How to post content (image or video) to Instagram using the Instagram Graph API

Note

❗ Personal Instagram accounts cannot use the Instagram Graph API for publishing content. 

🧭 How to switch to a Creator Account

1. Open the Instagram App on your phone.
2. Go to your Profile (bottom right icon).
3. Tap the three lines (☰) in the top right corner.
4. Tap Settings and activity.
5. Scroll to Account type and tools.
6. Tap Switch to professional account.
7. Select Creator when prompted.
8. Choose your category (e.g., Artist, Blogger, Public Figure).
9. Review your contact info (you can keep it private).
10. Connect to a Facebook Page (optional, but required for API use).

If you become a creator, here's a basic example of how to post content (image or video) to Instagram using the Instagram Graph API. This requires you to have:

1. A Facebook Developer Account.
2. An Instagram Business or Creator Account.
3. A Facebook Page connected to the Instagram Account.
4. A Facebook App with the required permissions.
5. An Access Token with instagram_content_publish scope.

Step 1: Get an Access Token

You need a long-lived access token from the Facebook Graph API. Generate it via the Facebook Graph Explorer with the instagram_basic, instagram_content_publish, and pages_read_engagement permissions.

Step 2: Get the Instagram Business Account ID

Run this Graph API request:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v19.0/me/accounts?access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

This returns a list of pages. Get the Page ID associated with your Instagram account.

Next, fetch the Instagram Business Account ID:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v19.0/PAGE_ID?fields=instagram_business_account&access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

Step 3: Upload an Image to Instagram

Use the Instagram Business Account ID to create a post.

Python Example

import requests

ACCESS_TOKEN = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
INSTAGRAM_ACCOUNT_ID = "YOUR_INSTAGRAM_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID"
IMAGE_URL = "https://your-image-url.com/image.jpg"
CAPTION = "Hello from Instagram API!"

# Step 1: Upload Image
url = f"https://graph.facebook.com/v19.0/{INSTAGRAM_ACCOUNT_ID}/media"
payload = {
    "image_url": IMAGE_URL,
    "caption": CAPTION,
    "access_token": ACCESS_TOKEN
}
response = requests.post(url, data=payload)
result = response.json()

if "id" in result:
    creation_id = result["id"]

    # Step 2: Publish Image
    publish_url = f"https://graph.facebook.com/v19.0/{INSTAGRAM_ACCOUNT_ID}/media_publish"
    publish_payload = {
        "creation_id": creation_id,
        "access_token": ACCESS_TOKEN
    }
    publish_response = requests.post(publish_url, data=publish_payload)
    print(publish_response.json())
else:
    print("Error:", result)

Step 4: Upload a Video to Instagram

For video, you need to use video_url instead of image_url.

VIDEO_URL = "https://your-video-url.com/video.mp4"

# Step 1: Upload Video
video_payload = {
    "video_url": VIDEO_URL,
    "caption": "My video post",
    "access_token": ACCESS_TOKEN
}
video_response = requests.post(url, data=video_payload)
video_result = video_response.json()

if "id" in video_result:
    video_creation_id = video_result["id"]

    # Step 2: Publish Video
    video_publish_payload = {
        "creation_id": video_creation_id,
        "access_token": ACCESS_TOKEN
    }
    video_publish_response = requests.post(publish_url, data=video_publish_payload)
    print(video_publish_response.json())
else:
    print("Error:", video_result)

Step 5: Verify Post

Check if the post is published by running:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v19.0/{MEDIA_ID}?fields=permalink&access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

It returns a permalink to the Instagram post.