Instagram Automation via Rube MCP

Automate Instagram operations through Composio's Instagram toolkit via Rube MCP.

Prerequisites

●Rube MCP must be connected (RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS available)

●Active Instagram connection via RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS with toolkit instagram

●Always call RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS first to get current tool schemas

●Instagram Business or Creator account required (personal accounts not supported)

Setup

Get Rube MCP: Add https://rube.app/mcp as an MCP server in your client configuration. No API keys needed — just add the endpoint and it works.

1.Verify Rube MCP is available by confirming RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS responds

2.Call RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS with toolkit instagram

3.If connection is not ACTIVE, follow the returned auth link to complete Instagram/Facebook OAuth

4.Confirm connection status shows ACTIVE before running any workflows

Core Workflows

1. Create a Single Image/Video Post

When to use: User wants to publish a single photo or video to Instagram

Tool sequence:

1.INSTAGRAM_GET_USER_INFO - Get Instagram user ID [Prerequisite]

2.INSTAGRAM_CREATE_MEDIA_CONTAINER - Create a media container with the image/video URL [Required]

3.INSTAGRAM_GET_POST_STATUS - Check if the media container is ready [Optional]

4.INSTAGRAM_CREATE_POST or INSTAGRAM_POST_IG_USER_MEDIA_PUBLISH - Publish the container [Required]

Key parameters:

●image_url: Public URL of the image to post

●video_url: Public URL of the video to post

●caption: Post caption text

●ig_user_id: Instagram Business account user ID

Pitfalls:

●Media URLs must be publicly accessible; private/authenticated URLs will fail

●Video containers may take time to process; poll GET_POST_STATUS before publishing

●Caption supports hashtags and mentions but has a 2200 character limit

●Publishing a container that is not yet finished processing returns an error

2. Create a Carousel Post

When to use: User wants to publish multiple images/videos in a single carousel post

Tool sequence:

1.INSTAGRAM_CREATE_MEDIA_CONTAINER - Create individual containers for each media item [Required, repeat per item]

2.INSTAGRAM_CREATE_CAROUSEL_CONTAINER - Create the carousel container referencing all media containers [Required]

3.INSTAGRAM_GET_POST_STATUS - Check carousel container readiness [Optional]

4.INSTAGRAM_POST_IG_USER_MEDIA_PUBLISH - Publish the carousel [Required]

Key parameters:

●children: Array of media container IDs for the carousel

●caption: Carousel post caption

●ig_user_id: Instagram Business account user ID

Pitfalls:

●Carousels require 2-10 media items; fewer or more will fail

●Each child container must be created individually before the carousel container

●All child containers must be fully processed before creating the carousel

●Mixed media (images + videos) is supported in carousels

3. Get Media and Insights

When to use: User wants to view their posts or analyze post performance

Tool sequence:

1.INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_USER_MEDIA or INSTAGRAM_GET_USER_MEDIA - List user's media [Required]

2.INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_MEDIA - Get details for a specific post [Optional]

3.INSTAGRAM_GET_POST_INSIGHTS or INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_MEDIA_INSIGHTS - Get metrics for a post [Optional]

4.INSTAGRAM_GET_USER_INSIGHTS - Get account-level insights [Optional]

Key parameters:

●ig_user_id: Instagram Business account user ID

●media_id: ID of the specific media post

●metric: Metrics to retrieve (e.g., impressions, reach, engagement)

●period: Time period for insights (e.g., day, week, lifetime)

Pitfalls:

●Insights are only available for Business/Creator accounts

●Some metrics require minimum follower counts

●Insight data may have a delay of up to 48 hours

●The period parameter must match the metric type

4. Check Publishing Limits

When to use: User wants to verify they can publish before attempting a post

Tool sequence:

1.INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_USER_CONTENT_PUBLISHING_LIMIT - Check remaining publishing quota [Required]

Key parameters:

●ig_user_id: Instagram Business account user ID

Pitfalls:

●Instagram enforces a 25 posts per 24-hour rolling window limit

●Publishing limit resets on a rolling basis, not at midnight

●Check limits before bulk posting operations to avoid failures

5. Get Media Comments and Children

When to use: User wants to view comments on a post or children of a carousel

Tool sequence:

1.INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_MEDIA_COMMENTS - List comments on a media post [Required]

2.INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_MEDIA_CHILDREN - List children of a carousel post [Optional]

Key parameters:

●media_id: ID of the media post

●ig_media_id: Alternative media ID parameter

Pitfalls:

●Comments may be paginated; follow pagination cursors for complete results

●Carousel children are returned as individual media objects

●Comment moderation settings on the account affect what is returned

Common Patterns

ID Resolution

Instagram User ID:

1. Call INSTAGRAM_GET_USER_INFO
2. Extract ig_user_id from response
3. Use in all subsequent API calls

Media Container Status Check:

1. Call INSTAGRAM_CREATE_MEDIA_CONTAINER
2. Extract container_id from response
3. Poll INSTAGRAM_GET_POST_STATUS with container_id
4. Wait until status is 'FINISHED' before publishing

Two-Phase Publishing

●Phase 1: Create media container(s) with content URLs

●Phase 2: Publish the container after it finishes processing

●Always check container status between phases for video content

●For carousels, all children must complete Phase 1 before creating the carousel container

Known Pitfalls

Media URLs:

●All image/video URLs must be publicly accessible HTTPS URLs

●URLs behind authentication, CDN restrictions, or that require cookies will fail

●Temporary URLs (pre-signed S3, etc.) may expire before processing completes

Rate Limits:

●25 posts per 24-hour rolling window

●API rate limits apply separately from publishing limits

●Implement exponential backoff for 429 responses

Account Requirements:

●Only Business or Creator Instagram accounts are supported

●Personal accounts cannot use the Instagram Graph API

●The account must be connected to a Facebook Page

Response Parsing:

●Media IDs are numeric strings

●Insights data may be nested under different response keys

●Pagination uses cursor-based tokens

Quick Reference

| Task | Tool Slug | Key Params |

|------|-----------|------------|

| Get user info | INSTAGRAM_GET_USER_INFO | (none) |

| Create media container | INSTAGRAM_CREATE_MEDIA_CONTAINER | image_url/video_url, caption |

| Create carousel | INSTAGRAM_CREATE_CAROUSEL_CONTAINER | children, caption |

| Publish post | INSTAGRAM_CREATE_POST | ig_user_id, creation_id |

| Publish media | INSTAGRAM_POST_IG_USER_MEDIA_PUBLISH | ig_user_id, creation_id |

| Check post status | INSTAGRAM_GET_POST_STATUS | ig_container_id |

| List user media | INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_USER_MEDIA | ig_user_id |

| Get media details | INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_MEDIA | ig_media_id |

| Get post insights | INSTAGRAM_GET_POST_INSIGHTS | media_id, metric |

| Get user insights | INSTAGRAM_GET_USER_INSIGHTS | ig_user_id, metric, period |

| Get publishing limit | INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_USER_CONTENT_PUBLISHING_LIMIT | ig_user_id |

| Get media comments | INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_MEDIA_COMMENTS | ig_media_id |

| Get carousel children | INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_MEDIA_CHILDREN | ig_media_id |

instagram-automation

Documentation