full key and the reel’s permalink, which your publishing tool gets back from Instagram when it posts.
1
Look for the post
List the account’s newest media and match on
permalink. If it’s there, skip to building the automation.2
Refresh if it's missing
Refresh content asks Instagram for the newest posts. It returns
202 with a job_id to poll, or 200 with status: "already_current" when the account synced within the last minute.3
Wait for the refresh
Poll Get a refresh every few seconds until
status is completed, then look again. If the account answered already_current and the post still isn’t there, Instagram may not be serving it yet: wait a minute and refresh once more.4
Build it and set it live
Create the automation as a draft, then set it live.
The whole flow
Good to know
- One live automation per post. If something is already live on the reel, creating returns
409 live_automation_on_media. Pause the other one first, or let it be. - A paused account can’t refresh. If Instagram has paused the connection, refresh returns
409 account_needs_reconnect. Get account health says why. - A first sync takes longer. If the account was connected moments ago, refresh answers
status: "backfill"and hands you its first full sync to poll. Large accounts take a few minutes. - Validate the copy first if it comes from somewhere you don’t control. Validate an automation catches a label Instagram would cut off before anything is saved.