# Instagram Search Suggestions API

Instagram

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`

## Example

cURL:

```shell
curl 'https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/search_suggestions?query=nasa' \
  -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"
```

TypeScript SDK:

```typescript
import { SocialTap } from "socialtap";

const client = new SocialTap(); // apiKey defaults to process.env.SOCIALTAP_API_KEY

const res = await client.instagram.searchSuggestions.list({ query: "nasa" });
console.log(res.data);
console.log(res.credits.charged, res.meta.request_id);
```

Node.js (fetch):

```javascript
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);
```

Python (requests):

```python
import os

import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/search_suggestions",
    params={"query": "nasa"},
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"]},
)
body = res.json()
if not res.ok:
    raise RuntimeError(f"{body['error']['code']}: {body['error']['message']}")
data, page, meta = body["data"], body["page"], body["meta"]
print(data, meta["credits_charged"])
```

Go (net/http):

```go
package main

import (
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"log"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	q := url.Values{}
	q.Set("query", "nasa")
	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/search_suggestions?"+q.Encode(), nil)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("x-api-key", os.Getenv("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"))
	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()
	var body struct {
		Data  json.RawMessage `json:"data"`
		Page  json.RawMessage `json:"page"`
		Meta  map[string]any  `json:"meta"`
		Error *struct {
			Code    string `json:"code"`
			Message string `json:"message"`
		} `json:"error"`
	}
	if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&body); err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	if body.Error != nil {
		log.Fatalf("%s: %s", body.Error.Code, body.Error.Message)
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body.Data), body.Meta["credits_charged"])
}
```

200 OK:

```json
{
  "data": [
    {
      "approximate_fields": [],
      "hashtag": null,
      "platform": "instagram",
      "platform_specific": {
        "instagram": {
          "tag_id": null
        }
      },
      "position": 0,
      "profile": {
        "avatar_url": "https://scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/29090066_159271188110124_1152068159029641216_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s150x150_tt6&_nc_cat=1&ig_cache_key=GBLhuwEsG5c225AAAAAAAADj9-wPbkULAAAB1501500j-ccb7-5&ccb=SCRUBBED&_nc_sid=SCRUBBED&efg=SCRUBBED&_nc_ohc=SCRUBBED&_nc_oc=SCRUBBE…",
        "display_name": "NASA",
        "id": "528817151",
        "is_verified": true,
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/nasa/",
        "username": "nasa"
      },
      "text": "nasa",
      "type": "profile",
      "unknown_fields": [],
      "url": "https://www.instagram.com/nasa/"
    },
    {
      "approximate_fields": [],
      "hashtag": {
        "id": "nasa",
        "metrics": {
          "post_count": 10161802
        },
        "name": "nasa",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nasa/"
      },
      "platform": "instagram",
      "platform_specific": {
        "instagram": {
          "tag_id": "17843701351037088"
        }
      },
      "position": 1,
      "profile": null,
      "text": "#nasa",
      "type": "hashtag",
      "unknown_fields": [],
      "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nasa/"
    },
    {
      "approximate_fields": [],
      "hashtag": {
        "id": "naša",
        "metrics": {
          "post_count": 30513
        },
        "name": "naša",
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/na%C5%A1a/"
      },
      "platform": "instagram",
      "platform_specific": {
        "instagram": {
          "tag_id": "17841557482094993"
        }
      },
      "position": 2,
      "profile": null,
      "text": "#naša",
      "type": "hashtag",
      "unknown_fields": [],
      "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/na%C5%A1a/"
    }
  ],
  "page": {
    "has_more": false,
    "next_cursor": null,
    "next_cursor_expires_at": null,
    "end_reason": "platform_limit"
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req_3f9c2a7d1e8b4c6a9f0e2d4b6a8c0e1f",
    "platform": "instagram",
    "source": "api",
    "is_cached": false,
    "credits_charged": 1,
    "latency_ms": 391,
    "fetched_at": "2026-10-25T12:00:00Z",
    "input": null,
    "credits_remaining": 9999,
    "client_request_id": null,
    "warnings": []
  }
}
```

Long arrays and strings are shortened for display; real responses are complete.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Good to know**
>
> - 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.

