Instagram posting settings

Every post to Instagram carries a settings object. Instagram has two tiles, and both take the same fields:

Tile in Add Channel	`__type`
Instagram (Facebook Business)	`instagram`
Instagram (Standalone)	`instagram-standalone`

Read the live schema for your channel with Get a channel’s settings.

Fields

Field	Type	Required	What it does
`__type`	string	No	`"instagram"` or `"instagram-standalone"`. PostQueen sets it from the channel you post to, so it always matches the tile and can be left out.
`post_type`	string	Yes	`post`, `reel` or `story`. See below.
`is_trial_reel`	boolean	No	`true` publishes the Reel as a Trial Reel, shown to people who don’t follow you first. Needs exactly one MP4.
`graduation_strategy`	string	No	How a Trial Reel reaches your followers: `MANUAL` or `SS_PERFORMANCE` (automatically, based on performance). Left out, a Trial Reel uses `MANUAL`.
`collaborators`	array of objects	No	Up to 3 accounts to invite as collaborators, each `{ "label": "username" }`. A leading `@` is removed. Private accounts can’t be invited. Not sent on stories.
`audio`	object	No	Music or original sound for a single-video Reel. Facebook Business tile only: an `instagram-standalone` channel ignores it. See below.

`post_type`

Value	What is published
`post`	A feed post. One image is a photo post, 2 to 10 items are a carousel, and a single video goes out as a Reel.
`reel`	A Reel. The post must carry exactly one MP4.
`story`	Stories. Each attached photo or video goes out as its own story, in order. There is no caption and no item limit.

`audio`

Field	Type	Required	What it does
`id`	string	Yes	The audio id from `audioSearch`.
`title`, `artist`, `image`	string	No	Shown in the composer only. Not sent to Instagram.
`audio_volume`	number	No	Volume of the added audio, `0` to `100`. Left out, Instagram’s default applies.
`video_volume`	number	No	Volume of the video’s own sound, `0` to `100`. Left out, Instagram’s default applies.

Find an audio id with the audioSearch tool through trigger a provider tool. An empty q returns trending audio, and type is music (the default) or original_sound:

curl -X POST "https://api.postqueen.ai/public/v1/integration-trigger/YOUR_CHANNEL_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "methodName": "audioSearch", "data": { "q": "summer", "type": "music" } }'

The response is { "output": [ { "id", "title", "artist", "image", "duration", "previewUrl" } ] }. Put the chosen id in settings.audio.id. Instagram returns only audio cleared for use by other apps, so the list can be shorter than in the Instagram app.

What PostQueen checks

A post that breaks one of these rules is refused with 400 before it is scheduled:

Rule	Message
At least one photo or video	“Should have at least one media”
At most 10 items (not for stories)	“Instagram carousel only supports up to 10 media attachments”
At most 30 hashtags in the caption (not for stories)	“Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags in a caption”
At most 20 @mentions in the caption (not for stories)	“Instagram allows up to 20 @mentions in a caption”
No AVIF, BMP or TIFF images, as on every network	“File must have a valid extension: .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .webp, or .mp4”
`post_type: "reel"` carries exactly one MP4	“Reels must be a single video”, “Reels must be a video”
`is_trial_reel: true` carries exactly one MP4	“Trial Reels can only have one video”, “Trial Reels must be a video”
`audio` on a single-video post or Reel, not a story (Facebook Business tile)	“Audio can only be added to Reels, not to Stories”, “Audio can only be added to a single video Reel”, “Audio can only be added to a video Reel”
At most 3 `collaborators`	“Instagram allows up to 3 collaborators”
Caption up to 2,200 characters	“post is too long, please fix it”

The error body names the channel and the rule:

{
  "statusCode": 400,
  "provider": "instagram",
  "name": "Your channel name",
  "message": "Instagram carousel only supports up to 10 media attachments"
}

Instagram’s own rules are not checked first: images up to 8 MB with an aspect ratio between 4:5 and 1.91:1, Reels from 3 seconds to 15 minutes and up to 300 MB, and story videos from 3 to 60 seconds. PNG, WebP and GIF images are converted to JPEG when the post is published. AVIF, BMP and TIFF are refused, not converted: convert them to JPEG or PNG before you upload.

