PHP Instagram Downloader API

To download Instagram media from PHP, POST the public link to https://developers.getinsaver.com/v1/resolve with cURL and save each URL from the items array. It needs only the curl extension, so it runs on shared hosting and inside WordPress, with no scraper to maintain when Instagram changes.

Steps

1. Create a free account and verify your email. You get 20 free credits, no card needed.
2. Create an API key in Dashboard → API keys and store it as the environment variable GIS_KEY on your server.
3. Save the script below as resolve.php and run GIS_KEY=gis_live_... php resolve.php, or include the two functions in your project.

Complete PHP example

Copy<?php
// PHP 7.4+ with the curl extension. Run: GIS_KEY=gis_live_... php resolve.php
const GIS_API_URL = "https://developers.getinsaver.com/v1/resolve";

function gis_resolve(string $service, string $url, int $maxResults = 10, int $retries = 3): array
{
    for ($attempt = 0; ; $attempt++) {
        $retryAfter = 5;
        $ch = curl_init(GIS_API_URL);
        curl_setopt_array($ch, [
            CURLOPT_POST => true,
            CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
            CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 130,
            CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ["Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("GIS_KEY"), "Content-Type: application/json"],
            CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode(["service" => $service, "url" => $url, "max_results" => $maxResults]),
            CURLOPT_HEADERFUNCTION => function ($ch, $line) use (&$retryAfter) {
                if (stripos($line, "Retry-After:") === 0) $retryAfter = (int) trim(substr($line, 12));
                return strlen($line);
            },
        ]);
        $body = curl_exec($ch);
        $status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE);
        curl_close($ch);
        $data = json_decode((string) $body, true) ?: [];
        if ($status === 200) return $data;
        // 429 = rate or concurrency limit, 502/504 = platform hiccup; none of them is charged
        if (in_array($status, [429, 502, 504], true) && $attempt < $retries) { sleep(max(1, $retryAfter)); continue; }
        throw new RuntimeException(($data["code"] ?? "HTTP_$status") . ": " . ($data["message"] ?? "request failed"));
    }
}

// Media URLs expire within minutes to hours, so save the file right away.
function gis_download(array $item, string $name, string $folder = "downloads"): string
{
    if (!is_dir($folder)) mkdir($folder, 0755, true);
    $tmp = "$folder/$name.part";
    $fp = fopen($tmp, "wb");
    $ch = curl_init($item["url"]);
    curl_setopt_array($ch, [CURLOPT_FILE => $fp, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 120, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR => true]);
    $ok = curl_exec($ch);
    $type = (string) strtok((string) curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE), ";");
    curl_close($ch);
    fclose($fp);
    if (!$ok) { unlink($tmp); throw new RuntimeException("download failed: " . $item["url"]); }
    $ext = ["video/mp4" => ".mp4", "image/jpeg" => ".jpg", "image/png" => ".png", "image/webp" => ".webp", "audio/mpeg" => ".mp3"][$type] ?? ".bin";
    rename($tmp, "$folder/$name$ext");
    return "$folder/$name$ext";
}

$result = gis_resolve("instagram", "https://www.instagram.com/reel/SHORTCODE/");
echo "{$result['item_count']} items, {$result['credits_used']} credits\n";
foreach ($result["items"] as $i => $item) {
    echo $item["type"], " ", gis_download($item, "{$result['request_id']}-$i"), "\n";
}

Using it in WordPress

• Define the key in wp-config.php (define('GIS_KEY', 'gis_live_...');) and pass GIS_KEY instead of getenv("GIS_KEY").
• Call gis_resolve() from server-side code only: an AJAX or REST route your form posts to. Never print the key into the page.
• Return the items to the visitor right away. Media URLs are short-lived, so do not cache them in the database.

Prefer not to build it? We set up a branded downloader site on this API from $149; see website setup.

What the API returns

{
  "ok": true,
  "service": "instagram",
  "source_url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/SHORTCODE/",
  "item_count": 1,
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "video",
      "url": "https://cdn.example/media.mp4"
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "title": null,
    "author": "creator",
    "caption": null
  },
  "request_id": "39a3bff5-0000-4000-8000-000000000000",
  "credits_used": 1
}

Errors to handle

Every error body is JSON with a stable code and a readable message. The full list is in the API reference.

FAQ

Related guides

• Video Downloader API for Your Own Website
• Python Instagram and TikTok Downloader API
• Node.js Social Media Downloader API

Updated 2026-10-30. The code on this page is executed by our test suite against the API server before every release.