Instagram MCP Server: Post Reels, Carousels and Stories From Claude

An Instagram MCP server lets an AI app like Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or Cursor work your Instagram account for you: publish Reels, carousels and Stories, schedule posts, reply to comments and DMs, set up comment-to-DM funnels, and read the analytics. Creator OS runs one as a hosted server, so there is nothing to install and no Meta developer app to build. You add one URL, sign in, and start asking.

  You: "Post reel.mp4 as a Reel at 6pm, cover is cover.png"
        |
        v
  +-------------------+   MCP    +-------------------------+
  |  Claude / ChatGPT | -------> |  mcp.creatoros.ca/mcp   |
  |  Cursor / Codex   |          |  (Instagram tools)      |
  +-------------------+          +-------------------------+
                                            |
                                  Creator OS API (OAuth,
                                  upload, scheduling, retries)
                                            |
                                            v
                         Instagram: Reel . Carousel . Story
                         comments . DMs . insights

What an Instagram MCP server actually is

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard AI apps use to call outside tools. An MCP server publishes a list of tools, each with a name, a description and typed inputs, and the AI decides when to call them. An Instagram MCP server is simply one whose tools reach Instagram: “create a post”, “list comments”, “get post analytics”, and so on.

The hard part is not the protocol. It is everything behind it: the Instagram Graph API needs a Business or Creator account linked to a Facebook Page, an approved Meta app, long-lived tokens that refresh, container uploads that poll until a video finishes processing, and per-format rules that change every few months. Most open-source “Instagram MCP” repos on GitHub stop at a thin wrapper and leave you to build the Meta app yourself. Creator OS handles all of that on its servers and exposes the result as MCP tools.

What you can do with it

• Publish Reels, feed posts, carousels and Stories. A single video publishes as a Reel, images go to the feed, several items become a carousel, and contentType: "story" makes it a Story.
• Schedule any post for a time in the future. The scheduling runs on Creator OS servers, so your laptop can be closed.
• Set a custom Reel cover with instagramThumbnail (JPEG or PNG, 1080 x 1920 recommended) or pick a frame with thumbOffset.
• Post Trial Reels that only non-followers see, with manual or automatic graduation (trialParams).
• Add collaborators (up to 3), user tags, a location, the paid partnership label, or an AI-generated label.
• Put your link in the first comment with firstComment, since captions can’t hold clickable links.
• Turn comments off right after publishing with commentsEnabled: false.
• Answer comments and DMs, hide spam comments, and reply privately in DMs.
• Run comment-to-DM funnels: everyone who comments a keyword gets your link in their DMs. See comment-to-DM automations.
• Read analytics: views and engagement per post, daily totals, follower growth and your best time to post.

How to connect it

Claude (claude.ai and the desktop app)

1. Connect your Instagram account in Creator OS (it must be a Business or Creator account).
2. In Claude, open Settings, then Connectors, then Add custom connector.
3. Paste https://mcp.creatoros.ca/mcp and connect.
4. Sign in to Creator OS, pick the workspace, and choose read only or read & write.

ChatGPT

Turn on developer mode, add a connector with the same URL, and sign in the same way. See ChatGPT as your social media manager.

Claude Code

Use the workspace API key from Settings, then API keys:

claude mcp add --transport http creatoros https://mcp.creatoros.ca/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer cos_live_..."

Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "creatoros": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.creatoros.ca/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer cos_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

The full list of tools is in the MCP docs.

Prompts that work well

• “Upload ~/Downloads/launch.mp4 and post it as a Reel tomorrow at 6pm with this cover, and put the signup link in the first comment.”
• “Post these 8 images as one carousel. Tag @partnerbrand on slide 3.”
• “Post this as a Trial Reel and graduate it automatically if it performs.”
• “Which of my last 30 Reels got the most saves, and what do the hooks have in common?”
• “Reply to every unanswered comment from today in my voice. Skip anything negative and show me those instead.”
• “Set up a funnel on my latest Reel: anyone who comments GUIDE gets the guide link in their DMs.”

Instagram rules the server handles for you

Video processing

Instagram takes a video, processes it, and only then lets you publish it. Doing this yourself means creating a container, polling its status and retrying on timeouts. The Creator OS API does that loop and reports a failed post as failed, with a retry, instead of hanging.

Music on Reels

The API can’t attach trending audio the way the app does. If the sound matters, bake it into the video file before you upload. You can rename the Reel’s own audio with audioName, and catalog tracks are available for accounts connected through Facebook login.

Links

Links in captions are not clickable on Instagram. Use firstComment, a link in bio, or a comment-to-DM funnel, and track the clicks with a trackable short link.

Muting

Instagram has no mute switch, so muteAudio: true strips the audio track before upload. If stripping fails, the post fails instead of going out with sound.

Staying in control

Pick read only when you want analysis without risk. A read-only connection never sees the publishing tools, and the API refuses writes from it. Each connection gets its own key, listed under Connected apps where you can revoke it. Destructive tools such as deleting a post are marked, so Claude asks you first.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Meta developer account?

No. You connect Instagram inside Creator OS with a normal sign-in. Creator OS owns the Meta app and the token refresh.

Does it work with a personal Instagram account?

Instagram only allows publishing through its API for Business and Creator accounts. Switching is free in the Instagram app settings.

Can it post to TikTok and YouTube Shorts too?

Yes. The same server publishes one video to Reels, TikTok and Shorts in a single call. See cross-posting short video.

Is there an API as well?

Yes. Every MCP tool runs on the Creator OS Instagram API, so developers get the same behaviour over REST.

Prefer to watch? The KevBuildsApps YouTube channel walks through builds like this one, start to finish.

Get started

Creator OS plans start at $19.99/month for up to 8 connected accounts, with the MCP server, the API and the CLI included. Create your account, connect Instagram, and add https://mcp.creatoros.ca/mcp to Claude.