Platforms

Instagram

Reels, carousels, and the account type requirement that blocks most first attempts.

Instagram accepts images and video. It does not accept text-only posts — there is nowhere for them to go.

Account requirements

Instagram's API only works with Professional accounts: Business or Creator. A personal account cannot be published to by any tool, including this one, and the connect flow will fail rather than silently connect something unusable.

Two shapes work:

Instagram Business, linked to a Facebook Page — connected through Facebook, using the Page's token.
Instagram Professional, standalone — connected directly through Instagram login.

Both publish identically. Put the requirement next to your Connect button; it is the most common reason a connection fails.

Video becomes a Reel

await cutedyno.posts.create({
  content: 'Behind the counter this morning. ☕️',
  media: [{ type: 'video', url: videoUrl }],
  accountIds: [instagramAccountId],
  platforms: {
    instagram: {
      thumbnail_url: coverUrl,
      collaborators: ['acmeroasters'],
    },
  },
});

There is no separate reel content type: Instagram publishes API video as Reels, so every video post is one.

Instagram processes video on its own side before it can be published. CuteDyno creates a media container, waits for Instagram to finish — up to five minutes for video, two for images — and then publishes. A minute or two in processing for a large video is normal.

Carousels

Two to ten images in the media array become a carousel:

await cutedyno.posts.create({
  content: 'Five shots from the roastery.',
  media: images.map((url) => ({ type: 'image', url })),
  accountIds: [instagramAccountId],
});

Above ten, Instagram accepts only the first ten. Split into several posts rather than relying on that.

Options

Option	Effect
`location_id`	Instagram location ID to tag.
`thumbnail_url`	Cover image for a Reel. Must be publicly reachable.
`collaborators`	Up to three usernames invited as collaborators.

Collaborators are invitations, not facts: the post publishes immediately and the collaborator appears once they accept.

Media rules

Instagram is the fussiest platform about media, and enforces all of it on their side:

Feed images between 4:5 and 1.91:1. Squarer or wider is cropped or rejected.
Reels are vertical, 9:16. Other ratios get letterboxed.
Minimum 3 seconds of video.
JPEG and PNG for images; MP4 with H.264 and AAC for video.

A rejection arrives as results[].error with Instagram's own wording, which is more specific than a generic pre-check would be.

Failures worth handling

Message	Meaning
media container failed processing	Instagram rejected the file. Usually codec, aspect ratio, or duration.
media container expired before publishing	Processing took longer than Instagram's own container lifetime. Retry.
media container processing timed out	Instagram never finished. Retry; if it repeats, the file is the problem.
Authentication failed. Please reconnect your account.	The token was revoked. Run the connect flow again.

Analytics

Views, reach, saves, shares, likes, and comments per post, plus average watch time on Reels. Audience demographics by age, gender, and country are available at the account level.

Comments

Fully supported. Instagram comments arrive as comment.received webhooks, appear in GET /v1/comments, and can be replied to, hidden, or deleted.