Instagram — media/get

When to Use

Post performance audit: After publishing a campaign post, retrieve its engagement metrics (like count, comments count) to feed into a reporting workflow or update a CRM record with the post's performance data.
Content syndication: Fetch the media URL and caption of a specific Instagram post to reuse or cross-post its content to another channel or internal content library.
Permalink generation: Retrieve the permanent Instagram post link (permalink) to embed in email newsletters, landing pages, or automated social proof widgets.
Moderation trigger: After a webhook event fires for a specific media ID, use media/get to retrieve full post details before deciding whether to escalate for manual review.
Archive workflows: Periodically fetch known post IDs to snapshot their engagement state into a database, tracking like and comment growth over time.

Configuration

Connection

Field	Required	Description
`accessToken`	Required	Long-lived Instagram access token stored in BizFirst Credentials Manager.
`igUserId`	Required	Your Instagram Business/Creator account ID (numeric string).

Operation

Field	Required	Description
`resource`	Required	Must be `media` (maps to Graph API media edge).
`operation`	Required	Must be `get`.
`mediaId`	Required	The Instagram media object ID to retrieve (e.g. `17855590000000000`).
`fields`	Optional	Comma-separated field list. Defaults include `id,caption,media_type,media_url,timestamp,like_count,comments_count,permalink`. Add `thumbnail_url` for videos.

Sample Configuration JSON

{
  "resource": "media",
  "operation": "get",
  "accessToken": "{{ $credential.instagram.accessToken }}",
  "igUserId": "17841400000000000",
  "mediaId": "17855590000000001",
  "fields": "id,caption,media_type,media_url,timestamp,like_count,comments_count,permalink"
}

Validation Errors

Error	Cause
`accessToken is required`	`accessToken` field is missing or empty.
`mediaId is required`	`mediaId` field is missing or empty.
`invalid_input`	General config validation failure from base class.

Output

Success Port

Field	Type	Description
`status`	string	`"success"`
`id`	string	Media object ID.
`caption`	string	Post caption text (up to 2200 characters).
`mediaType`	string	`IMAGE`, `VIDEO`, `CAROUSEL_ALBUM`, or `REEL`.
`mediaUrl`	string	URL to the media file. Expires after a set period for CDN-hosted content.
`timestamp`	string	ISO 8601 publish timestamp.
`likeCount`	number	Total like count at time of request.
`commentsCount`	number	Total comment count at time of request.
`permalink`	string	Permanent public URL to the Instagram post.
`payload`	string	Raw JSON response from the Graph API.

Error Port

Fires on authentication failure, invalid media ID, expired token, or rate limit exceeded.

Field	Type	Description
`status`	string	`"error"`
`errorCode`	string	Graph API error code (e.g. `100`, `190`) or BizFirst validation code.
`errorMessage`	string	Human-readable error description.
`payload`	string	Raw error response from the Graph API.

Sample Output JSON

{
  "status": "success",
  "id": "17855590000000001",
  "caption": "Excited to announce our summer collection! #fashion #summer2025",
  "mediaType": "IMAGE",
  "mediaUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/...",
  "timestamp": "2025-06-15T14:30:00+0000",
  "likeCount": 842,
  "commentsCount": 37,
  "permalink": "https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123xyz/",
  "payload": "{\"id\":\"17855590000000001\",\"caption\":\"...\"}"
}

Expression Reference

Expression	Value
`{{ $output.instagram.id }}`	Media object ID
`{{ $output.instagram.caption }}`	Post caption text
`{{ $output.instagram.mediaType }}`	Media type string
`{{ $output.instagram.mediaUrl }}`	Direct media file URL
`{{ $output.instagram.permalink }}`	Public post URL
`{{ $output.instagram.likeCount }}`	Like count integer
`{{ $output.instagram.commentsCount }}`	Comment count integer

Node Policies & GuardRails

Rate limit: 200 Graph API calls per user per hour. A high-frequency polling workflow that calls media/get every minute will exhaust the quota in 3.3 hours. Use webhook triggers instead of polling where possible.
Media URL expiry: The mediaUrl field contains a CDN URL that expires. Do not store it long-term; store the permalink or id instead and re-fetch when needed.
Token storage: The accessToken must be stored in the BizFirst Credentials Manager. Never embed raw tokens in workflow configuration.
GDPR: Caption text and media URLs may contain personal data. Apply data retention policies when persisting output to databases.

Examples

Fetch post and log to database

{
  "resource": "media",
  "operation": "get",
  "accessToken": "{{ $credential.instagram.accessToken }}",
  "igUserId": "{{ $env.IG_USER_ID }}",
  "mediaId": "{{ $trigger.body.mediaId }}",
  "fields": "id,caption,media_type,like_count,comments_count,permalink,timestamp"
}

Used in a webhook-triggered workflow. The incoming event contains the mediaId; this node fetches full details before writing to a reporting database.

Cross-post content to internal CMS

{
  "resource": "media",
  "operation": "get",
  "accessToken": "{{ $credential.instagram.accessToken }}",
  "igUserId": "17841400000000000",
  "mediaId": "17855590000000002",
  "fields": "id,caption,media_url,thumbnail_url,media_type,permalink"
}

Retrieves the media file URL and caption for a Reel. The thumbnail_url field is included to get the video cover image for use in a CMS preview card.