Search Instagram accounts · Instagram API
Search public Instagram accounts by name or keyword. Returns the available ranked matches in one batch; pagination is not supported.
Using ChatGPT, Claude Code or another client? See the setup steps
curl https://api.unifapi.com/instagram/search/users?q= \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $UNIFAPI_KEY"
Parameters
- qqueryrequired
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
- Search Instagram for public mentions, creators, posts, or topics matching a user query.
- Feed ranked Instagram results into research, monitoring, and enrichment workflows.
- 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 Search Instagram accounts call returns data as an array; each record carries these fields.
- idstring
- user_idstring
- usernamestring
- full_namestring
- is_verifiedboolean
- is_privateboolean
- profile_pic_urlstring
Agents & Skills built on Instagram
You rarely call Search Instagram accounts 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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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.
Search Instagram Reels
Returns Instagram Reels that match a keyword with captions, owners, play counts and video URLs. Paginate with `cursor`.
List posts for an Instagram topic
Returns posts and Reels that Instagram groups under a topic such as `harry potter`. Paginate with `cursor`.
Cross-type Instagram search (posts/reels)
Search Instagram across content types (posts and reels) by query string, returning matching results as a paginated list. Useful for keyword, hashtag, and topic discovery on the platform.
Search Instagram audio
Returns Instagram audio tracks (songs and original audio) that match a keyword, with ids for /instagram/audio/{id}.
Search Instagram hashtags
Find Instagram hashtags matching a keyword, including public post counts when available. Returns one batch without pagination. Use /instagram/hashtags/{tag}/posts to retrieve posts.
Search Instagram places by keyword
Find Instagram places matching a name or keyword. Coordinates and street addresses are included when available. Returns one batch without pagination; this does not perform a nearby-coordinate search.