CaptapiCaptapi
Instagram
GET /v1/instagram/trending-reels

Instagram Trending Reels API

Get the Reels currently trending on Instagram's Explore feed for a chosen country — video URL, caption, author, views, likes, and comments for each one.

28 credits per request (1.4 per result)
Get your API key — freeRead the docs
TL;DR
Get the Reels currently trending on Instagram's Explore feed for a chosen country — video URL, caption, author, views, likes, and comments for each one. The Instagram Trending Reels API (Instagram) is a single authenticated GET request to /v1/instagram/trending-reels that responds with clean JSON, costs 28 credits, and is cached for 24 hours (repeat calls are free). Start with 100 free credits — no credit card.

What is the Instagram Trending Reels API?

The Instagram Trending Reels API returns what's blowing up on Instagram right now. Pass a country name (default United States) and you get the Reels currently featured on that country's Explore feed as clean, structured JSON — each with its direct video URL, caption, author profile, and view / like / comment counts. No hashtag or keyword needed: this is Instagram's own trending selection, useful for spotting viral content, tracking trends by region, or seeding content-research tools. No Instagram login, no OAuth, and no scraping setup on your side — results are cached for 24 hours, so repeat lookups are instant and free.

What you get

  • Bulk list of items with full metadata
  • View counts, dates, and direct URLs
  • Configurable result limit
  • Ideal for monitoring and content pipelines

Try it

Fill in the parameters below and copy a ready-to-run request in your language of choice.

Parameters

curl "https://api.captapi.com/v1/instagram/trending-reels?country=US" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer capt_live_..."

