transcriptfetchGet API access

Instagram Reels Transcript API

Instagram Transcript API: any Reel URL to timestamped text

Get the transcriptTry in ChatGPT or Claude
100 free credits · no card

Reels, feed videos and IGTV, from a public URL. Every response carries per-segment start times and the duration, so you can quote the exact second a claim was made and anyone can check it. One credit per transcript, nothing at all when a fetch fails.

@creator · 0:38200 OK
00:00People keep asking which camera I use and it is genuinely the least important part.
00:05The thing that changed my retention was cutting the first three seconds entirely.
00:11Start on the sentence that would make someone stop, not on the setup for it.
00:18I rewrote thirty old reels that way and the median watch time nearly doubled.
00:26Same footage, same audio, same edit, just a different first line.
00:33So write the hook last, once you know what the interesting part turned out to be.
transcribed · en · 6 segments1 credit

Instagram has no public transcript endpoint.

The Graph API only reaches accounts you own, and it returns no transcript at all. A public Reel URL is enough here.

With the Graph API or a scraper

App review, a business account and a token that expires, and even then no transcript field exists. Scraping instead means a login wall for datacenter traffic, proxies to rotate, and a markup change that breaks you quietly.

With TranscriptFetch

Send the URL with your key. Reels rarely carry a caption track, so the audio is transcribed on the same call at the same price. Failed requests cost nothing, and Instagram's changes are ours to chase.

Who it is for, and how they use it

Three ways in, depending on how you work. Same endpoint, same credit, same response shape underneath all of them.

DevelopersOne endpoint

Engineers building a product

You need Reel text in a pipeline without an app review or a token that expires every sixty days.

  1. 01Create a key in the dashboard, send it as a Bearer token.
  2. 02POST the Reel URL to one endpoint, same shape every time.
  3. 03Store the segments next to your other sources and move on.
Read the API reference →
Research and marketingRun at volume

Analysts and marketers

You are tracking what creators say about a category, across more accounts than anyone can watch.

  1. 01Collect the Reel URLs you already care about.
  2. 02Send up to 50 in one batch call.
  3. 03Search the text and quote the second something was said.
See batch fetching →
AI and agentsNo code

Teams building with assistants

Your agent needs to read a Reel mid-conversation and cite it without inventing a timestamp.

  1. 01Add the MCP server once, no deploy and no glue code.
  2. 02Ask in plain language, the assistant calls the tool itself.
  3. 03Answers come back with the timecode attached.
Set up MCP →

One request, whichever way you build.

Write code if you want to. If you would rather not, the same fetch runs from a workflow tool or straight inside an assistant.

REST

Call the endpoint

One POST with the URL. Same JSON for every Reel you send.

Read the API reference →
NO CODE

Drop it in a workflow

An official n8n node. Run it on a schedule or a trigger.

See the n8n node →
MCP

Let an assistant do it

Connect once and Claude or ChatGPT fetches transcripts mid-chat.

Set up MCP →
curl -X POST https://transcriptfetch.com/api/v1/transcripts/video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTFETCH_KEY" \
  -d '{"video": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbSfnc9TZ7q/"}'
No code required

Let the assistant read the Reel itself.

Add the MCP server once and Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor can pull a transcript mid-conversation. Same key, same credit, no glue code and nothing to deploy.

Set up MCPOr browse the n8n node →

https://transcriptfetch.com/mcp

ClaudeTool: transcriptfetch
What does this Reel actually claim about retention?
CALLING get_transcript(video="instagram.com/reel/DbSf…")
At 00:18 he says rewriting the first three seconds nearly doubled median watch time.

