What is the Instagram API with Instagram Login?

Meta’s documentation now files its Instagram APIs under the Instagram Platform and offers two set-ups. The one an app is built on decides how the account owner signs in, which server the app talks to and which features it can reach.

The older name sticks around. Many guides still say Instagram Graph API, and Meta’s reference pages keep it in their web addresses. Usually it means the Facebook Login version, which was the only option for professional accounts until Meta added the Instagram Login route.

• Comments: read comments on the account’s posts and Reels, reply in public, hide or delete them, and send one private reply per comment.
• Messages: receive DMs, Story replies and Story mentions, and answer within 24 hours of the person’s latest message.
• Publishing: post photos, Reels and carousels to the account.
• Insights: read performance figures, such as reach, for the account and its posts.
• Mentions: find posts and comments where the account was @mentioned.

Each job sits behind a permission the owner approves when signing in, for example instagram_business_manage_messages for DMs or instagram_business_content_publish for posting. A careful app asks only for the ones it uses, and the owner can withdraw its access from Instagram’s settings at any time.

• Connect personal accounts. Both versions serve professional accounts only, and the Basic Display API, the old way for apps to read personal profiles, was retired in December 2024.
• Start conversations. Someone has to DM the account, reply to its Story or comment first; there’s no endpoint for messaging followers in bulk.
• Act like a person in the app. There are no endpoints for following accounts, liking posts or watching other people’s Stories.
• Search hashtags or tag products. Those stay with the Facebook Login version.
• Ignore Meta’s limits. Calls are rate-limited per account; private replies to post and Reel comments, for example, stop at 750 an hour.

An app also needs Meta’s sign-off before it can serve accounts its developer doesn’t own or manage. That means Advanced Access to each permission, granted through App Review, and business verification of the company behind the app. Until then it only works for accounts with a role on the app, which is fine for testing but not for customers.

For an account owner, the version decides what connecting looks like. A tool on the Instagram Login version sends you to Instagram’s own sign-in page and lists the permissions it wants; it never needs your password or a Facebook Page. A tool on the Facebook Login version asks you to sign in with Facebook and choose the Page your Instagram account is linked to.

The messaging rules don’t change with the version, because they come from Meta: one private reply per comment within 7 days, replies within 24 hours of a person’s last message, and nothing sent to people who haven’t reached out.

Tip: Changing your Instagram username doesn’t break a connection, because the API identifies the account by a numeric ID rather than its handle. Switching to a personal account does, since neither version serves personal accounts.