Instagram Media Transcript API
Returns the spoken words in an Instagram video or reel of up to 10 minutes as text. A video with no speech returns 404 with reason no_speech, free of charge.
GET /v1/instagram/media/transcriptLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Instagram Media Transcript API
Use it when you need what was said in a video rather than its metrics; pass the reel or video URL. Photo posts and videos over 10 minutes cannot be transcribed.
From the API reference
Returns an AI-generated transcript of the spoken words in an Instagram video or reel. The audio itself is transcribed; when that cannot be done, the captions Instagram generates for some videos are used instead, as the same plain text. A video with music, sound effects or on-screen text but no speech has nothing to transcribe. Videos up to 10 minutes (600 seconds) are supported. Every outcome below is deterministic for a given URL, so retrying returns the same answer, and none of them costs credits. A video with no speech returns 404 RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND with error.details.reason: no_speech (the video exists). A photo post, a carousel of photos, or a URL that no longer resolves returns 404 with reason: no_video_or_gone, because Instagram answers those identically. A video longer than 10 minutes returns 400 INVALID_REQUEST with error.details.reason: video_too_long, duration_seconds and max_seconds, and a message giving its length. A video over 2 minutes is transcribed on demand and can take a minute or more, so allow up to 300 seconds before your HTTP client times out.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Media Transcript API?
The Media Transcript endpoint gives you structured Instagram data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/instagram/media/transcript: 10 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 32: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 32 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/media/transcript?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Freel%2FDHsD6HGqJhp%2F" && cat response.json# GET /v1/instagram/media/transcript: 10 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 32 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/media/transcript"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHsD6HGqJhp/",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// GET /v1/instagram/media/transcript: 10 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 32_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/media/transcript");
url.searchParams.set("url", "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHsD6HGqJhp/");
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| url | Yes | Full URL of the Instagram video or reel (a `/reel/`, `/p/` or `/tv/` link to a video post). Photo posts have no audio to transcribe. A share link copied from the app (`instagram.com/share/...`) works too; a share link to a profile is refused at no charge with the handle to send, and a dead one is a free 404. |
What does the Instagram Media Transcript API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "instagram",
"endpoint": "/v1/instagram/media/transcript",
"data": {
"transcripts": [
{
"id": "3597267389859272809",
"shortcode": "DHsD6HGqJhp",
"text": "Let's fry up the perfect Banh Xeo. Beautiful. Everybody. Shh. The perfect Banh Xeo. Let me show you my Banh Xeo. When it comes down to Banh Xeo, we make it the crispiest. Hear the crunch? Heaven."
}
]
},
"credits_used": 0,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": true,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"source": "captured",
"captured_at": "2026-10-02T12:51:32.156Z",
"redacted": true
}Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.
How does the Instagram Media Transcript API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
See your data before you code
Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usHow do I transcribe an Instagram reel with an API?
What languages does the Instagram transcript endpoint support?
Does the transcript include timestamps?
Can I transcribe any Instagram reel?
How much does the Instagram Reel Transcript API cost?
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