List trending Instagram Reels · Instagram API
Returns the Reels currently trending on Instagram with captions, owners, play counts and video URLs.
Using ChatGPT, Claude Code or another client? See the setup steps
curl https://api.unifapi.com/instagram/reels/trending \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $UNIFAPI_KEY"
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
- Track what is moving on Instagram for trend-discovery and content-planning agents.
- Compare live Instagram signals with other public social data sources available through the same MCP and HTTP surface.
- 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
- List-style responses return `data` as an array of top-level records plus optional `pagination` for continuation tokens or cursors.
- The operation has a 3 credits ($0.003) minimum charge, so `billing.records_charged` can be higher than the visible records returned.
- If the workspace balance cannot cover every result, the response can be truncated and `billing.truncated_due_to_balance` tells the caller why.
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 on each record in data
A successful List trending Instagram Reels call returns data as an array; each record carries these fields (12 of 30 shown — the docs list the full schema).
- idstring | null
- Media id.
- shortcodestring | null
- Shortcode used in the media URL. Null for stories.
- urlstring | null
- Public URL: `/reel/` for Reels, `/p/` otherwise. Null for stories.
- kindstring | null
- `post`, `reel` or `story`. One of: post, reel, story.
- media_typestring | null
- `image`, `video` or `carousel`. Null when unknown. One of: image, video, carousel.
- captionstring | null
- Caption text.
- alt_textstring | null
- Alt text Instagram generated or the owner wrote. Null when none or not reported.
- created_atnumber | null
- When it was posted. Unix seconds.
- ownerobject | null
- The account that posted it. Null when unknown.
- like_countnumber | null
- Likes. Null when hidden or not reported.
- comment_countnumber | null
- Comments.
- play_countnumber | null
- Plays, for videos. Counts Instagram plays only, not plays of a cross-posted copy on other apps.
Agents & Skills built on Instagram
You rarely call List trending Instagram Reels 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.
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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.
Browse Instagram's recommended Reels feed
Return posts from Instagram's algorithmic recommended Reels feed, as a paginated list. Useful for sampling trending short-form video and discovering surfacing creators.
Resolve an Instagram shortcode to a media ID
Convert an Instagram post shortcode into its numeric `media_id`. A lookup helper — useful for pre-resolving and caching the ID that some media-level operations require. Computed locally; it does not check that the post exists.
Get an Instagram audio track
Returns an Instagram audio track (song or original audio) by id: title, artist, duration and usage count. Returns `not_found` when it does not exist.
List Instagram posts that use an audio track
Returns Reels and posts that use an Instagram audio track. Paginate with `cursor`.
Browse Instagram's Explore feed
Return a flattened feed of posts from Instagram's Explore tab — the algorithmic discovery surface — as a paginated list. Useful for sampling trending and recommended public content across the platform.
Get an Instagram hashtag
Returns an Instagram hashtag page summary: name, post count and related information. Returns `not_found` when the hashtag does not exist.