# Schedule Posts and Reels to Instagram

Connect your Instagram Business or Creator account to Cue and schedule photo posts, carousels, and Reels. Grow your Instagram presence with consistent, well-timed content.

## Getting started

### Connect your Instagram account

1. Ensure you have an Instagram Business or Creator account
2. Connect your Instagram to a Facebook Page
3. Go to Profiles in your Cue dashboard
4. Click Connect Account on a profile
5. Select Instagram from the platform list
6. Authorize via Facebook and select your Page
7. You're connected! Start scheduling posts

Instagram API requires a Business or Creator account linked to a Facebook Page. Personal accounts are not supported by Instagram's API.

## Capabilities

### What you can do with Instagram

Features and capabilities specific to Instagram publishing.

### Photo Posts

Schedule single image posts with captions up to 2,200 characters. Cue validates aspect ratios before publishing.

### Carousel Posts

Create carousel posts with up to 10 images. Perfect for product showcases, tutorials, or storytelling.

### First Comment

Add an automatic first comment to your posts. Great for hashtags or supplementary info you don't want in the main caption.

### Smart Scheduling

Let Cue pick the optimal posting time based on when your Instagram followers are most active.

### API Publishing

Schedule Instagram posts programmatically via the Cue API. Perfect for e-commerce or content automation.

### Media Validation

Cue checks image dimensions, file sizes, and formats before publishing to prevent failed posts.

## For developers

### Schedule to Instagram via API

Build Instagram publishing into your own tools with our REST API. Schedule posts, manage content, and automate workflows programmatically.

api.oncue.so

```
POST /v1/posts

{
  "profileId": "prf_abc123",
  "platforms": {
    "sac_instagram123": {
      "items": [{
        "content": "Beautiful sunset from today's adventure!"
      }]
    }
  },
  "publishNow": true
}
```

- RESTful endpoints

Create, schedule, and manage Instagram posts programmatically with simple HTTP requests.

- Webhook notifications

Get notified when your Instagram posts publish, fail, or need attention.

- Full documentation

Complete API reference with Instagram-specific examples in multiple languages.

## Questions & Answers

### Why do I need a Business account?

Instagram's API only supports Business and Creator accounts. Personal accounts cannot be connected to third-party scheduling tools due to Instagram's API restrictions.

### Can I schedule Instagram Stories?

Not yet. Instagram's API has limited Stories support. We're monitoring for changes and will add Stories when possible.

### What image dimensions work best?

Instagram supports aspect ratios from 4:5 (portrait) to 1.91:1 (landscape). Square (1:1) is universally safe. We recommend 1080px width minimum.

### How does First Comment work?

When you add a First Comment, Cue posts it immediately after your main post publishes. It's great for hashtags so your caption stays clean.

### Can I post Reels?

Reels scheduling support depends on Instagram's API capabilities. Currently, Cue supports feed posts and carousels.