Get downloadable media URLs for an Instagram post · Instagram API
Get image or video URLs and previews for a public post or carousel. URLs expire; request fresh links before downloading. Returns one post containing its media assets.
Using ChatGPT, Claude Code or another client? See the setup steps
curl https://api.unifapi.com/instagram/posts/{shortcode}/download \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $UNIFAPI_KEY"Parameters
- shortcodepathrequired
This operation is part of the Instagram API in the social platforms category. It uses the same Bearer token, request tracing, error model, and billing envelope as every UnifAPI endpoint, so agents can switch between platforms without custom per-vendor glue code.
Use it when a workflow needs Instagram public data alongside other social networks, but should still keep one API key, one account balance, and one predictable JSON contract.
Common agent workflows
- Fetch canonical public Instagram content for summarization, ranking, monitoring, or enrichment.
- Attach engagement, author, media, and source metadata to an agent workflow.
- Give an AI agent a stable Instagram data source without building a per-platform integration.
- Normalize Instagram responses into the same UnifAPI envelope used across the catalog.
Unified envelope, platform-native fields
- Lookup responses return one canonical object in `data` with stable identifiers, source URLs where available, and platform-specific metadata normalized into predictable JSON.
- The operation has a 3 credits ($0.003) minimum charge, so `billing.records_charged` can be higher than the visible records returned.
- A not-found or invalid-input condition uses the unified UnifAPI error shape, so callers do not need special handling for each source platform.
Response status codes
Billing
This operation charges 1 credit per billable record, with a 3 credits ($0.003) operation minimum. Public responses include billing metadata with credits charged, records charged, and remaining workspace balance. Incorrect Credit deductions caused by platform failures can be restored as billing corrections.
Errors and retries
Authentication, validation, rate-limit, not-found, and provider errors use the unified UnifAPI error format. Agents should log `request_id`, retry only retryable failures, and treat invalid API keys, disabled keys, and expired keys as the same public `unauthorized` error type.
Fields in the data object
A successful Get downloadable media URLs for an Instagram post call returns one data object with these fields.
- idstring
- shortcodestring
- usernamestring
- captionstring
- mediaobject[]
Agents & Skills built on Instagram
You rarely call Get downloadable media URLs for an Instagram post by hand. These prebuilt agents and skills already read Instagram data inside Claude or Codex — start from one of them, or call this endpoint yourself.
Try it free in the browser
Social media handle availability checker
Check a username across every social platform in one shot.
Instagram profile analyzer
Follower count, engagement rate, top posts and content patterns for any Instagram profile.
Instagram story viewer
See any public account's active stories — photos render, videos play.
Instagram highlights viewer
See every story highlight pinned on any public Instagram profile — titles and covers in one list.
More Instagram operations
Combine endpoints from the same platform, then join the results with other UnifAPI categories without changing authentication or response parsing.
List replies to an Instagram comment
Return the replies to a specific comment on an Instagram post, identified by the post shortcode and comment ID, as a paginated list. Useful for following threaded conversations and analyzing audience discussion.
List users who liked an Instagram post
Return the public profiles visible in Instagram's liker list for a post shortcode. Instagram returns this as a fixed set without pagination.
Get an Instagram post by shortcode
`shortcode` is the slug from the post URL, e.g. `DUajw4YkorV` in `instagram.com/p/DUajw4YkorV/`.
Get the transcript of an Instagram video
Returns the spoken-word transcript of an Instagram video post or Reel by shortcode, for videos up to a few minutes long. Returns `not_found` when the post does not exist.
List comments on an Instagram post
Return the comments on an Instagram post by its shortcode, as a cursor-paginated list. Useful for analyzing audience response and sentiment around a post.
List Instagram posts that use an audio track
Returns Reels and posts that use an Instagram audio track. Paginate with `cursor`.