## Authorizations

`x-api-key`stringheaderrequired

Your API key. [Authentication](https://socialtap.dev/docs/authentication/index.md)

## Query parameters

| Name | Type | Description | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `query` required | `string`<br>max 150 chars | 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). A leading # searches hashtags only (#cooking), a leading @ looks up the account only (@nasa). | `nasa` |
| `limit` optional | `integer`<br>min 1<br>max 56 | Items per page, 1 to the endpoint's page size (its default and maximum; larger values are reduced to it). Omit it: every page costs the same, so a smaller limit means more pages to pay for. | `56` |
| `cursor` optional | `string` | page.next_cursor from the previous response. Send the same other parameters; omit to start from the first page. | — |

Unknown parameters are rejected with a suggestion, never ignored ([Requests](https://socialtap.dev/docs/requests/index.md)). `limit` and `cursor` page through the list: see Pagination.

**Parameters every endpoint accepts**

| Name | Type | Description | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `max_age` optional | `integer`<br>min 0 | Accept a cached response up to this many seconds old. Cache hits cost 0 credits. Omit to always fetch fresh. The Cache-Control: max-age=N request header is equivalent; max_age wins when both are sent. | — |
| `fields` optional | `string` | Return only these fields of each item: comma-separated paths in the schema's notation (id,text,metrics.view_count,segments\[\].text; a parent path keeps the whole object). Unknown paths are rejected. Applied after the cache, so it changes neither the price nor cache hits; page and meta are always returned whole. | — |

## Response

### 200

`{data, page, meta}`. `data` is an array of up to 56 [suggestion](https://socialtap.dev/resources/suggestion/index.md) objects, the exact account first, then Instagram's tag search ranking; `page` says how to get the next page; `meta` describes the request ([meta](https://socialtap.dev/docs/reference/index.md#meta)). Fields only Instagram has are under `platform_specific.instagram`.

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `data[].platform` | `string` | Platform whose search box offers the suggestion. |
| `data[].text` | `string` | 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. |
| `data[].type` | `string` | 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.<br>One of `query`, `profile`, `hashtag`, `website` |
| `data[].position` | `integer` | 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). |
| `data[].url` | `string` (uri) | 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. |
| `data[].profile` | `object` or `null` | The account a profile suggestion names; null for every other type. |
| `data[].profile.id` | `string` or `null` | Platform-native account ID; null when only the handle is known. |
| `data[].profile.username` | `string` or `null` | Handle without the @; null when the account has none. |
| `data[].profile.display_name` | `string` or `null` | Display name shown on the profile. |
| `data[].profile.url` | `string` (uri) or `null` | Canonical profile URL. |
| `data[].profile.avatar_url` | `string` (uri) or `null` | Profile picture URL. Platform CDN URLs can expire within hours. |
| `data[].profile.is_verified` | `boolean` or `null` | Platform verification badge; null where the platform has no badge. |
| `data[].hashtag` | `object` or `null` | The hashtag a hashtag suggestion names, keyed as the platform's hashtag endpoints key it; null for every other type. |
| `data[].hashtag.id` | `string` | The hashtag's ID as the platform's hashtag endpoints key it: its native ID, or the name lowercased where the platform's pages key a hashtag by name (Instagram). |
| `data[].hashtag.name` | `string` | The tag without #, as the platform shows it (case kept). |
| `data[].hashtag.url` | `string` (uri) | Canonical hashtag page URL. |
| `data[].hashtag.metrics` | `object` | Counts at fetch time; null = hidden or not exposed, 0 = zero. |
| `data[].hashtag.metrics.post_count` | `integer` or `null` | Posts carrying the tag, as the platform counts them; rounded on YouTube and Threads (see approximate_fields). |
| `data[].platform_specific` | `object` | Fields only this platform has, under its ID (platform_specific.\<platform>); each null when unknown. |
| `data[].platform_specific.instagram` | `object` or `null` | An Instagram suggestion's own fields. |
| `data[].platform_specific.instagram.tag_id` | `string` or `null` | Instagram's own numeric ID of a hashtag suggestion's tag; null for every other type. |
| `data[].approximate_fields` | `string[]` | JSON paths of values rounded or capped by the platform (hashtag.metrics.post_count at Instagram's ceiling). \[\] when all exact. |
| `data[].unknown_fields` | `string[]` | JSON paths of lists whose \[\] means unknown rather than none; \[\] when every list is known (a suggestion has none yet). |

