType": "Video",
        "productType": "clips",
        "caption": "Por todos. Por 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗚𝗔𝗟. 🎗️🇵🇹 #VaiDarPortugal \n\nFor everyone. For 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗚𝗔𝗟. 🎗️🇵🇹 #ItsPortugalTime",
        "description": "Por todos. Por 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗚𝗔𝗟. 🎗️🇵🇹 #VaiDarPortugal \n\nFor everyone. For 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗚𝗔𝗟. 🎗️🇵🇹 #ItsPortugalTime",
        "publishedAt": "2026-07-05T20:23:34Z",
        "durationSeconds": 43.4,
        "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-ham3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/735415699_18606606883054533_8185581534148167588_n.jpg?...",
        "videoUrl": "https://scontent-ham3-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m86/AQOZ-XzJOT5OaiKkSWI8_rvZDNemAlRbnj6HkrsVPoqI0ansFYZltF-y2953cxfuv-jSg-XuNO3kEar8H03wckE8XaOx3OK8T3-4KMM.mp4?...",
        "author": {
          "username": "portugal",
          "displayName": "Portugal",
          "url": "https://instagram.com/portugal",
          "verified": true,
          "profileImage": "https://scontent-ham3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-19/655235091_18574607485054533_3430348023607180141_n.jpg?..."
        },
        "engagement": {
          "views": 130177231,
          "likes": 6373324,
          "comments": 257545,
          "viewsInstagram": 104141785,
          "viewsFacebook": 26035446
        },
        "hashtags": [
          "VaiDarPortugal",
          "ItsPortugalTime"
        ],
        "mentions": []
      },
      {
        "platform": "instagram",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaU63nnAkoo/",
        "id": "3933027283400542760",
        "postType": "Video",
        "productType": "clips",
        "caption": "Toronto ❤️",
        "description": "Toronto ❤️",
        "publishedAt": "2026-07-03T10:18:59Z",
        "durationSeconds": 46.333,
        "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-ham3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/731058572_18747860116056421_8724303327878739257_n.jpg?...",
        "videoUrl": "https://scontent-ham3-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m86/AQNreyyq7N-5e2XVjCTkh7BFZ0wKTqOpSD3ZllobCy3C3rRiPuA_64qi66ngwZ-jwgG-66Q57v2G1V3Rvr21y-HGUbMJLY21NY_M8vk.mp4?...",
        "author": {
          "username": "cristiano",
          "displayName": "Cristiano Ronaldo",
          "url": "https://instagram.com/cristiano",
          "verified": true,
          "profileImage": "https://scontent-ham3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/472007201_1142000150877579_994350541752907763_n.jpg?...",
          "followers": 676417576
        },
        "engagement": {
          "views": 191553390,
          "likes": 17537560,
          "comments": 341631,
          "viewsInstagram": 153242712,
          "viewsFacebook": 38310678
        },
        "hashtags": [],
        "mentions": []
      }
    ],
    "nextCursor": "3885465807534181465_173560420",
    "hasMore": true
  }
}

Billing metadata is returned in response headers: X-Captapi-Credits (credits charged), X-Captapi-Cache (hit or miss), and X-Captapi-Source. Failed requests (4xx/5xx) are never charged. See the full list of error codes in the error reference.

Response structure

A successful call returns success and a data object with the following fields:

Top-level fields

urlCanonical URL of the item.
userIdNumeric Instagram user id of the requested profile.
totalReturnedNumber of items returned in this response.
nextCursorCursor to pass for the next page of results. May be null when the platform does not expose deep pagination (e.g. some Facebook Ad Library searches).
hasMoreWhether more results are available beyond this page. When true, pass nextCursor to fetch the next page.

Reels

Each item in reels contains:

platformPlatform identifier for this response (matches the endpoint's platform).
urlCanonical URL of the item.
idId of this reels item.
postTypeContent type. YouTube community: "text" | "image" | "poll" | "video" | "playlist" | "quiz". Instagram: "image" | "video" | "carousel".
productTypePlatform product type (e.g. clips, feed). Null when not applicable (image/carousel) — never an empty string.
captionPost or creative caption when the platform exposes one.
descriptionDescription of this reels item.
publishedAtPublish date (ISO 8601) when the platform exposes an absolute timestamp.
durationSecondsLength in seconds for this item (full media length, or a segment span when the endpoint documents a start/end).
thumbnailUrlThumbnail image URL.
videoUrlPlayback URL when the platform exposes one. Content type varies by platform — check videoType (hls vs mp4) before treating it as a downloadable file.
authorAuthor name or handle.
engagementEngagement metrics for the item.
hashtagsHashtags extracted from the text.
mentionsAccounts mentioned in the text.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
url	string	No	Instagram profile URL, @handle, or username. Omit when userId is set. The URL platform must match this endpoint's platform.
userId	string	No	Instagram numeric user ID (e.g. 173560420). Skips handle→ID resolve (legacy sequential WPI alone could cost ~80s). Prefer when you already have the ID from basic-profile or profile-search.
limit	integer	No	Max items to return (default 20, max 200). Billed per result.
cursor	string	No	Pagination cursor. Leave empty for the first page; then pass nextCursor from the previous response (clips:{userId}:{opaque} on the native Reels path, or legacy {mediaId}_{userId}). Stop when hasMore is false.
cache	boolean	No	Set true to serve from the 24h response cache (0 credits on hit). Default false — always fetch fresh.

Authentication: send your key as Authorization: Bearer capt_live_.... A typical call costs ~6 credits (0.3/result) — billed per result, so the exact amount scales with how many items you request. Pass cache=true for a free 24h cache hit; default is always fresh (metrics refresh within ~1 hour).

Using an AI agent? This endpoint is the MCP tool instagram_channel_reels via @captapi/mcp. Set it up →

How it works

1. Sign up — get 100 free credits, no card required.
2. Create a key from your dashboard.
3. Send one request to /v1/instagram/channel-reels and parse the JSON response.

Use cases

Content Pipelines

Ingest a channel's catalog in bulk.

Monitoring

Detect new uploads automatically.

Archiving

Snapshot a creator's library — metadata plus CDN media URLs (re-fetch before mediaUrlsExpireAt).

Analytics

Aggregate performance across many videos.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Instagram Channel Reels API do?+

The Instagram Channel Reels API lets you list items in bulk with metadata from a public Instagram channel reels using one GET request to /v1/instagram/channel-reels. It returns clean JSON — no OAuth or infrastructure setup required.

How many credits does the Instagram Channel Reels API cost?+

At the default limit this endpoint costs 6 credits (0.3 per result). Billing scales with how many results you request. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d. Failed or empty results are never charged.

Do I need a Instagram API key or OAuth?+

No. A single Captapi key works across every platform Captapi supports — YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, Reddit, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Rumble, Spotify, Kwai, and more. We handle proxies, rate limits, retries, and authentication for you.

Is the Instagram Channel Reels API suitable for production use?+

Yes. It is a stable REST endpoint with predictable JSON and automatic retries. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d. Use it for analytics, monitoring, and content automation.

More Instagram APIs

Instagram Transcript API Instagram Summarizer API Instagram Post & Reel Details API Instagram Post Comments API Instagram Channel Details API Instagram Channel Posts API Instagram Reels Search API Instagram Trending Reels API Instagram Tagged Posts API Instagram Reels By Audio ID API Instagram Hashtag Search API Instagram Profile Search API Instagram Embed HTML API Instagram Highlights API Instagram Highlights Details API Instagram Basic Profile API

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