Instagram Automation 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

https://rube.app/mcp

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

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]

• 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

• 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

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]

• children

  : Array of media container IDs for the carousel

• caption

  : Carousel post caption

• ig_user_id

  : Instagram Business account user ID

• 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

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]

• 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)

• 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

1. INSTAGRAM_GET_IG_USER_CONTENT_PUBLISHING_LIMIT

   - Check remaining publishing quota [Required]

• ig_user_id

  : Instagram Business account user ID

• 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

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]

• media_id

  : ID of the media post

• ig_media_id

  : Alternative media ID parameter

• 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

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

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

• 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

• 25 posts per 24-hour rolling window
• API rate limits apply separately from publishing limits
• Implement exponential backoff for 429 responses

• 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

• Media IDs are numeric strings
• Insights data may be nested under different response keys
• Pagination uses cursor-based tokens

Quick Reference

When to Use