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

Example response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "platform": "instagram",
    "country": "United States",
    "totalReturned": 3,
    "reels": [
      {
        "platform": "instagram",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DX_k29ODP9w/",
        "id": "3890990709331525488_61040752624",
        "postType": "Sidecar",
        "productType": "carousel_container",
        "section": "TV & Movies",
        "topic": "Bollywood TV & Movies",
        "caption": "Tell us what we've missed in the list 🙂\n.\n.\n.\n[Bollywood Movies, Indian Movies, South Indian Movies, Bollywood, Movies, Romantic Movies, Love Story Movies ]",
        "description": "Tell us what we've missed in the list 🙂\n.\n.\n.\n[Bollywood Movies, Indian Movies, South Indian Movies, Bollywood, Movies, Romantic Movies, Love Story Movies ]",
        "publishedAt": "2026-05-06T10:10:59Z",
        "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-dfw6-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/686054296_17974705623032625_3149450302574287465_n.heic?...",
        "author": {
          "username": "thankyoumovies",
          "url": "https://instagram.com/thankyoumovies"
        },
        "engagement": {
          "likes": 3,
          "comments": 45
        },
        "hashtags": [],
        "mentions": []
      },
      {
        "platform": "instagram",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/CO8OyJbHFSC/",
        "id": "2574998105692591234_286828500",
        "postType": "Sidecar",
        "productType": "carousel_container",
        "section": "TV & Movies",
        "topic": "Comedy TV & Movies",
        "caption": "Brit Asia Tv Movies 🍿 🎥 \n\nIn our exclusive BritAsia TV interview, @priyanca.x speaks with legendary actor Jackie Shroff who co-stars in Salman Khan’s upcoming film ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’, alongside Randeep Hooda and Disha Patani.\n\nHear from Shroff as he talks about his pure-comedy role as a police officer, what it was like reuniting with the same cast from Bharat (2019) and take a trip down memory lane as the two reminisce a few golden oldies from the 80s. \n\n'Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ is out in UK cinemas on 17 May 2021\n\n#BritAsiaTv #Radhe #Bollywood #bollywoodmovies #bollywoodnews #jackieshroff #salmankhan #salmankhanfans",
        "description": "Brit Asia Tv Movies 🍿 🎥 \n\nIn our exclusive BritAsia TV interview, @priyanca.x speaks with legendary actor Jackie Shroff who co-stars in Salman Khan’s upcoming film ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’, alongside Randeep Hooda and Disha Patani.\n\nHear from Shroff as he talks about his pure-comedy role as a police officer, what it was like reuniting with the same cast from Bharat (2019) and take a trip down memory lane as the two reminisce a few golden oldies from the 80s. \n\n'Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ is out in UK cinemas on 17 May 2021\n\n#BritAsiaTv #Radhe #Bollywood #bollywoodmovies #bollywoodnews #jackieshroff #salmankhan #salmankhanfans",
        "publishedAt": "2021-05-16T16:48:36Z",
        "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-dfw6-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/624912065_4397678787169251_6227868713011866658_n.jpg?...",
        "videoUrl": "https://scontent-dfw6-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t16/f2/m84/AQMzg1f9TNB1zHYBFSFwqrg3Pr2B7vUjTyuEjKbhPbErSB4xO8hEX722MKFgwp8mRL-0U0kvGJLyRXiEfCqKyeBIV5Wn2KMZ6S6iAqk.mp4?...",
        "author": {
          "username": "britasiatv",
          "url": "https://instagram.com/britasiatv"
        },
        "engagement": {
          "likes": 299,
          "comments": 0
        },
        "hashtags": [
          "BritAsiaTv",
          "Radhe",
          "Bollywood",
          "bollywoodmovies",
          "bollywoodnews",
          "jackieshroff",
          "salmankhan",
          "salmankhanfans"
        ],
        "mentions": [
          "priyanca.x"
        ]
      },
      {
        "platform": "instagram",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DaH9GdMpIKt/",
        "id": "3929377924408705709_70483458966",
        "postType": "Image",
        "productType": "feed",
        "section": "TV & Movies",
        "topic": "Fantasy TV & Movies",
        "caption": "👑 Top Royal & Historical Movies/Series Collection\n\n🎬 Movies & Series Names:\n\n1. Marie Antoinette (2006)\n\n2. The Queen (2006)\n\n3. Victoria (TV Series, 2016–2019)\n\n4. Elizabeth (1998)\n\n5. The King's Speech (2010)\n\n6. Spencer (2021)\n\n7. The Favourite (2018)\n\n8. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)\n\n9. Mary Queen of Scots (2018)\n\n🎭 Genre:\n\nHistorical Drama | Biography | Royal | Political | Period Drama\n\n---\n\n👑🔥 Strong Title:\n\n9 Royal Masterpieces That Reveal the Untold Secrets of Kings & Queens! 👑✨\n\n---\n\n📝 Intro / Description:\n\nअगर आपको शाही महलों की राजनीति, रानियों की ज़िंदगी, राजसी साज़िशें और इतिहास पर आधारित दमदार कहानियाँ पसंद हैं, तो यह कलेक्शन आपके लिए बिल्कुल परफेक्ट है।\n\nइन फिल्मों और सीरीज़ में आपको सत्ता की लड़ाई, प्रेम, विश्वासघात, बलिदान और इतिहास के सबसे चर्चित शासकों की अनकही कहानियाँ देखने को मिलेंगी। शानदार सिनेमैटोग्राफी, दमदार अभिनय और रॉयल माहौल इन्हें हर हिस्ट्री लवर के लिए एक शानदार अनुभव बनाते हैं।\n\n---\n\n📱 \n\n👑 महल, ताज, सत्ता और साज़िश... इतिहास की सबसे दिलचस्प कहानियाँ एक ही जगह!\n\nअगर आपको Historical Drama और Royal Family पर बनी शानदार फिल्में और सीरीज़ पसंद हैं, तो यह लिस्ट आपकी वॉचलिस्ट को और भी शानदार बना देगी।\n\n🎬 इनमें से आपकी फेवरेट कौन-सी है? न",
        "description": "👑 Top Royal & Historical Movies/Series Collection\n\n🎬 Movies & Series Names:\n\n1. Marie Antoinette (2006)\n\n2. The Queen (2006)\n\n3. Victoria (TV Series, 2016–2019)\n\n4. Elizabeth (1998)\n\n5. The King's Speech (2010)\n\n6. Spencer (2021)\n\n7. The Favourite (2018)\n\n8. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)\n\n9. Mary Queen of Scots (2018)\n\n🎭 Genre:\n\nHistorical Drama | Biography | Royal | Political | Period Drama\n\n---\n\n👑🔥 Strong Title:\n\n9 Royal Masterpieces That Reveal the Untold Secrets of Kings & Queens! 👑✨\n\n---\n\n📝 Intro / Description:\n\nअगर आपको शाही महलों की राजनीति, रानियों की ज़िंदगी, राजसी साज़िशें और इतिहास पर आधारित दमदार कहानियाँ पसंद हैं, तो यह कलेक्शन आपके लिए बिल्कुल परफेक्ट है।\n\nइन फिल्मों और सीरीज़ में आपको सत्ता की लड़ाई, प्रेम, विश्वासघात, बलिदान और इतिहास के सबसे चर्चित शासकों की अनकही कहानियाँ देखने को मिलेंगी। शानदार सिनेमैटोग्राफी, दमदार अभिनय और रॉयल माहौल इन्हें हर हिस्ट्री लवर के लिए एक शानदार अनुभव बनाते हैं।\n\n---\n\n📱 \n\n👑 महल, ताज, सत्ता और साज़िश... इतिहास की सबसे दिलचस्प कहानियाँ एक ही जगह!\n\nअगर आपको Historical Drama और Royal Family पर बनी शानदार फिल्में और सीरीज़ पसंद हैं, तो यह लिस्ट आपकी वॉचलिस्ट को और भी शानदार बना देगी।\n\n🎬 इनमें से आपकी फेवरेट कौन-सी है? न",
        "publishedAt": "2026-06-28T09:19:36Z",
        "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-dfw5-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/728823903_17930083218346967_29311483025043244_n.heic?...",
        "author": {
          "username": "movie_magic_suggestions",
          "url": "https://instagram.com/movie_magic_suggestions"
        },
        "engagement": {
          "likes": 105,
          "comments": 0
        },
        "hashtags": [],
        "mentions": []
      }
    ]
  }
}

