How I Automated Instagram Direct Publishing (Without Paying for a Scheduler)
How I Automated Instagram Direct Publishing
Manually posting screenshots to Instagram is the biggest bottleneck for any "build-in-public" project. Today, I automated it.
> TL;DR: Posting to Instagram from code is notoriously annoying because of expiring tokens. This guide shows you how to set up a "System User" (a permanent robot account) so you can run a single command to post images forever, without logging in.
I wanted to take the 700+ AI blueprints on this site and post them daily as high-resolution 1:1 cards. Here is the workflow I used to bypass the "Invalid Platform" errors and finally get a reliable auto-poster running.
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The Stack
- Next.js (Edge Runtime): For generating the 1080x1080 social cards.
- Puppeteer: To take high-quality screenshots of the cards.
- Cloudinary: To host the image (Instagram's API requires a public URL to fetch).
- Meta Graph API: For the actual publishing.
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Step 1: The "Bridge" Setup
Instagram's API doesn't talk to individual accounts. It talks to Facebook Pages.
1. Instagram App: Switch your account to a "Professional" or "Business" account.
2. Facebook: Create a placeholder Page (e.g., "Real AI Examples").
3. Connect: Link the Instagram account to the Facebook Page in the Meta Business Suite.
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Step 2: The Meta Developer Portal
To get API access, you need an "App."
1. Go to Meta for Developers.
2. Create a new app (Select Business as the type).
3. Under App Settings > Basic, you MUST scroll to the bottom, click Add Platform, and select Website. Enter your URL (e.g., https://realaiexamples.com).
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Step 3: The "System User" Workaround
Standard "User Tokens" expire in 60 days. To make this truly automated, you need a System User Token which doesn't expire automatically like standard user tokens.
1. Go to Business Settings.
2. Users > System Users: Create a new user called "Insta Bot" with Admin access.
3. Add Assets: Assign your App, your Facebook Page, and your Instagram Account to this system user.
4. Generate Token: Select your app and check these specific permissions:
- instagram_basic
- instagram_content_publish
- pages_read_engagement
- pages_show_list
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Step 4: Finding Your IDs
The API needs to know *which* account to post to. Use the Graph API Explorer to find your ID.
1. Paste your System User Token into the Access Token field.
2. Run this query: me/accounts?fields=instagram_business_account{id},name
3. Look for the ID starting with 1784.... This is your Instagram Business Account ID.
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Step 5: The Implementation
The script follow a 3-step handshake:
1. Screenshot: Use Puppeteer to hit a local URL (like /api/og?format=insta) and save the 1080x1080 card.
2. Upload: Send that image to Cloudinary.
3. Publish:
- Post to /media: This creates a "container" using your Cloudinary URL and Caption.
- Post to /media_publish: Once the container is ready, this command makes the post live.
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Conclusion
Direct publishing from your CLI is significantly more reliable than using third-party schedulers, and it gives you total control over the visual layout of your cards.
By using the System User route, you avoid the headache of re-authenticating your app every two months. Now, every time I add a new blueprint to the site, it's just one command away from being an Instagram post.
Useful Tools: