Instagram Profile Search API

What is the Instagram Profile Search API?

Pass an account name, @handle, or profile URL (e.g. nike, @nasa, instagram.com/natgeo) and this endpoint resolves it to the matching public Instagram account — a name→username resolver, not a Google-style niche discovery search (queries like "fitness coach" will not return a creator list). Response: mode=resolve (the only mode; Instagram keyword search is login-gated), users[0] with platform, id (numeric), username, displayName, url (canonical https://www.instagram.com/{user}/), bio, bioLinks[], externalUrl, fbid, businessAddress{cityName, streetAddress, latitude, longitude, zipCode} when Instagram exposes them, followers/following/postCount, verified, isPrivate, isBusinessAccount/isProfessionalAccount, avatar, and imageExpiresAt when the CDN oe= param is present. Sparse keys (bio, bioLinks, externalUrl, businessAddress, categoryName, relatedProfiles, likeAndViewCountsDisabled) are omitted, not nulled, when the account has no value. relatedProfiles only appears when Instagram's logged-out graph sends edge_related_profiles — many public accounts including nike omit it, so it is not a creator-search substitute. No nextCursor — resolve returns at most one user. A handle that does not resolve is 200 with users=[] at 0 credits. Flat 1 credit on a hit. Cache is on by default (24h shared cache, 0 credits on hit) because a resolve answer barely changes — pass cache=false to force a fresh upstream lookup. Cold path is a raced native WPI + Decodo GraphQL resolve (not Apify); set client timeouts ≥15s, not 10s.

What you get

• One resolved public profile (mode=resolve only — keyword search is login-gated)
• Stable numeric id + canonical www.instagram.com/{user}/ url for joins
• username, displayName, bio, bioLinks, externalUrl, avatar, platform
• followers / following / postCount + verified, isPrivate, business flags
• fbid + businessAddress when Instagram exposes them (omitted when not)

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).

curl "https://api.captapi.com/v1/instagram/profile-search?q=nike" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer capt_live_..."
# or: -H "x-api-key: capt_live_..."

Example response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "query": "nike",
    "totalReturned": 1,
    "users": [
      {
        "id": "13460080",
        "username": "nike",
        "displayName": "Nike",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/nike/",
        "bio": "Just Do It.",
        "followers": 291623659,
        "following": 264,
        "postCount": 1668,
        "verified": true,
        "isPrivate": false,
        "isBusinessAccount": true,
        "isProfessionalAccount": true,
        "externalUrl": "http://empli.fi/nike",
        "bioLinks": [
          {
            "url": "http://empli.fi/nike",
            "linkType": "external"
          }
        ],
        "profileImage": "https://instagram.fadb3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.82787-19/551608484_18567162979020081_1135468084872726555_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s320x320_tt6&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InByb2ZpbGVfcGljLmRqYW5nby4zOTkuYzIifQ&_nc_ht=instagram.fadb3-1.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=1&_nc_oc=Q6cZ2gE3fm8U-4zquMXb-DCa2XFEqsm-rZ_BWOXzqz5HNEFIKiHcxSpjEdlCVP0v32ZLy3tMLEVo2JvIx8SA4xy09gYm&_nc_ohc=jOWQehR8N0kQ7kNvwHCN0UL&_nc_gid=Ov3EEVEX3-M4dSFajR8eTQ&edm=AOQ1c0wBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_AQE94ajaP7La8AcjJgA2RbClgYMx9xGFF0qoyUObgazGWg&oe=6A764BBA&_nc_sid=8b3546",
        "profileImageHd": "https://instagram.fadb3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.82787-19/551608484_18567162979020081_1135468084872726555_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s320x320_tt6&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InByb2ZpbGVfcGljLmRqYW5nby4zOTkuYzIifQ&_nc_ht=instagram.fadb3-1.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=1&_nc_oc=Q6cZ2gE3fm8U-4zquMXb-DCa2XFEqsm-rZ_BWOXzqz5HNEFIKiHcxSpjEdlCVP0v32ZLy3tMLEVo2JvIx8SA4xy09gYm&_nc_ohc=jOWQehR8N0kQ7kNvwHCN0UL&_nc_gid=Ov3EEVEX3-M4dSFajR8eTQ&edm=AOQ1c0wBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_AQE94ajaP7La8AcjJgA2RbClgYMx9xGFF0qoyUObgazGWg&oe=6A764BBA&_nc_sid=8b3546",
        "platform": "instagram",
        "imageExpiresAt": "2026-08-07T21:18:50Z"
      }
    ],
    "mode": "resolve"
  }
}

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:

Parameters

Authentication: send your key as Authorization: Bearer capt_live_.... A typical call costs 1 credit. Cache is on by default (0 credits on hit); pass cache=false to always fetch fresh.

How it works

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

Use cases

Frequently asked questions

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