Count an Instagram user's former usernames · Instagram API
Return how many times an Instagram account has changed its username, with the month it joined and the country it is based in, from Instagram's About this account information. Instagram shows the count only, not the former usernames or the dates they changed. Useful for identity verification and spotting rebrands.
Try it without an API key: Instagram former username checker.
Using ChatGPT, Claude Code or another client? See the setup steps
curl https://api.unifapi.com/instagram/users/{username}/former-usernames \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $UNIFAPI_KEY"Parameters
- usernamepathrequired
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
- Resolve a public Instagram identity into structured profile metadata for enrichment agents.
- Refresh creator, company, or account snapshots without managing source-specific response shapes.
- 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 10 credits ($0.01) 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 10 credits ($0.01) 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 Count an Instagram user's former usernames call returns one data object with these fields.
- usernamestring
- former_usernames_countinteger
- How many usernames the account had before its current one. 0 when never renamed.
- account_based_instring | null
- Country or region Instagram says the account is based in. Null when not reported.
- joined_monthstring | null
- Month the account joined Instagram, as YYYY-MM. Null when not reported.
Agents & Skills built on Instagram
You rarely call Count an Instagram user's former usernames 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
Instagram former username checker
See how many times a public Instagram account changed its username, when it joined, and where it's based.
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.
More Instagram operations
Combine endpoints from the same platform, then join the results with other UnifAPI categories without changing authentication or response parsing.
List accounts an Instagram user follows
Return the accounts a given Instagram user follows, by username, as a paginated list of profiles. Useful for mapping an account's interest graph and the people it engages with.
List Instagram highlight reels for a user (metadata only)
Return the metadata for an Instagram user's highlight reels (titles and covers); the stories inside each highlight are not included. Useful for cataloging a profile's pinned highlights.
Get an Instagram user profile by username
Return the canonical public Instagram profile for a username — display name, bio, follower and following counts, post count, verification status, and profile picture. Useful as the entry point for any account-level research.
Audit an Instagram account's engagement
Returns an engagement audit of a public Instagram account from its recent posts: engagement rate, average likes and comments, best and worst posts, content segments and outliers. Returns `not_found` when the account does not exist or is private.
List followers of an Instagram user
Return the accounts that follow a given Instagram user, by username, as a paginated list of profiles. Useful for audience analysis and mapping a creator's or brand's following.
List reels authored by an Instagram user
Return the reels (short-form videos) authored by an Instagram user, by username, as a paginated list. Useful for analyzing a creator's video output and performance.