Instagram | Operate As Docs

Website: instagram.com
Connects by: Signing in with Meta
Category: Social and video
Part of: Meta
Tools: 8

Service	Key	Base URL
Instagram	`instagram`	`https://graph.facebook.com/v23.0`

Connecting

Your client presses Connect on their link and approves on Meta's own screen. Operate As never sees their password.

Check they're connected

curl https://api.operate.as/v1/me/clients \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPERATE_AS_API_KEY"

curl https://api.operate.as/v1/me/clients \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPERATE_AS_API_KEY"

Response

[
  {
    "id": "6f1c2a7e-...",
    "name": "Miller Dental",
    "services": [
      "instagram"
    ]
  }
]

[  {    "id": "6f1c2a7e-...",    "name": "Miller Dental",    "services": [      "instagram"    ]  }]

Permissions

What the client reads	Permission it asks for
See the Pages your Instagram accounts belong to	`pages_show_list`
See your Instagram business profile and posts	`instagram_basic`
Publish posts to Instagram	`instagram_content_publish`

Tools

Install Instagram's typed package for your language:

pip install operate-as-instagram

pip install operate-as-instagram

Run instagram.create_media_container

curl -X POST https://api.operate.as/v1/actions/instagram.create_media_container \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPERATE_AS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "clientId": "6f1c2a7e-...",
    "input": {
      "ig_user_id": "<ig_user_id>"
    }
  }'

curl -X POST https://api.operate.as/v1/actions/instagram.create_media_container \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPERATE_AS_API_KEY" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{    "clientId": "6f1c2a7e-...",    "input": {      "ig_user_id": "<ig_user_id>"    }  }'

Shows the required inputs. Every input, with its JSON Schema: GET /v1/actions/instagram.create_media_container

Response

{
  "status": 200,
  "data": {
    "…": "the service's own response"
  },
  "encoding": "json"
}

{  "status": 200,  "data": {    "…": "the service's own response"  },  "encoding": "json"}

Pass-through

Paths continue from https://graph.facebook.com/v23.0. Your Operate As key goes in Authorization; the client's access is added for you.

See Pass-through requests for the full request and response format.

Call any endpoint

curl "https://api.operate.as/v1/clients/6f1c2a7e-.../instagram/..." \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPERATE_AS_API_KEY"

curl "https://api.operate.as/v1/clients/6f1c2a7e-.../instagram/..." \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPERATE_AS_API_KEY"

Response

{
  "status": 200,
  "data": {
    "…": "the service's own response"
  },
  "encoding": "json"
}

{  "status": 200,  "data": {    "…": "the service's own response"  },  "encoding": "json"}

When access ends

Operate As renews the sign-in before it runs out and checks it daily. If Meta refuses to renew it, the service shows Expired, you're alerted, and your client reconnects from the same link.

See Keeping access alive and Removing access.

Calls answer

HTTP/1.1 409 Conflict
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "detail": "Miller Dental's Meta access ended. Send them their link to reconnect."
}

HTTP/1.1 409 ConflictContent-Type: application/json{  "detail": "Miller Dental's Meta access ended. Send them their link to reconnect."}

Your webhook receives

{
  "id": "evt_3f9a1c…",
  "type": "connection.expired",
  "createdAt": "2026-10-16T08:00:00+00:00",
  "data": {
    "clientId": "6f1c2a7e-...",
    "clientName": "Miller Dental",
    "provider": "meta",
    "services": [
      "instagram"
    ],
    "reconnectUrl": "https://…"
  }
}

{  "id": "evt_3f9a1c…",  "type": "connection.expired",  "createdAt": "2026-10-16T08:00:00+00:00",  "data": {    "clientId": "6f1c2a7e-...",    "clientName": "Miller Dental",    "provider": "meta",    "services": [      "instagram"    ],    "reconnectUrl": "https://…"  }}