Examples

Send each body to create a post. Replace YOUR_CHANNEL_ID with the channel’s id from list channels, and each media id and path with the values upload a file returns.

{
  "type": "schedule",
  "date": "2026-10-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "shortLink": false,
  "tags": [],
  "posts": [
    {
      "integration": { "id": "YOUR_CHANNEL_ID" },
      "value": [
        {
          "content": "Autumn menu is here. Which one are you trying first?",
          "image": [{ "id": "MEDIA_ID", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/photo.jpg" }]
        }
      ],
      "settings": { "__type": "instagram", "post_type": "post" }
    }
  ]
}

{
  "type": "schedule",
  "date": "2026-10-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "shortLink": false,
  "tags": [],
  "posts": [
    {
      "integration": { "id": "YOUR_CHANNEL_ID" },
      "value": [
        {
          "content": "Swipe for all three looks. #autumn #lookbook",
          "image": [
            { "id": "MEDIA_ID_1", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/look-1.jpg" },
            { "id": "MEDIA_ID_2", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/look-2.jpg" },
            { "id": "MEDIA_ID_3", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/look-3.jpg" }
          ]
        },
        {
          "content": "Sizes and prices are in our bio.",
          "image": [],
          "delay": 5
        }
      ],
      "settings": {
        "__type": "instagram",
        "post_type": "post",
        "collaborators": [{ "label": "partner_studio" }]
      }
    }
  ]
}

{
  "type": "schedule",
  "date": "2026-10-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "shortLink": false,
  "tags": [],
  "posts": [
    {
      "integration": { "id": "YOUR_CHANNEL_ID" },
      "value": [
        {
          "content": "Behind the scenes of today's shoot.",
          "image": [{ "id": "MEDIA_ID", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/reel.mp4" }]
        }
      ],
      "settings": { "__type": "instagram-standalone", "post_type": "reel" }
    }
  ]
}

{
  "type": "schedule",
  "date": "2026-10-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "shortLink": false,
  "tags": [],
  "posts": [
    {
      "integration": { "id": "YOUR_CHANNEL_ID" },
      "value": [
        {
          "content": "Testing a new format.",
          "image": [{ "id": "MEDIA_ID", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/reel.mp4" }]
        }
      ],
      "settings": {
        "__type": "instagram",
        "post_type": "reel",
        "is_trial_reel": true,
        "graduation_strategy": "SS_PERFORMANCE"
      }
    }
  ]
}

{
  "type": "schedule",
  "date": "2026-10-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "shortLink": false,
  "tags": [],
  "posts": [
    {
      "integration": { "id": "YOUR_CHANNEL_ID" },
      "value": [
        {
          "content": "Friday mood.",
          "image": [{ "id": "MEDIA_ID", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/reel.mp4" }]
        }
      ],
      "settings": {
        "__type": "instagram",
        "post_type": "reel",
        "audio": { "id": "AUDIO_ID", "audio_volume": 80, "video_volume": 20 }
      }
    }
  ]
}

{
  "type": "schedule",
  "date": "2026-10-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "shortLink": false,
  "tags": [],
  "posts": [
    {
      "integration": { "id": "YOUR_CHANNEL_ID" },
      "value": [
        {
          "content": "",
          "image": [
            { "id": "MEDIA_ID_1", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/story-1.jpg" },
            { "id": "MEDIA_ID_2", "path": "https://uploads.postqueen.ai/story-2.mp4" }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "settings": { "__type": "instagram", "post_type": "story" }
    }
  ]
}

In the carousel example, the second entry in value is a follow-up comment, posted 5 minutes after the post. Comments on Instagram are text only.

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Instagram posting settings

Fields

`post_type`

`audio`

What PostQueen checks

Examples

​Fields

​post_type

​audio

​What PostQueen checks

​Examples

​Related

Fields

`post_type`

`audio`

What PostQueen checks

Examples

Related