How do I list an Instagram account's Reels?

POST the profile URL (instagram.com/user/) as channel with a limit. The platform is read from the URL. Keep sending data.next_cursor back as cursor for older Reels until it is null.

Does this replace the Instagram Graph API?

For reading a public account's Reels, yes: no Meta app, app review, access token or business account, only your TranscriptFetch API key. One page costs 1 credit.

Can I list a private account?

No. Only public profiles are reachable. A private or nonexistent profile answers 404 not_found and costs nothing.

How do I transcribe the Reels the list returns?

Send the rows' urls to the batch endpoint. Instagram has no caption track, so each Reel is transcribed from audio and billed on delivery at the audio rate; a short Reel is one credit.

Instagram Profile Reels API: endpoint and examples

One POST resolves an Instagram profile URL into a paginated list of the account's Reels, newest first: shortcode, url, caption as the title, duration, account name, publish time and play count. Every row's url is accepted by the transcript and batch endpoints as-is. since_video_id returns only Reels newer than one you have already seen, and an empty answer is free. No Graph API app, access token or business account is involved.

1 credit per page, free when since_video_id finds nothing newView pricing

Each page of results is one credit; a page trimmed to nothing by since_video_id costs nothing, so polling an account for new Reels is free. Failed requests are free.

On this platform

Give the profile as its URL, instagram.com/user/; only public accounts are reachable.
tab, sort and query are YouTube-only and are refused on an Instagram profile; Instagram has no playlists, so this is the one listing endpoint for it.
A profile that does not exist answers 404 not_found; a page with nothing newer than since_video_id costs nothing.

POST/api/v2/transcripts/channelidempotent

List a channel's or profile's videos, Shorts, streams or playlists

Resolve a creator into a paginated list of videos (metadata only), newest first. A channel or profile that does not exist answers 404 not_found; an existing one with no uploads answers 200 with an empty list. The platform is read from the input: a YouTube channel, or a TikTok or Instagram profile URL. Every row's url is accepted by the transcript and batch endpoints as-is. Pass since_video_id to get back only the items newer than one you've already seen - a page with nothing new is free, which makes this safe to poll on a schedule. A YouTube channel also takes tab (its Shorts, live streams, playlists or podcasts instead of its videos), sort (popular or oldest first) and query (search inside the channel). The playlists and podcasts tabs answer with data.kind playlist_list, whose rows' urls the playlist endpoint accepts as-is.

Body parameters

channelstringrequired

YouTube: @handle, /channel/UC… URL, or UC… ID. TikTok: profile URL (tiktok.com/@user). Instagram: profile URL (instagram.com/user/).

Example

tab"videos" | "shorts" | "live" | "playlists" | "podcasts"optional

YouTube channels only. Which tab to list: videos (the default), shorts, or live (streams: past broadcasts and upcoming ones). playlists and podcasts list the channel's playlists instead of its videos: data.kind is playlist_list, and each row's url is accepted by the playlist endpoint. A tab the channel does not have (live on a channel that has never streamed, say) answers 200 with an empty list, which is free, and a notice such as "This channel has no Live tab."

Example

sort"newest" | "popular" | "oldest"optional

YouTube channels only. Order of the videos, shorts or live tab: newest (the default), popular or oldest. popular is YouTube's own Popular order, most viewed first, and it leaves out videos with no views. Not accepted with the playlists and podcasts tabs.

Example

querystring (1-200 characters)optional

YouTube channels only. Search inside this channel: the page holds its videos that match, rather than its latest uploads. Leave tab and sort unset.

limitinteger (1–50)optional

Max items to return per page: videos, or the playlists or channels some listing options return. Defaults to 5.

Example

cursorstringoptional

Opaque pagination cursor from a previous response's next_cursor (max 256 characters). Omit for the first page. Cursors are scoped to the listing that issued them, so send the same platform and listing options with each page. Offset-based sources cannot page past the first 2000 items.

since_video_idstringoptional

Newest video ID you have already seen. The response is trimmed to videos newer than it, and a page with nothing newer costs no credits - so you can poll a channel for new uploads for free. It needs newest-first videos: on a YouTube channel, the videos, shorts or live tab with the default sort and no query.

Request example

curl https://transcriptfetch.com/api/v2/transcripts/channel \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channel":"https://www.instagram.com/nasa/","limit":10}'

Responses

SuccessExample response envelope

{
  "ok": true,
  "request_id": "req_…",
  "data": {
    "kind": "video_list",
    "source": "channel_videos",
    "platform": "instagram",
    "videos": [
      {
        "videoId": "Dd1gQBsCWE8",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dd1gQBsCWE8/",
        "title": "What happens when we detect an asteroid that could pose a threat to Earth?\n\nIn early 2025, NASA joined scientists around the world in tracking asteroid 2024 YR4, which had a small chance of impacting ",
        "duration": 38,
        "channel": "nasa",
        "publishedAt": "2026-09-28T15:27:08Z",
        "stats": {
          "plays": 4661792
        }
      },
      {
        "videoId": "DdhFkS7KGkZ",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdhFkS7KGkZ/",
        "title": "Our first Leader of the Uprising 🔥\n\nTune in on @paramountplus / @nfloncbs",
        "duration": 23,
        "channel": "nasa",
        "publishedAt": "2026-09-20T17:20:00Z",
        "stats": {
          "plays": 7201293
        }
      }
    ],
    "next_cursor": "eyJvIjoxMH0"
  },
  "usage": {
    "credits_spent": 1,
    "balance": 656,
    "bytes": 0
  }
}

Full endpoint reference Every URL format this platform accepts, with an example of each Product page

Every Instagram endpoint

Instagram product page Instagram URL formats Every endpoint, all platforms

Frequently asked questions

How do I list an Instagram account's Reels?: POST the profile URL (instagram.com/user/) as channel with a limit. The platform is read from the URL. Keep sending data.next_cursor back as cursor for older Reels until it is null.
Does this replace the Instagram Graph API?: For reading a public account's Reels, yes: no Meta app, app review, access token or business account, only your TranscriptFetch API key. One page costs 1 credit.
Can I list a private account?: No. Only public profiles are reachable. A private or nonexistent profile answers 404 not_found and costs nothing.
How do I transcribe the Reels the list returns?: Send the rows' urls to the batch endpoint. Instagram has no caption track, so each Reel is transcribed from audio and billed on delivery at the audio rate; a short Reel is one credit.