Instagram search_users API

Instagram search_users data in one REST call — normalized to the stable JSON schema shared across every FetchPI platform.

1 documented endpoints
GET /v1/ig/search/users

Contract summary (English): Search users (capability ig.search_users)

Normalized response entity: instagram/search_users
capability: ig.search_users

Every response also carries freshness (cache / default / live) and billing metadata.

Use cases

Find {{platform}} content and accounts matching a keyword, with normalized results ready for scoring.
Follow trending topics and hot lists to catch emerging conversations early.
Alert on search and trend queries so your team sees shifts as they happen.

Response fields

instagram search_users response (normalized envelope)

Keyword search over Instagram users as normalized user entities (capability ig.search_users). Page size follows the request's `limit` parameter (1..100, default 20). Envelope of GET /v1/ig/search/users.

Field	Type	Required	Description
query	string	Required	The request query, echoed.
data	profile[]	Required	—
next_cursor	string \| null	Required	Opaque pagination cursor; null when the list is exhausted.
meta.request_id	string	Required	—
meta.freshness.mode	cache \| default \| live	Required	—
meta.freshness.age_seconds	integer \| null	Optional	—
meta.freshness.source_layer	cache \| db \| upstream	Required	—
meta.freshness.stale	boolean	Optional	—
meta.billing.cache_hit	boolean	Required	—
meta.billing.amount_credits	integer	Required	Credits actually charged for this request (the settlement unit; 1 credit = $0.0001, permanent).

Field notes are shown in the contract's original English.

Response meta

Field	Type	Required	Description
mode	cache \| default \| live	Required	Effective mode after merging param > max_age > source policy (D-004).
age_seconds	integer \| null	Optional	Age of served data; null when unknown.
source_layer	cache \| db \| upstream	Required	Which layer served the response (PRD §10).
stale	boolean	Optional	True when stale data was served under stale_if_error / SWR (D-004).
billing.amount_credits	integer	Required	Micro-USD (1e-6 USD) actually charged for this request.
billing.cache_hit	boolean	Required	—

Field notes are shown in the contract's original English.

Example request & response

GET/v1/ig/search/users

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $MESHDATA_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.fetchpi.com/v1/ig/search/users?q=meshdata"

{
  "query": "data api",
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "1295448945",
      "platform": "instagram",
      "type": "profile",
      "username": "creatordev",
      "display_name": "Creator Dev",
      "description": "Photo dumps and API graphs.",
      "url": "https://fetchpi.com",
      "profile_image_url": "https://cdn.example.com/profile_pic/creatordev.jpg",
      "verified": true,
      "is_private": false,
      "created_at": null,
      "metrics": {
        "followers": 51230,
        "following": 310,
        "posts": 862
      },
      "fetched_at": "2026-09-18T09:00:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "next_cursor": null,
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req_01HTXQ8Z9HTQ",
    "freshness": {
      "mode": "default",
      "age_seconds": 0,
      "source_layer": "upstream",
      "stale": false
    },
    "billing": {
      "amount_credits": 300,
      "cache_hit": false
    }
  }
}

Free demo

Create a free account, grab an API key and call this endpoint from the browser-based Playground.

Try it in the Playground

Parameter tables, error codes and response semantics for this endpoint live in the API documentation.

Open the endpoint reference

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cache and live freshness?

cache answers from the stored snapshot without touching the upstream; live queries fresher data and may cost extra credits — see the freshness section of the docs.

Can I try this endpoint for free?

Yes — register an account, grab an API key and call it from the Playground in the console.

How is the search_users capability billed?

Data API calls are billed per request in credits, with different cache/live freshness multipliers. Current per-capability prices live on the pricing page.

Pricing

Per-request credit billing with cache/live freshness options — current prices live on the pricing page.

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