Find Instagram accounts, places and hashtags by keyword
Search Instagram for users, places or hashtags by keyword and get JSON, to build lists of creators, local businesses and tags for outreach and research.
Before you can vet a creator, watch a competitor or tag a campaign, you have to find the accounts. The in-app search shows a handful of results per term and you retype it for every variation. Lovely Router runs the search for you. Send keywords and a search type, get one JSON object per result, pay per result from a prepaid balance. Call it from a list-building script, a CRM job or an AI agent with one API key. Profile and comment data can identify people, so you are responsible for using it lawfully, including privacy and anti-spam rules.
Hand it to your AI agent
Copy this prompt into Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or any coding agent. It tells the agent where the docs are and how to use your API key.
Find Instagram accounts, places and hashtags by keyword. Use the Lovely Router data tools: each returns JSON and is billed per result.
- Docs (read first): https://lovelyrouter.com/docs/tools/find.md and https://lovelyrouter.com/docs/tools/run.md
- Plan first: POST https://lovelyrouter.com/v1/tools/suggest with `{"task": "<my task in plain words>"}` (free). It returns the tools to run in order, each with an example `input`, the `input_required` fields, an estimated cost and a ready-made `run` request. Replace the example values with my task's; if a field is unclear, read the tool with GET https://lovelyrouter.com/v1/tools/<id>. To browse instead, POST https://lovelyrouter.com/v1/tools/discover searches the catalog.
- Show me the plan and its estimated cost (`total_est_cost_usd`) before running anything large.
- Run: POST https://lovelyrouter.com/v1/tools/<id>/run with `{"input": {...}, "max_results": N}`. A 200 has the finished run with `items`; a 202 means it is still running, so poll the `poll` path until `status` is `succeeded`, `failed`, `timed_out` or `stopped`.
- Only delivered results are billed. Keep max_results small on the first run, check the output, then scale up.
- If you support MCP, connect https://lovelyrouter.com/mcp instead (Streamable HTTP, same key; https://lovelyrouter.com/docs/tools/mcp.md) and use suggest_tools, get_tool and run_tool.
- Auth: read my API key from the LOVELY_API_KEY environment variable and send it as `Authorization: Bearer $LOVELY_API_KEY`. Never print or commit the key. If it is not set, ask me to create one at https://lovelyrouter.com/app/keys.
- Billing is prepaid: every call is charged to my balance, so test with a small request before running anything large.
- Every docs page is plain Markdown; the full index is https://lovelyrouter.com/llms.txt.
My task: <the inputs (links, keywords or accounts) and how many results you need>How it works
Write the search terms
Several terms in one comma-separated
search:coffee roaster, specialty coffee, plus a city where it matters.Choose a type and a cap
Send them to
POST /v1/tools/instagram-search/run.searchTypeisuser,place,hashtagorpopular, andsearchLimitininputis the cap for each search term.Pass the list on
Feed usernames to profile and post tools to vet them, or hashtags to a tag run, and keep the rest in your CRM.
Search Instagram with one request
Search Instagram takes a search term and a searchType. popular returns trending reels for the keyword instead of accounts or tags:
curl https://lovelyrouter.com/v1/tools/instagram-search/run \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $LOVELY_API_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{
"input": {
"search": "coffee roaster",
"searchType": "user",
"searchLimit": 50
},
"max_results": 50
}'Results are the users, places or hashtags that match, depending on the type you chose. A run still going after 60 seconds returns 202; Run a tool shows how to poll.
What each result holds
| Field group | What you get |
|---|---|
| Users | Accounts matching the keyword, when searchType is user |
| Places | Locations matching the keyword, when it is place |
| Hashtags | Tags matching the keyword, when it is hashtag |
| Popular reels | Trending reels for the keyword, when it is popular |
The tool finds candidates. To check follower counts, bios and engagement, run the usernames through the profile and posts tools.
Recipes
Search user for 10 niche keywords with a searchLimit of 25, merge the usernames, and drop duplicates.
Search place with a keyword and a city, such as restaurant prague, to list venues for outreach.
Search hashtag for your product words and pick tags that match your category.
Use popular to see what is trending for a keyword before you plan content.
Pass the usernames to instagram-profile, then keep the ones that meet your follower floor.
Prefer plain words? Connect the MCP server and tell Claude Code or Cursor: "Search Instagram users for 'vegan bakery' and 'plant based bakery', 25 per term, and give me the usernames in one list without duplicates. Set searchLimit to 25 and max_results to 50."
Pair it with vetting and tag research
Search finds accounts. These tools tell you whether they are the right ones:
Search Instagram for users, places or hashtags by keyword.
Instagram profile details by username: bio, followers, posts count, recent posts.
Recent posts from Instagram profiles: caption, likes, comments count, media, owner with follower counts, date.
Posts or reels for Instagram hashtags or keywords: caption, likes, comments, author, media.
Find local businesses on Google Maps by keyword and location: name, address, phone, website, rating, review count, opening hours, coordinates.
instagram-profileadds bio, followers and posts count to each username.instagram-postsadds recent posts and engagement.instagram-hashtagpulls the posts under a tag you found.google-maps-placesfinds the same local businesses with addresses and phones.
For the research workflow around creators, see influencer research.
What you pay
You pay per result: starting a run holds its maximum cost, the per-call fee plus the per-result fee times max_results, and the run settles to what it returned. The rest of the hold goes back to your balance. A run that fails or times out pays only for the results it delivered, and a run refused at the start costs nothing.
Pulling 50 results for each of 8 search terms is billed as 400 results. There is no subscription and no monthly minimum: top up from $5, and one balance pays for tools and models. The card above shows today's price; pricing lists every tool.
Frequently asked questions
What can I search for?+
Users, places or hashtags by keyword, and popular reels with the popular type.
Can I search several terms in one run?+
Yes. Put them in search separated by commas. searchLimit applies to each term.
How many results can one run return?+
Up to 250 in total, with searchLimit setting the number per term.
Do I get follower counts?+
This tool finds accounts, places and tags. Run the usernames through instagram-profile for bio and followers.
Do I need a subscription?+
No. You add credit to a prepaid balance and each run draws it down. Failed runs pay only for the results they delivered, and nothing renews automatically.
Building lists for outreach? See influencer research, lead generation and the tool catalog.