Questions people ask first

Instagram Transcript API vs the Graph API vs scraping

TranscriptFetch
Instagram Graph API
A DIY scraper
Works on
Any public Reel or video URL
Only accounts you own or manage
Whatever survives the login wall
Setup
Get a key, make a request
App review, a business account, tokens that expire
Headless browser, proxies, an STT pipeline
Transcript text
Captions, or AI transcription on the same call
No transcript field exists
Your own transcription step to build
Timestamps
Per-segment start and duration
Not available
Depends on your STT setup
Blocks and proxies
Handled for you, rotating infrastructure
N/A
Your IP, blocked at scale
Batch
Up to 50 URLs per call
Not available
Manual loops
Failed fetches
Free, billed on delivery only
N/A
You pay for the compute either way
MCP server
Yes, for Claude, Cursor and others
No
No

The Graph API deserves the sentence people expect it to earn: even with app review passed and a business account connected, it returns no transcript text for any video, including your own. A public Reel URL is enough here.

What happens when a Reel has no captions

TranscriptFetch
A caption-only fetch
Reel has no caption track
Transcribed with AI speech-to-text
Returns nothing, which on Instagram is most videos
Changes needed in your code
None, same video endpoint
Separate fallback logic
Extra cost
Charged only when a transcript is delivered
Premium tier, or unavailable
Blocks and login walls
Handled by our infrastructure
Yours to solve

What the endpoint returns

Reels, feed videos and IGTV from a public URL
Captions when they exist, AI transcription when they do not
Per-segment timestamps: start and duration
No login, no app review, no expiring tokens
Batch endpoint for up to 50 URLs per call
Plain text and segmented JSON in one response
Webhooks or polling for transcription jobs
An MCP server, plus Python and JavaScript SDKs

Guides from the blog

How to add captions to Instagram Reels (every method)The Captions sticker, auto captions, editing apps, and the transcript-first workflow, plus fixes for when Instagram captions refuse to show …Read the guide →How to copy or download Instagram captions (every method)Need to copy or download Instagram captions? Here are every practical method, what works on mobile and desktop, and when to automate it.Read the guide →

Instagram Reels Transcript API

Extract transcripts from Instagram Reels with a developer-friendly API built for automation, analytics, and content workflows. Send a Reel URL or post identifier, and get structured transcript data you can use in search, moderation, summarization, accessibility features, and downstream AI pipelines.

What this API does

The Instagram Reels Transcript API helps you programmatically retrieve spoken content from Reels so your application can understand video content as text. It is designed for teams building products that need reliable transcript access at scale, without manual copy and paste or brittle scraping logic inside the app layer.

Use it to:

  • turn Reels audio into machine-readable text
  • power content discovery and semantic search
  • summarize creator content automatically
  • analyze trends, topics, and sentiment across videos
  • support moderation and compliance workflows
  • improve accessibility with transcript-based experiences
  • feed transcript data into LLM or RAG pipelines

Built for developers

The API returns structured output that is easy to work with in backend services, data pipelines, and product features. Whether you are processing a single Reel on demand or running batch jobs across large content sets, the integration is straightforward.

Typical developer workflows include:

  • submitting an Instagram Reel URL for transcript extraction
  • retrieving normalized transcript text and metadata
  • storing transcripts for indexing and analytics
  • enriching video records in your database
  • triggering follow-up actions such as summarization, classification, or tagging

Common use cases

Content intelligence

Convert short-form video into searchable text so you can understand what creators are saying, identify recurring themes, and surface relevant content faster.

AI and LLM pipelines

Use Reel transcripts as clean input for summarization, question answering, topic extraction, entity detection, or retrieval systems.

Moderation and compliance

Scan spoken content for policy-sensitive language, risk indicators, or brand safety issues as part of automated review flows.

Accessibility and UX

Support features such as transcript views, keyword highlights, and better navigation across video content.

Why teams use it

  • simple API integration for transcript retrieval
  • structured results for application and data use
  • useful for both real-time requests and offline processing
  • designed for products that need clear, reusable text output from Instagram Reels

If you need to extract transcript data from Instagram Reels in a way that is easy to integrate into developer workflows, this API provides a clean foundation for building search, analytics, moderation, and AI-powered features.

Start with 100 free credits

Paste a Reel link or copy the curl, whichever suits you. No card, no sales call.

Read the docsGet started free