### 400

400 Bad Request: 2 error codes. Free: errors cost nothing.

| Code | HTTP | Retry | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `invalid_input` | 400 | No | A parameter is missing or malformed, or the link is not one this endpoint takes. | Fix the parameter named in param as the message says. For a link of the wrong kind, call an endpoint listed in details.endpoints, when there is one. |
| `invalid_cursor` | 400 | No | The cursor is malformed or expired, belongs to another endpoint, or came with other parameters than the request that returned it. | Repeat the original request without cursor to start the list again. |

### 401

401 Unauthorized: 1 error code. Free: errors cost nothing.

| Code | HTTP | Retry | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `unauthorized` | 401 | No | The x-api-key header is missing, or its key is unknown or revoked. On the dashboard's routes: the session cookie is missing or expired. | Send a valid API key in the x-api-key header. No key yet? A person gets one at details.signup_url; an AI agent follows details.agent_auth_url. |

### 402

402 Payment Required: 2 error codes. Free: errors cost nothing.

| Code | HTTP | Retry | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `insufficient_credits` | 402 | No | The account does not have enough credits for this request. | Have a person buy credits at details.purchase_url (or make them a checkout link with details.checkout), then repeat the request. Do not retry automatically. |
| `spend_limit_reached` | 402 | No | The API key reached its spend limit for this period. The account may still have credits. | Wait until details.resets_at, or raise the key's spend limit (PATCH /v1/api_keys/{id}). Do not retry automatically. |

### 403

403 Forbidden: 1 error code. Free: errors cost nothing.

| Code | HTTP | Retry | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `forbidden` | 403 | No | The API key is valid but may not make this request, and details.reason says why: the account is suspended, the key lacks the route's scope, waits for its owner to confirm it by email, has expired, or was used from an IP outside its allowlist, or a rotated key's previous secret was used for a call that needs the admin scope. A running job stops with it too when its account is suspended or the key that created it is revoked or expires. It is about the key, never the item: a private item is private_or_unavailable, also 403, so branch on the code. | Act on details.reason. suspended: contact [support](mailto:support@socialtap.dev). scope: use a key with details.required_scope. previous_secret: use the new secret. key_pending: have the owner open the emailed link. key_expired or key_revoked: create a new key. ip_not_allowed: call from an allowed IP. |

### 429

429 Too Many Requests: 1 error code. Free: errors cost nothing.

| Code | HTTP | Retry | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `rate_limited` | 429 | Yes, later | The account passed its runaway-protection ceiling: a high per-account limit that stops a broken client loop (plans have no rate limit). Requests without an API key (signup, the MCP server's tool listing and find_endpoint) are limited per IP address instead. It also stops an account whose failed requests in the last hour cost far more than its successful ones paid for: failures are free within a limit (the message says so), and successes raise it. | Wait the seconds in the retry-after header, then retry. If your steady traffic needs more, ask [support](mailto:support@socialtap.dev) to raise the ceiling; without an API key, send one. |

### 500

500 Internal Error: 1 error code. Free: errors cost nothing.

| Code | HTTP | Retry | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `internal` | 500 | Yes, later | An unexpected error on SocialTap's side. | Retry with backoff. If it keeps happening, contact [support](mailto:support@socialtap.dev) with the request_id. |

### 502

502 Bad Gateway: 1 error code. Free: errors cost nothing.

| Code | HTTP | Retry | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `upstream_error` | 502 | Yes, later | The platform failed, or answered with something we could not read. | Retry with backoff. Failed requests are free. |

