How do I watch Instagram trending reels for new items?

Create a monitor on this endpoint and get new items at a webhook, instead of polling. See the monitors reference .

Which language should I use?

Any. It is plain HTTP and JSON, so every language with an HTTP client works. The tabs show the same request nine ways.

How to scrape Instagram trending reels

Preview

The API is in early access. Ask for a key; the examples use api.socialscrape.io.

Before you start

An API key, sent in the x-api-key header. Keep it on your server.
For this endpoint you send nothing beyond your key. The Instagram trending reels page lists every parameter.

Step 1: Send the request

GET /v1/instagram/reels/trending. Pick your language; each one reads the key from SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY.

Python

import os
import requests

params = {}
res = requests.get(
    "https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"]},
    params=params,
    timeout=60,
)
body = res.json()

if body["ok"]:
    print(body["data"])
else:
    print(body["error"]["code"], body["error"]["message"])

JavaScript

const url = new URL("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending");
url.search = new URLSearchParams({}).toString();
const res = await fetch(url, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY },
});
const body = await res.json();

if (body.ok) {
  console.log(body.data);
} else {
  console.error(body.error.code, body.error.message);
}

TypeScript

const url = new URL("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending");
url.search = new URLSearchParams({}).toString();
const res = await fetch(url, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY! },
});
const body = await res.json();

if (body.ok) {
  console.log(body.data);
} else {
  console.error(body.error.code, body.error.message);
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending", nil)
	req.Header.Set("x-api-key", os.Getenv("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"))
	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(res.StatusCode, string(body))
}

PHP

<?php
$ch = curl_init('https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ["x-api-key: " . getenv("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY")],
]);
$body = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
curl_close($ch);

if ($body["ok"]) {
    print_r($body["data"]);
} else {
    echo $body["error"]["code"], " ", $body["error"]["message"], "\n";
}

Ruby

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI('https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending')
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["x-api-key"] = ENV.fetch("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY")
res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true) { |http| http.request(req) }
body = JSON.parse(res.body)

if body["ok"]
  puts body["data"]
else
  puts body["error"]["code"], body["error"]["message"]
end

Java

import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        HttpRequest req = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
            .uri(URI.create("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending"))
            .header("x-api-key", System.getenv("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"))
            .GET()
            .build();
        HttpResponse<String> res = HttpClient.newHttpClient().send(req, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
        System.out.println(res.statusCode() + " " + res.body());
    }
}

using System;
using System.Net.Http;

var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"));
var res = await client.GetAsync("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending");
Console.WriteLine((int)res.StatusCode);
Console.WriteLine(await res.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());

Step 2: Read the response

Results are in data.items. Here is what one item gives you, from a recorded sample.

Fields printed aboveSample

{
  "text": "Welp #cool",
  "id": "DfBK2blPXvQ",
  "stats": {
    "likes": 1199765
  }
}

A field the platform does not give comes back as null. The full field list is on the endpoint page.

Step 3: Get the next page

Send the same request with the cursor you got back, until has_more is false. Each page costs its own price.

Python

import os
import requests

url = "https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending"
headers = {"x-api-key": os.environ["SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"]}
params = {}

items = []
while len(items) < 100:
    body = requests.get(url, headers=headers, params=params, timeout=60).json()
    if not body["ok"]:
        raise RuntimeError(body["error"]["code"])
    items += body["data"]["items"]
    if not body["has_more"]:
        break
    params["cursor"] = body["cursor"]

print(len(items), "items")

JavaScript

const url = new URL("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/instagram/reels/trending");
const headers = { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY };

const items = [];
while (items.length < 100) {
  const body = await (await fetch(url, { headers })).json();
  if (!body.ok) throw new Error(body.error.code);
  items.push(...body.data.items);
  if (!body.has_more) break;
  url.searchParams.set("cursor", body.cursor);
}

console.log(items.length, "items");

Step 4: Handle errors

Check ok, then branch on error.code and error.retryable, never on the message.

Python

body = res.json()
if not body["ok"]:
    err = body["error"]
    if err["retryable"]:
        ...  # wait a moment and send the same request again
    else:
        raise RuntimeError(f'{err["code"]}: {err["message"]}')

JavaScript

const body = await res.json();
if (!body.ok) {
  const { code, message, retryable } = body.error;
  if (retryable) {
    // wait a moment and send the same request again
  } else {
    throw new Error(`${code}: ${message}`);
  }
}

Code	HTTP	Retry	Meaning
`not_found`	404	no	The platform says this profile, post or item does not exist.

Other errors, such as unauthorized or rate_limited, are on the errors page.

With the SDK

The Python and TypeScript clients wrap all of this: typed errors, retries, and cursor paging. They are in preview and not published yet.

Python

from socialscrape import SocialScrape

client = SocialScrape()  # reads SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY

for item in client.paginate(client.instagram.reels_trending, max_items=100):
    print(item["text"])

TypeScript

import { SocialScrape } from "socialscrape";

const client = new SocialScrape(); // reads SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY

for await (const item of client.paginate(client.instagram.reelsTrending, {}, { maxItems: 100 })) {
  console.log(item.text);
}

What it costs

1 credit. A failed request costs nothing. Add max_age_days to reuse a cached result for 0 credits. Results are kept 1 day.

Instagram trending reels API: sample response and every parameter.
A full Python script and a full JavaScript script for this endpoint.
All Instagram endpoints.

How to scrape Instagram trending reels

Before you start

Step 1: Send the request

Step 2: Read the response

Step 3: Get the next page

Step 4: Handle errors

With the SDK

What it costs

Next

Questions

Get a key.