Instagram reels API for AI assistants

The Instagram user reels API takes an Instagram username or user ID and returns the list of that account's reels: the video link, the caption, the view count, the like count, and the publish date. The reply is JSON, so your assistant reads the fields directly.

What it does

You pass the username or the numeric user ID, and the provider returns the reels for that account, newest first. You can set how many reels to return and pass a pagination cursor to get the next batch. Some endpoints let you ask for a trimmed reply with fewer fields.

The API reads public accounts only. It does not log in or see reels that Instagram hides from logged-out visitors.

How a Joshu assistant uses it

Before a creator meeting, Joshu pulls the last ten reels from their account and lists the three with the highest view counts in the meeting note, each with its topic and its numbers.

When you ask Joshu to check what a competitor posted this month, it gets their reels and writes a short summary of the themes that showed up across the captions.

When you hand Joshu a list of creator handles for outreach, it pulls the most recent reel for each one and logs the publish date, so you know who posted recently and who went quiet.

Choosing a provider

Providers differ in what the reply contains. Some return the full caption and stats, others trim fields by default. Pick one that returns pagination cursors when you need to get more than the first batch of reels, and pick one with a trim option when you only need the links and view counts.

curl https://hello.joshu.me/api/router/call \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $JOSHU_ROUTER_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "endpoint": "anyapi.instagram.user.reels",
    "params": {
      "handle": "username"
    }
  }'