### 503

503 Unavailable: 2 error codes. Free: errors cost nothing.

| Code | HTTP | Retry | Meaning | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `upstream_blocked` | 503 | Yes, later | The platform refused every attempt, our own retries included. | Retry later with backoff. Failed requests are free. |
| `overloaded` | 503 | Yes, later | SocialTap was at capacity, or paused by its operators, and did not start the request. Nothing was fetched or charged. | Retry after the seconds in the retry-after header. Failed requests are free. |

## Pagination

Items come in pages, **the exact account first, then Instagram's tag search ranking**. To get the next page, send **the same request plus `cursor`** set to `page.next_cursor` from the previous response. Keep every other parameter the same (limit, max_age and fields may change); anything else that differs is rejected. When `page.has_more` is `false` the walk is over, and `page.end_reason` says why: only `end` means you have every item (the others say the platform or a page cap stopped the walk early).

- **Order**: The exact account first, then Instagram's tag search ranking
- **Page size**: Up to 56 accounts and hashtags (the default; `limit` lowers it)
- **Cursor lifetime**: 24 hours; don't store cursors
- **Price**: Per page, 1 credit

### The `page` object

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `page.has_more` | `boolean` | True when another page exists; then next_cursor is set. An empty page with has_more true is not the end. |
| `page.next_cursor` | `string` or `null` | Pass as cursor, with the same other parameters, to get the next page; null at the end. |
| `page.next_cursor_expires_at` | `string` (date-time) or `null` | When next_cursor stops working, RFC 3339 UTC; null at the end. Don't store cursors. |
| `page.end_reason` | `string` or `null` | Why there are no more pages; null while has_more is true. end: the list ended, or reached since/until. platform_limit: the platform stops serving further pages although the list goes on. max_pages: SocialTap's cap on pages in one walk. New values may be added. A short or empty page is not the end: only has_more false is.<br>One of `end`, `platform_limit`, `max_pages` |

### Next page

cURL: next page:

```shell
curl 'https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/search_suggestions?query=nasa&cursor=NEXT_CURSOR' \
  -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"
```

- The price is per page: each successful page costs the same, whatever `limit` is and however many items it has. Empty pages are charged too (an empty page with `has_more: true` is not the end).
- A `limit` below 56 doesn't save credits: the next request serves the rest of the same platform page, which is fetched again and charged as a page each time, and items can shift between those requests if the platform changes the list. Omitting `limit` is the cheapest way to walk the list.
- Errors are free, including a rejected cursor.
- Pages served from the cache are free.
- An expired or altered cursor, or one sent with different parameters, fails with [`invalid_cursor`](https://socialtap.dev/docs/errors/index.md#invalid_cursor) (HTTP 400): Repeat the original request without cursor to start the list again.

[Pagination guide](https://socialtap.dev/docs/pagination/index.md)

## Pricing

From **1 credit** per page. Charged per successful page, whatever its number of items. Errors are free. The price depends on the source that produced the result, reported as `meta.source`.

| Source | Price per successful page | Per 1,000 pages |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Platform API `api` | 1 credit | $0.75–$1.97 |

**Balance, sources and what you were charged**

Your balance must be at least **1 credit** to start a request; with less, it is refused with [`insufficient_credits`](https://socialtap.dev/docs/errors/index.md#insufficient_credits) (HTTP 402) and costs nothing. Only that minimum is set aside when the request starts.

| meta.source | Source | What it means |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `api` | Platform API | The platform's public, logged-out API. |

`meta.credits_charged` and the `x-credits-charged` header show what you paid. [How credits work](https://socialtap.dev/docs/credits/index.md) · [Packs](https://socialtap.dev/pricing/index.md)

Endpoint ID `instagram.search_suggestions` · operationId `instagram.search_suggestions.list` · [Product overview](https://socialtap.dev/apis/instagram/search_suggestions/index.md)

---

[HTML version](https://socialtap.dev/docs/reference/instagram/search_suggestions/) · [Docs index for AI agents](https://socialtap.dev/llms.txt) · [All docs in one file](https://socialtap.dev/llms-full.txt)