# Instagram videos

> Get the most-viewed Instagram Reels posted in the last 48 hours in one request.

Source: https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/instagram-videos
Markdown: https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/instagram-videos.md
Section: By platform

## About the Virlo API (applies to every page)

- Base URL: `https://api.virlo.ai/v1`. Every request needs the header `Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY` (keys start with `virlo_tkn_`).
- Responses are JSON inside a `data` field, except the `/v1/webhooks` endpoints, which return the object or array directly. Field names are snake_case.
- Prices are in US dollars from a prepaid balance. 1 credit = $0.01. The `X-Cost` response header on each successful response is the exact charge. Errors are free.
- Slow jobs return an ID. Check its status every 15 seconds (or whatever `retry_after_seconds` says) until `finalized` is `true`.
- All docs pages: https://dev.virlo.ai/llms.txt. Every page in one file: https://dev.virlo.ai/llms-full.txt. MCP server for AI assistants: https://dev.virlo.ai/api/mcp/mcp.

---

See which Instagram Reels posted in the last two days have the most views so far. In the [all-platform list](https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/videos), TikToks and Shorts take most spots.

**At a glance**

- **What it does:** Ranks Reels Virlo has collected, not all of Instagram. Takes about a second.
- **You send:** Optionally, how many Reels you want.
- **You get back:** Link, caption, views, likes, comments, hashtags. No shares, saves, country, or transcript; open the link to see the creator.
- **Cost:** $0.25 per request, even for 100 Reels. Errors are free.

## Get top Instagram Reels

**Endpoint:** `GET https://api.virlo.ai/v1/instagram/videos/digest`

Cost per request: $0.25

- `limit` (integer, optional): How many Reels: 1 to 100 (default 50; above 100 gives 100). Other settings, even `platform`, fail.

**cURL request:**

```bash
curl -G https://api.virlo.ai/v1/instagram/videos/digest \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d limit=50
```

**JavaScript request:**

```js
const res = await fetch('https://api.virlo.ai/v1/instagram/videos/digest?limit=50', {
  headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' },
})
const { data } = await res.json()
```

**Python request:**

```python
import requests

res = requests.get(
    'https://api.virlo.ai/v1/instagram/videos/digest',
    headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'},
    params={'limit': 50},
)
data = res.json()['data']
```

**Response 200 OK:**

```json
{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "94616037-3d94-4a4a-bf68-10366ad1c65f",
      "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdnXu6WRcxR/",
      "type": "instagram",
      "description": "Panel solar cleaning #solarfarm\nPanel solar cleaning #solarfarm",
      "publish_date": "2026-09-23T03:43:40",
      "views": 455078,
      "number_of_likes": 1454,
      "number_of_comments": 6,
      "number_of_shares": null,
      "bookmarks": null,
      "hashtags": ["solarfarm"],
      "thumbnail_url": "https://auth.virlo.ai/storage/v1/object/public/thumbnails/cf36718c0c4afcad47b8d098a4bfb67b478589d3f7391e6e72de1293eb50634c.jpg",
      "duration": null,
      "external_id": "3992263973503618129",
      "author_id": "a63dfcf1-2bee-47a1-81ba-cff9e0deb171",
      "niche": "unknown",
      "region": null,
      "upload_region": null,
      "upload_region_source": null,
      "transcript_raw": null,
      "is_eligible_for_commission": null,
      "is_duet": null,
      "is_stitch": null,
      "sound": null
    }
  ]
}
```

**Response 400:**

```json
{
  "message": ["limit must not be less than 1"],
  "error": "Bad Request",
  "statusCode": 400,
  "code": "validation_error"
}
```

Many captions repeat after a line break; ignore the repeat.

[What each field means](https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/videos#get-videos-digest)

---

More in By platform:

- [YouTube hashtags](https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/youtube-hashtags.md)
- [YouTube videos](https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/youtube-videos.md)
- [TikTok hashtags](https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/tiktok-hashtags.md)
- [TikTok videos](https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/tiktok-videos.md)
- [Instagram hashtags](https://dev.virlo.ai/docs/instagram-hashtags.md)