# Instagram Profile Posts Full API (https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/instagram/profile-posts-full)

> Returns a creator's recent posts with views, likes, comments, and the per-post share count merged in wherever the upstream exposes it — in a single call. ScrapeCreators' standard /profile/posts endpoint returns views/likes/comments but leaves engagement.shares null (its upstream has no per-post reshare count); this composite fans out to a second mobile source that carries the share number and merges it back onto each item by post id. Share coverage is best-effort and varies by account: the mobile source only exposes reshare_count for the items it returns, so some (sometimes most) items keep engagement.shares null — that null means "upstream doesn't expose it", not "zero". Read shares_coverage (the fraction of returned items that got a real share number) before relying on shares; legs[] shows each leg's status. Billing: the ScrapeCreators leg is critical (its failure refunds the full call); the shares leg is best-effort — if it fails OUTRIGHT the items still return with shares null and 4 of the 5 credits are refunded (you pay the standard 1-credit list price). A successful shares leg with low coverage is still the flat 5 credits, since the second source was queried regardless of how many items it happened to cover. Paginate with next_cursor.

TL;DR: `GET /v1/instagram/profile/posts/full` costs 5 credits per call and returns SocialCrawl's unified JSON schema. Single x-api-key auth, 100 free credits on signup.

## Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `handle` | no | Instagram username (with or without a leading @). Required unless user_id is given. The share-count leg needs a handle; a user_id-only call returns views/likes/comments with shares null (partial refund). |
| `user_id` | no | Numeric Instagram user id. Alternative to handle. |
| `cursor` | no | Opaque cursor from a prior response's next_cursor to page deeper. |
| `limit` | no | Return up to this many items in one call (1–50). The endpoint pages the underlying source server-side until it has collected this many (or runs out), and bills per upstream page consumed (5 credits/page). Omit for a single page. |

## Code example

```bash
curl "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/profile/posts/full" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## FAQ

### How do I get a creator's posts with share counts in one call?

Send a GET request to /v1/instagram/profile/posts/full with the handle or user_id. It returns the creator's recent posts with views, likes, comments, and the per-post share count merged in, so shares arrive in the same response.

### Why does the standard profile posts endpoint leave shares null?

The standard posts list comes from a source that does not carry the share number, so engagement.shares is null there. This composite fans out to a second mobile source that has the share count and merges it by post id.

### What is shares_coverage and why is a share sometimes null?

shares_coverage is the fraction of returned posts that came back with a real share number. Coverage is best effort and varies by account. A null share means the upstream did not expose it for that post, not that the post has zero shares.

### How does billing work if the shares leg fails?

The ScrapeCreators list leg is the critical one. If the shares leg fails outright, the posts still return with shares null and 4 of the 5 credits are refunded, so you pay the standard 1 credit list price. Low coverage on a successful shares leg is still the flat 5 credits.

### How do I paginate and what does a call cost?

Pass handle or user_id and paginate with the next_cursor returned in each response. A call costs 5 credits on the advanced tier. New accounts get 100 free credits with no card to test it.

See the full Instagram API: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/instagram

## Pricing

- Standard endpoints: 1 credit per call
- Advanced endpoints: 5 credits per call
- Premium endpoints: 10 credits per call
- 100 free credits on signup, no credit card required. Cached responses cost 0 credits. Credit packs never expire.
- Full pricing: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/pricing

## Explore with AI

Questions this API answers, phrased for an AI assistant:

- How to get Instagram posts with per-post share counts in one call
- Which API merges Instagram post views likes comments and shares