How to Get Historical Data from Instagram API

Question

I'm making an Instagram analytics web app. I've carefully read all of the Instagram API endpoints and I can't find any way to get historical data (ie, followers over time). All I would need would be something like a date followed, attached to each follower object.

However, there are Instagram analytics sites that offer this, for example, minter.io.

https://minter.io/faq#faq-posting-1

From link above: "Minter.io provides full historical data on Instagram accounts and hashtags except for: Accounts – List of Lost Followers Hashtags – Reach and Exposure In these reports the data will only be available from the date the report is first generated."

An example of this historical data, from minter.io report on my account:

At this point, I think that either:

1. Minter has some special arrangement with Instagram to get additional data that otherwise isn't provided through API.
2. I'm missing something..

I understand how this could be done by comparing user data to previous reports (like this SO question asked) but clearly Minter is doing it some other way, because that report was generated from the very first time I created a trial account with them.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Solution

Now Facebook graph API has released the Instagram Insights API which returns detailed insights of Instagram Business accounts.

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/instagram-api/reference/user#insights

Above is for user insights, which has follower count. there are many media insights as well now available under graph API.

Details on how to consume this API is captured in the answer at: How to access Instagram feed of any user with new Graph API?