Introducing the Instagram APIRead more →

Instagram Search Suggestions API. Accounts and hashtags matching your search.

Accounts and hashtags matching a query. We handle the proxies, blocks and platform changes.

Instagram Search Suggestions API at a glance

Returns what Instagram's search box offers logged out for a query: the account with that exact username, then matching hashtags. The account has its user ID, display name, picture and verified badge, and each hashtag its exact post count and tag ID, in Instagram's order. Send words, a username or a hashtag, in any language.

GET /v1/instagram/search_suggestions

Read the API reference
  • 1 credit per page, $0.75–$1.97 per 1,000 pages
  • 9 typed fields null when unknown
  • 56 accounts and hashtags per page, the exact account first, then Instagram's tag search ranking
  • query is all it needs, e.g. nasa

Send one request. Get up to 56 accounts and hashtags back.

Copy the request in your language, or hand it to your agent. Sign up for an API key and your first 100 credits are free.

$ npm install socialtap
query = nasa
GET /v1/instagram/search_suggestionsTry in
const params = new URLSearchParams({
  query: "nasa",
});
const res = await fetch(`https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/search_suggestions?${params}`, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALTAP_API_KEY ?? "" },
});
const body = await res.json();
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${body.error.code}: ${body.error.message}`);
const { data, page, meta } = body;
console.log(data, meta.credits_charged);
200 OK · GET https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/search_suggestionsLong arrays and strings are shortened here. Real responses are complete.Docs

One schema on 3 platforms.

The response reference lists every field, its type and when it is null. See the full schema.

  • Null means unknown

    A field Instagram doesn't show is null, never zero or an empty string, so a real zero always means zero.

  • What it accepts

    What to search for, as typed into Instagram's search box: a name, a username or a word, in any language and any case (nasa, taylor swift, 料理).

  • Write one parser

    Instagram, TikTok and Google Ads Transparency Center answer in these fields, so the code that reads one reads them all.

platformstring
Platform whose search box offers the suggestion.
textstring
The suggestion as the platform shows it, whitespace-trimmed: the completed search for a query suggestion, the account's name for a profile one, the domain for a website one.
typestring
query = a completed search to run; profile = an account (or community) the platform proposes, described in profile; hashtag = a hashtag, described in hashtag; website = a website the platform proposes: text is its domain (nike.com), as the platform's searches by website take it. New values may be added.
positioninteger
Zero-based rank of the suggestion in the list, counting every type: the platform's order (each endpoint's notes say how a list combining several of the platform's searches is ordered).
urlstring
Where the suggestion leads on the platform: the search results page for a query, the account's page for a profile, the hashtag's page for a hashtag, the platform's page for the website for a website.
profileobject
The account a profile suggestion names; null for every other type.
hashtagobject
The hashtag a hashtag suggestion names, keyed as the platform's hashtag endpoints key it; null for every other type.
approximate_fieldsstring[]
JSON paths of values rounded or capped by the platform (hashtag.metrics.post_count at Instagram's ceiling). [] when all exact.

What teams build with the Instagram Search Suggestions API.

  • Check whether a brand has an Instagram account

  • Find a topic's hashtags with post counts

  • Resolve a username to its user ID

  • Build keyword lists for Instagram campaigns

Good to know before you build.

  • Logged out, the account is only an exact username match, with spaces removed (taylor swift finds @taylorswift). Accounts that only resemble the query, and places, need a login.
  • A leading # searches hashtags only, and a leading @ looks up the account only. Case doesn't matter.
  • An age-restricted account, or one named like an Instagram page (@explore), isn't offered because Instagram doesn't show it logged out.
  • Instagram serves one list of suggestions, so page.end_reason is platform_limit. The Instagram Hashtag Search API pages further through hashtags.
  • A query Instagram withholds results for (a sensitive term) returns an empty page.
  • A hashtag's post_count at Instagram's ceiling (#love) is a lower bound, listed in approximate_fields. avatar_url is a CDN link that can expire.

1 credit per page. Failed requests are free.

Buy credits once and spend them on any endpoint, on any platform.

SourcePrice per successful pagePer 1,000 pages
Platform API api1 credit$0.75–$1.97
  • Cache hits are free.
  • Credits from packs and top-ups never expire.
  • A monthly plan's credits are spent first, and what is left of them ends at each renewal.
  • Prices exclude tax: sales tax is added at checkout where it applies.
  • Outside the US, plans and packs are sold to businesses: checkout asks for your VAT, GST or other business tax ID.

Questions about the Instagram Search Suggestions API.

More in the API reference.

How much does the Instagram Search Suggestions API cost?
A page of up to 56 accounts and hashtags costs 1 credit. Every successful page is charged, empty pages included. SocialTap credits cost $0.75–$1.97 per 1,000, depending on the plan or pack.
How do I get the next page?
Repeat the same request with cursor set to page.next_cursor from the previous response, keeping the other parameters. When page.has_more is false there are no more pages. Cursors expire after 24 hours.

Try it with your own search.

Type it in the playground, or copy the request into your code.

100free credits
  • No credit card
  • Failed requests are free
  • Works on all 218 endpoints
Start for free Read the docs