Instagram

What the Instagram MCP server does

The Instagram MCP server gives an AI client access to an authorized Instagram account. It can publish photos, videos, carousels, Reels, and Stories; retrieve profile and media data; inspect comments; and collect account-level or media-level insights such as reach, impressions, engagement, profile views, and follower count.

It also supports Instagram messaging. Agents can list conversations and messages, send text or images in existing conversations, mark messages as seen, and reply to comments. Advanced-plan accounts add account engagement actions, including liking posts or comments, following and unfollowing users, listing and viewing stories, and initiating a first direct message.

How it works

Connect the hosted endpoint at https://api.mcp.ai/p_instagram to an MCP client. The README provides installation links for Claude, Cursor, and VS Code, and states that other clients can use the same MCP-over-HTTP endpoint.

Basic connections use Instagram’s official API and require a Business or Creator account. The Advanced connection uses a username and password and supports 2FA. Every action is performed on the account that was connected and authorized.

Reading and publishing requests return immediately. Engagement operations are queued, run one at a time, and generally take about 40 seconds to two minutes. These operations return a job_id; use the job-status and job-list tools to monitor progress and results.

Setup and configuration

Add the hosted URL as an HTTP MCP server in the selected client, then authenticate the Instagram account through the available connection flow. No local runtime or environment variables are documented for the hosted setup. The repository describes itself as a public wrapper containing manifests, documentation, and skills, while the hosted server is proprietary.

The same tool set is also exposed through a mirrored REST API using a Bearer token. This can be useful when an application needs to call the capabilities from its own backend instead of through an MCP client.

Tools and capabilities

The Instagram MCP server exposes 27 tools covering:

• Account discovery and profile information.
• Media listing and retrieval.
• Media creation, carousel drafting, and publishing.
• Comment listing, replies, and comment likes.
• Account and media insights.
• Direct-message conversations, messages, image sending, and read status.
• Post likes, follows, unfollows, and story operations on Advanced accounts.
• Asynchronous action status and recent job listing.

Post-like actions use an Instagram post URL or shortcode. The numeric media ID returned by the official API is not accepted for that operation. Comment likes require comment IDs returned by the corresponding action tool.

Limitations and notes

The Instagram MCP server is designed for individual account operation at a human pace, not high-volume automation. Basic-plan reading and publishing use the official API and do not pass through the engagement queue.

Data returned by the tools is sent to the selected LLM host, which the documentation identifies as a subprocess outside the project’s control. Account use remains subject to Instagram’s Terms of Use. Pricing is charged per connected account, with plan details maintained in the project documentation.