How to Create an Instagram Developer Account
There is no separate Instagram developer account. You register as a Meta developer with your Facebook account, create an app in the Meta App Dashboard, add the "Manage messaging and content on Instagram" use case, and connect an Instagram professional (Business or Creator) account. Serving other people's accounts also takes a business portfolio, Business Verification, and App Review. Adeli skips all of it with one API key.
There is no standalone Instagram developer account. To build on the Instagram API, you register as a Meta developer with your Facebook account, create an app in the Meta App Dashboard, add the Instagram use case, and connect an Instagram professional account. Everything Instagram-related, from the App ID to App Review, lives inside that Meta app.
This guide walks through each step with the exact menu names from Meta's docs, then the snags people hit most.
Is there such a thing as an Instagram developer account?
No. The Instagram developer account is a Meta developer account. Meta's Instagram Platform overview says that before you integrate, you must register as a Meta developer and then create an app in the Meta App Dashboard.
Three separate things get called "the developer account", and you need all three:
| What people call it | What it actually is | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Developer account | Your Meta developer registration, tied to a Facebook account | developers.facebook.com |
| Developer app | A Meta app with the Instagram use case, its own App ID and secret | Meta App Dashboard |
| The Instagram account | An Instagram professional account (Business or Creator) you connect to test |
What do you need before you start?
- A Facebook account. Meta's registration steps start "while logged into your Facebook account".
- A phone number and email you can access. Meta sends a confirmation code to both.
- An Instagram professional account. Meta's overview says app users "must have an Instagram professional account", meaning Business or Creator. Personal accounts don't work.
- A business portfolio, if you'll serve other people's accounts. Meta's create-an-app guide says an app that accesses data you don't own or manage must be connected to one.
Step 1: Register as a Meta developer
Registration takes four short steps, per Meta's registration docs:
- Start registration. While logged into Facebook, go to
developers.facebook.com/async/registration, or click Get Started on the Meta for Developers site. - Accept the terms. Click Next to agree to the Platform Terms and Developer Policies.
- Verify your account. Enter the confirmation codes Meta sends to your phone number and email. Meta uses these for developer notifications about changes that affect your app.
- Pick an occupation. Choose the one closest to what you do.
That registration is the "Instagram developer account", and it gets you into the App Dashboard.
Step 2: Create an app in the Meta App Dashboard
Go to developers.facebook.com/apps/creation/ and work through five screens, as Meta's create-an-app guide lays them out:
- App details. Enter the app name and a contact email.
- Use cases. Select Manage messaging and content on Instagram. Incompatible use cases grey out once you pick one.
- Business. Connect a verified business portfolio, an unverified one, create a new one, or choose "I don't want to connect a business portfolio yet".
- Requirements. Meta lists what the app will need later, such as App Review.
- Overview. Review everything and click Go to dashboard.
Use cases can't be removed after you create the app. Pick only the Instagram use case unless you're sure you need another one. Meta's Get Started guide also warns that if your existing app isn't a Business type app, you need to create a new one.
Step 3: Choose Instagram Login or Facebook Login
Pick one API setup per app. Meta's Instagram use case guide says you can only add one setup to an app, and if you want both, you create an app for each.
| API setup with Instagram Login | API setup with Facebook Login | |
|---|---|---|
| Your users log in with | Instagram credentials | Facebook credentials |
| Facebook Page needed | No | Yes, linked to the Instagram account |
| API host | graph.instagram.com |
graph.facebook.com |
| App ID you use | The Instagram app ID on the API setup page | The Meta app ID at the top of the dashboard |
| Default permissions | instagram_business_basic, instagram_business_manage_messages |
business_management, instagram_basic, pages_read_engagement, pages_show_list, plus publishing or messaging scopes |
Pick Instagram Login if your users' accounts live on Instagram only. Pick Facebook Login if they manage Instagram through a Facebook Page, or you need features only that setup has, such as hashtag search or product tagging. Our Instagram API permissions guide lists every scope for both.
Step 4: Connect your Instagram account and get a token
For Instagram Login, open API setup with Instagram Login in the dashboard's left menu. The page shows the Instagram app ID and Instagram app secret. Then, per Meta's use case guide:
- Add permissions. Click Add all required permissions.
- Connect the account. In Generate access tokens, click Add account, then log in to your Instagram professional account in the popup.
- Set up webhooks (optional). Add a callback URL and verify token, click Verify and save, then subscribe to fields.
- Set up Business Login. Click Set up under Instagram business login and add your redirect URL.
- Add the required URLs. In Business login settings, add a deauthorization callback URL and a data deletion request URL.
To prove it works, generate a token next to the account and call /me. Meta says dashboard tokens are long-lived, valid for 60 days:
curl -G "https://graph.instagram.com/v25.0/me" \
--data-urlencode "fields=user_id,username" \
--data-urlencode "access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>"A JSON response with your user_id and username means the app and the token work. Our Instagram access token guide covers exchanging and refreshing tokens for real users.
What changes when other people's accounts connect?
Your app starts in Standard Access, which only covers people with a role on it. Meta's overview says Standard Access is for apps used by people with roles on them, during development, or for testing. That's enough to post to your own account.
To serve customers' accounts, you need Advanced Access, which requires:
- Business Verification. Proof that your business portfolio belongs to a real business.
- App Review. A written use case and a screen recording for each permission, submitted under Review > App Review.
- Tech Provider steps, for client apps. Meta's use case guide adds access verification for apps that work with other business portfolios' data.
- A published app. Meta says some features, such as webhooks, require it.
Our guide to how long Meta app review takes covers the timeline and the rejections to plan for.
What snags should you expect?
These come from Meta's docs and from our own time in the App Dashboard.
- The account is personal. Every connection fails until the Instagram account switches to Business or Creator.
- The 15-app limit. Meta caps a developer or administrator role at 15 apps not connected to a verified business, and archived apps count. Connect a verified business portfolio or delete old apps.
- The business portfolio comes up later. You can skip it at creation, but an app serving accounts you don't own needs one. Connect it before Business Verification.
- Roles move to Business Manager. Once the app is connected to a business portfolio, Meta's App Roles docs say you manage roles there, not in the dashboard.
- Basic settings block review. App Review won't continue until the app icon, privacy policy URL, and category are set.
- App Review is where the time goes. From our own runs through Meta's review, expect most rejections to cite the screen recording rather than the written use case. The recording has to show the full login, the consent screen, and the feature working end to end.
Is there a faster way to get Instagram API access?
Yes, if you don't need your own Meta app. Adeli holds the Meta developer app, carried Meta's review, and refreshes every connected account's tokens. You sign in at app.tryadeli.com with Google, create one API key, and your users connect their own Instagram professional accounts through Adeli's connect flow.
Adeli's posting API publishes feed posts, Reels, Stories, and carousels from the same endpoint as Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Bluesky. Your first 3 connected accounts are free, with no credit card.