How to Embed an Instagram Post: oEmbed API Guide

The current endpoint: instagram_oembed

The replacement lives on the Graph API. Meta requires an app access token, sent as your app ID and client token joined by a pipe, and the app needs the oEmbed Read feature approved through App Review.

curl -G https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/instagram_oembed \
  -d url=https://www.instagram.com/p/POST_SHORTCODE/ \
  -d maxwidth=400 \
  -d omitscript=true \
  -d 'access_token=APP_ID|CLIENT_TOKEN'

maxwidth sets the embed width, and omitscript=true leaves out the embed.js tag so you can load it once per page yourself. The response is just the embed markup:

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "provider_name": "Instagram",
  "provider_url": "https://www.instagram.com/",
  "type": "rich",
  "width": 400,
  "html": "<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" ...>"
}

In the same test, the endpoint also answered without an access token. That isn't documented, so don't build on it: Meta can switch it off without notice.

What oEmbed won't give you

The response has no thumbnail_url, no author_name and no caption. You get Instagram's blockquote and its script, styled Instagram's way. Meta's terms also forbid using oEmbed data for anything other than showing the embed, so you can't lift the image out into your own layout.

If you need the image, caption or post details as data, use the Instagram Graph API with an access token, or let Feedframer return them as JSON.

You need the post's data, not its card

Captions, timestamps, media types and image URLs come back as JSON, so you can put a post into your own layout instead of Instagram's blockquote.

You want several posts in one call

oEmbed is one post per request, by URL. A feed request returns your recent posts in one go — 6 on the free plan, up to 100 per page on Premium.

You don't want to run App Review

instagram_oembed needs a Meta app with the oEmbed Read feature approved. Feedframer is one OAuth connection, and we hold the app.

You don't want to manage a 60-day token

Instagram's long-lived token expires after 60 days and has to be refreshed before it does. Feedframer refreshes it for you; see the access token guide for what that involves by hand.

You need the feed in an email

The same feed is available as RSS, which is what Mailchimp and Klaviyo RSS campaigns consume. oEmbed can't do this at all.

Does api.instagram.com/oembed still work?

No. Meta retired the key-free endpoint in October 2020. Tested on 11 September 2026, a request to https://api.instagram.com/oembed?url=POST_URL returned a 301 to www.instagram.com/oembed/ and then 200 text/html — a web page, not JSON — so any client that still parses the reply as JSON fails. The live replacement is graph.facebook.com/v26.0/instagram_oembed. noembed.com is not a workaround either: on the same date it answered Instagram URLs with "no matching providers found".

What do I need to call instagram_oembed?

A Meta app, an app access token in the form APP_ID|CLIENT_TOKEN, and the oEmbed Read feature approved through App Review. In our 11 September 2026 test the endpoint also answered with no access token at all, on both v23.0 and v26.0, but that is not documented behaviour — do not build on it, because Meta can close it without notice.

Can I get an Instagram post's thumbnail or caption from oEmbed?

No. The instagram_oembed response contains version, provider_name, provider_url, type, width and html, and nothing else: no thumbnail_url, no author_name and no caption. Meta's platform terms also restrict oEmbed data to rendering the embed, so you cannot lift the image out into your own layout. For the image and the caption as data you need the Instagram Graph API with a long-lived access token, or a feed API that has already done that work.

What does Feedframer return that oEmbed doesn't?

oEmbed returns Instagram's blockquote plus its embed.js script, styled Instagram's way. Feedframer returns the post as data — REST JSON, GraphQL or RSS — with the caption, media type, permalink, timestamp and image URLs at 320, 768, 960 and 1200 pixels wide. Images are copied to Feedframer's own storage when a post is synced and served from cdn.feedframer.com, so your markup is yours and it does not depend on an Instagram CDN URL that expires.

Will a post disappear from my site if it is deleted on Instagram?

No. Feedframer stores a post when it first syncs it and does not remove a stored post if it later stops coming back from the Instagram API, and that post's images are already on Feedframer's own storage rather than Instagram's CDN. A post you have already synced keeps rendering. New posts, of course, stop arriving if the connection breaks.

Can I filter which posts the API returns?

By media type and publish date. filter[type] accepts IMAGE, VIDEO, CAROUSEL_ALBUM and REELS; filter[publishedAfter] and filter[publishedBefore] take dates. There is no post-by-post moderation or approval queue — you cannot hide an individual post from the dashboard today. If you need to exclude specific posts, filter them out of the JSON in your own code.

Is there a rate limit on the API?

Feedframer does not apply a per-key request limit on either plan, so you can call it as often as your site needs. What the plans limit is data, not requests: the free plan covers one connected account and your six most recent posts with no paging, and refreshes daily. Premium ($6/month or $60/year) covers five accounts, up to 100 posts per page, and refreshes hourly.

Does it work with private accounts?

No. Instagram's API only exposes media for Business and Creator accounts, so a private personal account returns nothing. Convert the account to Business or Creator in the Instagram app first, then connect it.

Is the result mobile-responsive?

Feedframer returns raw data rather than a widget, so responsiveness depends on the markup you write. The JSON includes four image widths — 320, 768, 960 and 1200 pixels — which is what you need for a srcset. We ship demo widgets, but the point of a data API is that you build the UI you want.