Instagram Data MCP server

Connect your AI assistant to FastSocial's Instagram Data API, and it can look up public Instagram profiles, posts, reels, stories, highlights, comments, hashtags, places and audio. It only reads. Nothing logs in to Instagram, and nothing can post, follow, like or send messages.

The server is remote. There is nothing to install or run: your assistant talks to

https://data.fastsocial.co/mcp

over Streamable HTTP. The first time it connects, a fastsocial.co page opens in your browser where you sign in and click Allow.

This repository holds the plugin manifests (plugin.json, mcp.json and the copy Cursor reads in .cursor-plugin/), the server.json that lists the server in the official MCP Registry as io.github.FastSocialCo/instagram-data-mcp, and a LobeHub manifest. It contains no code that runs on your machine. The server's code is not here.

Install

Cursor

Install the plugin from cursor.directory, or add the server to .cursor/mcp.json (one project) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagram-data": {
      "url": "https://data.fastsocial.co/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Open Settings, then MCP, and connect. Cursor opens the FastSocial sign-in page.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http instagram-data https://data.fastsocial.co/mcp

Then run /mcp inside Claude Code, choose instagram-data and sign in.

Claude app (web and desktop)

1. Open Settings, then Connectors, and add a custom connector.
2. Paste https://data.fastsocial.co/mcp as the server URL.
3. Leave the OAuth client ID and secret empty.
4. Connect, and sign in on the FastSocial page that opens.

VS Code and other clients

Any client that speaks MCP over Streamable HTTP can connect with the server URL. In VS Code, add this to .vscode/mcp.json and press Start:

{
  "servers": {
    "instagram-data": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://data.fastsocial.co/mcp"
    }
  }
}

What this plugin does and what data it sends

The plugin itself

The plugin is two JSON files that tell your client the server's address. It runs no code, has no install scripts and stores nothing. Your client makes every request itself, straight to https://data.fastsocial.co/mcp over HTTPS.

What your client sends

• The MCP handshake: your client's name and version, and the protocol version it speaks.
• Each tool call: the tool's name and its arguments, which are the things you asked about: an Instagram username or user id, a post or reel link, a hashtag, search words, a location, audio or highlight id, and a paging cursor. The full list is in the table below.
• Your sign-in token or API key, in a request header. Never in the URL.
• The usual details of any web request, such as your IP address and your client's user agent.

Nothing else is sent. The server never sees your files, your editor or your conversation, only the arguments your assistant puts into a tool call.

What comes back

Public Instagram data as JSON, plus meta.credits_remaining. Photos and videos come back as links, not files. Private accounts return a private_account error. Instagram account owners can opt out; after that the API returns 451 opted_out for their account.

Read-only

Every tool reads. None changes anything on Instagram. The only thing a call changes is your own credit balance for the month. The server marks every tool readOnlyHint: true and openWorldHint: true in tools/list. There are no tools that write or delete.

Signing in

The first time your client connects, the server replies that it needs sign-in and says where to find out how. Your client then opens a page on fastsocial.co in your browser. There you:

1. enter your email and the code FastSocial emails you,
2. see which app is asking, and click Allow (or Deny).

If you don't have a plan yet, a Free plan is made for you when you click Allow. You never type a password into your assistant, and the plugin never sees or stores your credentials. Your client keeps the tokens it receives. An access token lasts an hour, and your client renews it with a refresh token that lasts 30 days and changes every time it is used.

To cut off every app you've connected, sign in at https://fastsocial.co/cart/api/account and press New key. Sign-ins tied to the old key stop working at once.

For client developers: discovery starts at https://data.fastsocial.co/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp. The authorization server supports OAuth 2.1 with PKCE (S256 only), dynamic client registration and token revocation, for public clients.

Using an API key instead

If your client can set a header but can't sign in, get a key at https://fastsocial.co/instagram-api and send it on every request as X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY (or Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY). For Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http instagram-data https://data.fastsocial.co/mcp --header "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY"

Keep the key out of files you commit.

Policies

• Privacy policy: https://fastsocial.co/privacy
• Terms: https://fastsocial.co/terms
• Use policy for the data (public data only, no tracking or harassing people, nothing about minors): https://fastsocial.co/instagram-api/docs
• Reporting a security problem: SECURITY.md

The 27 tools

Each call costs credits from your monthly allowance. Failed calls cost nothing. Every tool is read-only.

Tool	What it does	Arguments	Credits
instagram_profile	Get an Instagram profile	username or user_id	1
instagram_user_id	Instagram username to user id	username or user_id	1
instagram_username	Instagram user id to username	user_id	3
instagram_check	Check if an Instagram handle exists and is public	username	1
instagram_posts	Get recent Instagram posts	username or user_id, cursor	1
instagram_reels	Get an account's Instagram reels	username or user_id, cursor	1
instagram_tagged	Get posts an account is tagged in	username or user_id, cursor	1
instagram_post	Get one Instagram post or reel	url or shortcode	1
instagram_media	Download URLs for a post, reel or carousel	url or shortcode	1
instagram_comments	Get comments on an Instagram post	url or shortcode	3
instagram_comment_replies	Get replies to an Instagram comment	url or shortcode, comment_id, cursor	3
instagram_likers	Get accounts that liked an Instagram post	url or shortcode	3
instagram_insights	Instagram engagement rate calculator	username or user_id	2
instagram_followers	Get an account's followers	username or user_id, cursor	3
instagram_following	Get accounts an account follows	username or user_id, cursor	3
instagram_similar	Find similar Instagram accounts	username or user_id	1
instagram_stories	View Instagram stories anonymously	username or user_id	3
instagram_highlights	Get Instagram story highlights	username or user_id	3
instagram_highlight	Get the items in one highlight	id	3
instagram_search	Search Instagram accounts, hashtags and places	q	1
instagram_hashtag	Get posts for an Instagram hashtag	tag, cursor	1
instagram_place	Get an Instagram location	id	3
instagram_place_posts	Get posts tagged at an Instagram location	id, cursor	1
instagram_audio	Get an Instagram audio track and the reels using it	id	1
instagram_audio_search	Search Instagram music and sounds	q	3
instagram_reels_search	Search Instagram reels by keyword	q, cursor	3
instagram_usage	Your credits used and left this month	none	0

Full reference: https://fastsocial.co/instagram-api/docs

Things to ask it

• "Compare the engagement rate of @nasa and @spacex."
• "Download every slide of this carousel: https://www.instagram.com/p/..."
• "Show me @natgeo's current stories and summarise them."
• "Find 10 accounts similar to @humansofny."

Local version

If your client only runs local (stdio) servers, the same tools are on PyPI as instagram-data-mcp. It is not part of this plugin. Its source is FastSocialCo/instagram-data-mcp-python.

Links

• Instagram Data API: https://fastsocial.co/instagram-api
• Docs: https://fastsocial.co/instagram-api/docs
• OpenAPI spec: https://fastsocial.co/instagram-api/openapi.json
• MCP Registry entry: io.github.FastSocialCo/instagram-data-mcp

License

MIT. See LICENSE.