Tutorial · curl
How to scrape Instagram transcripts with curl (2026)
A curl walkthrough for GET /v2/instagram/media/{media}/transcript. Copy the snippet, run it, then read the JSON.
GET /v2/instagram/media/{media}/transcript · 1 credit
In this tutorial
You'll pull a Instagram transcript from a public video URL and see the text you get back.
Typical job: a reel pipeline. You have /reel/… or /p/… links or shortcodes from a monitor, and you want what's said in each video from data.transcript.text. lookupStatus found doesn't promise text: a video with no speech is found, with text null.
Step 1
Get ready
Create a Social Fetch API key and get curl ready. New accounts include 100 free credits.
API key. Create a Social Fetch account, open API Keys and create a key. New accounts include 100 free credits.
curl setup. Any shell with curl. Set SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY to your key (export SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY=sfk_…) before you run the sample.
When you're done, SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY is set in your shell.
Step 2
Make the request
Copy the curl sample and run it. It calls GET /v2/instagram/media/{media}/transcript with your key in the x-api-key header, using this example: /v2/instagram/media/Delg3cUktih/transcript.
It prints the JSON response. With -sS, curl stays quiet on success but still prints connection errors.
Step 3
Read the response
The response is JSON with two parts: data holds the transcripts and meta holds creditsCharged and requestId. The sample below is a trimmed copy of a real response; the endpoint page lists every field. Credits are charged on completed lookups, not on failed requests.
Check data.lookupStatus first when the response has one. Keep meta.requestId in case a row looks wrong.
Watch out
transcript.text is null on a found video with no speech. language and segments can be null too, so read text first. Photo posts come back as not_found.
Step 4
You finished
The Playground, the docs and your code all call the same endpoint at the same price. Pick a next step below.
FAQ
Common questions
Do I need an official Instagram developer account?
No. Social Fetch authenticates with your Social Fetch API key. You call GET /v2/instagram/media/{media}/transcript and we handle the lookup. You still need to follow each platform's terms for how you use public data.
What does the Instagram transcripts endpoint return?
JSON with two parts: data holds the transcripts and meta holds creditsCharged and requestId. The endpoint page and the API docs describe every field.
Can Instagram carousel posts return multiple transcripts?
A carousel with several videos returns their texts joined in order, one blank line apart, in a single data.transcript.text. found means the post was read; text can still be null when nobody speaks.
Do Instagram /reel/ and /p/ URLs both work for transcripts?
Yes. Pass the shortcode, the public link or the numeric media id as the media path parameter. The text is in data.transcript.text. Check lookupStatus before you read it.
How much does a successful request cost?
1 credit. +10 credits per started minute of transcribed video, up to 60 minutes (allowLongTranscription). Max 601 credits. Failed requests are free.
Is this okay for production?
Yes. It's the same API the Playground and the docs use: typed errors, a requestId on every response, and credits charged only on completed lookups. New accounts get 100 free credits.
Any curl-specific tips for this request?
Yes. Pass the key with -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALFETCH_API_KEY", and wrap the full URL in double quotes so the shell doesn't split it at the & between query parameters. -sS hides the progress meter but still shows connection errors. curl doesn't treat an HTTP error status as a failure, so read the error JSON it prints, or add --fail-with-body.
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