Can I send Instagram Direct messages programmatically through the API? Is there a limit?

Question

I want to build an Instagram Hashtag Gallery (an image/video gallery that will scrape the image/video media of all public instagrams with a specific hashtag)- that part is easy enough and very common. However, given the uncertainties involved in receiving ALL messages when searching for a hashtag, I also want to send a confirmation message to users after their submission has been received. The best way would seem to be through an Instagram Direct private message. I cannot find anything about whether this is possible and if there are limits to the number of Instagram Direct messages my app can send.

Is this possible?

Solution

As far as I can tell, it's not possible.

With the Instagram API console, you can check for the supported methods: API Console

Comments

[Chris Edwards]

How do you get around having to pass / generating the Cookie header?

[Luchux]

How would you use that private API @nikola c?

[Nikola C]

You can reverse the API by logging the instagram app through a proxy. Also you will need to sign requests with a HMAC Sha256 with the key "30b12eccccac24b72a8b95780755bdc8".

[Luke Taylor]

@NikolaC Please add this information to your answer and elaborate to provide the results of this introspection. Your answer is not useful as it is

[SAYE]

By reading Instagram official document about Api's you can know this answer is't right . you never can send direct using apis

[ModerateJavaScriptDev]

Then how does the instagram app itself send and receive dms?

[MonkeyBonkey]

You can use their private apis like Nikola said - but that would probably be violating their terms of service. The apis are "private" which means these endpoints are not published in documentation and are probably not something that Instagram wants you to use for your own projects. These are apis that the Instagram app itself uses.