Instagram hashtag search vs reels search API: windows and cursors

Sume's Instagram search routes do not share one filter vocabulary. instagram_search_hashtag takes date_posted with five values (last-hour to last-year) and a string cursor, while instagram_search_reels takes date_posted with only three values and a numeric page. Mixing them up returns 400 scrapecreators_invalid_input.

All five Instagram search routes are POST /v1/scrapecreators/<operation> public reads that return media candidates and are not charged Sume credits in v1.

The five search operations

instagram_search takes only a query. instagram_search_profiles finds accounts. instagram_search_reels finds reels. instagram_search_hashtag finds posts under a tag. instagram_search_popular returns popular matches and uses an opaque cursor that you pass back unchanged.

Pagination differs on purpose, so write one helper per route instead of a shared one.

Hashtag search extras

The hashtag route also has media_type, either all or reels. Use reels when you only want short video, and all when photos and carousels are also useful. The tag goes in hashtag; the other routes take query.

curl -sS https://api.sume.com/v1/scrapecreators/instagram_search_hashtag \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"hashtag":"unboxing","date_posted":"last-week","media_type":"reels","limit":12}'

Limits that apply to every call

A call returns at most 24 items and reads at most 3 feed pages. limit defaults to 10 and max_pages to 3. The sync wait is 30 seconds; after that you get 202 and follow the job. There is no login, no private accounts, no stories or DMs, and nothing is imported automatically.

If a result is worth keeping, pass its post URL to the separate media import route, which is the only step that copies bytes into Sume storage. See what a TikTok or Instagram import costs.