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, cached, creditsUsed, and a data object with the following fields:

Result

  • totalNumber of items returned.

Each item

Each item in items contains:

  • titleItem title.
  • urlDirect URL to the content.
  • viewsView count.
  • publishedAtPublish date (ISO 8601).

Parameters

NameTypeRequiredDescription
countrystringNoCountry for Explore localization — full name or ISO code (e.g. 'United States', 'US', 'Turkey', 'TR'). Default United States. 35 countries supported.
limitintegerNoMax items to return (default 20, max 200). Billed per result.

Authentication: send your key as Authorization: Bearer capt_live_.... A typical call costs 28 credits — billed per result, so the exact amount scales with how many items you request. Repeat calls for the same request are served from cache for free (metrics refresh within ~1 hour).

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

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/trending-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 full library.

Analytics

Aggregate performance across many videos.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Instagram Trending Reels API do?+

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

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

Each successful call costs 28 credits. Responses are cached for 24 hours, and cached results cost 0 credits. 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, and Rumble. We handle proxies, rate limits, retries, and authentication for you.

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

Yes. It is a stable REST endpoint with predictable JSON, automatic retries, and a shared 24-hour cache. Use it for RAG pipelines, analytics, monitoring, and content automation.

More Instagram APIs

Instagram Transcript APIInstagram Summarizer APIInstagram Post Details APIInstagram Post Comments APIInstagram Channel Details APIInstagram Channel Posts APIInstagram Channel Reels APIInstagram Reels Search APIInstagram Video Download APIInstagram Tagged Posts APIInstagram Music Posts APIInstagram Reels By Audio ID APIInstagram Hashtag Search APIInstagram Profile Search APIInstagram Story Highlights APIInstagram Highlights Details APIInstagram Embed APIInstagram Basic Profile API

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