Instagram Reels download API
A reel is the simplest Instagram shape: one video, one URL. The endpoint takes the link exactly as the share sheet produced it — with or without the tracking parameter — and returns medias[] with a single video entry pointing at Instagram's CDN, plus the caption and author in meta. No cookies, no session, no headless browser on your side.
Example request
curl -s "https://api.saveapi.org/v1/instagram" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_xxxx" \ -G --data-urlencode "url=https://www.instagram.com/reel/ABC123/"
1.5 credits
Accepted link shapes
instagram.com/reel/<code>/ and instagram.com/reels/<code>/, with or without www, with or without a trailing ?igsh= or ?stkn= share parameter. A /p/<code>/ link that turns out to be a reel resolves the same way. The endpoint detects the shape; you do not need to normalise it first.
What comes back
type is "video", medias[] has one entry with a direct URL to the source CDN, and meta carries the author and caption. There is no formats[] for Instagram — the source publishes one rendition per reel, so there is nothing to choose.
What it costs and when
1.5 credits for a successful resolve. A private or deleted reel costs 0.1 credits and returns a final error code; a timeout on our side costs nothing and is safe to retry once. The link check on /v1/detect is free.
Questions before you build
- Does the share link with ?igsh= work?
- Yes. Tracking parameters are ignored; the reel is identified by its code.
- Can I choose a resolution?
- No — Instagram publishes one rendition per reel and that is the file you get. There is no formats[] on Instagram responses.
- Does a reel from a private account resolve?
- No. You get PRIVATE_CONTENT, it costs 0.1 credits, and retrying does not change the answer.
Related
Instagram Downloader APIInstagram carousel download API — every photo and video in a postHow to build a Telegram video downloader botDownload social media videos in PythonDownload social media videos in Node.jsDownload TikTok and Likee videos without a watermarkyt-dlp and Instagram: “login required”, empty results and what to use insteadWhy the Instagram Graph API won't download reels — and what doesInstagram story API without login: one story or every active storyWhy your Instagram scraper works on your laptop and dies on the serverDownload social media videos in n8n with an HTTP Request nodeDownload social media videos in PHPDownload social media videos in GoResolve a column of links in Google Sheets with Apps ScriptBuild a Telegram video downloader bot with grammY