There's no official Instagram CLI — Meta doesn't ship one, and browser-automation wrappers get accounts banned. But if you live in the terminal, you can still run real Instagram automation from your shell: the SociaHive CLI wraps the same MCP tool surface that AI assistants use, so every command is an authenticated, compliant API call against connected Instagram Business or Creator accounts.

Setup

export SOCIAHIVE_API_KEY=sk_live_...   # Settings → API Keys

sociahive accounts list                # verify your connected accounts

API keys are scoped — mint a read-only key for dashboards and a write key for publishing workflows.

Schedule and Publish Posts

# Create a draft

sociahive posts create --text "Launch day. Comment START for early access." \
  --platforms '[{"platform":"instagram","account_id":"<id>"}]'
Schedule it

sociahive posts schedule <id> --at "2026-09-01T15:00:00Z" --timezone America/New_York
Or publish immediately (confirmation-gated — irreversible actions require --yes)

sociahive posts publish <id> --yes
See what's queued

sociahive posts list --status scheduled
sociahive calendar --month 2026-09

Bulk-load a whole content calendar from a spreadsheet with sociahive posts import calendar.csv — each row becomes a reviewable draft. If you'd rather script the scheduling yourself (with per-row account lookup and the bulk-vs-loop cutoff), the CSV scheduling recipe in the cookbook has copy-paste Python, Node, and CLI versions.

Generate DM Automations from One Sentence

The CLI exposes the same AI flow generator behind the web app:

sociahive flows generate --description "When someone comments PRICE on my posts, DM them my pricing page and ask if they want a call" --platform instagram

That returns a draft flow — review it, then turn it on:

sociahive flows list --status draft

sociahive flows activate <id>
sociahive flows stats <id>      # executions, completions, performance

Drafts never auto-publish. Turning an automation live is always an explicit act, same as in the dashboard.

Analytics and Content Insights

sociahive insights --weeks 8    # what's working: winners by format, day, and topic

The insights digest is computed from your accounts' actual post performance — the same data that feeds the Autopilot planner.

Where the CLI Fits

• CI/CD content pipelines — publish release announcements from GitHub Actions
• Cron jobs — schedule a weekly digest from a data source without opening a browser
• Scripting — anything you can express in bash: bulk operations, backups of flow configs, reporting
• AI coding agents — Claude Code and OpenAI Codex can drive the same commands, or skip the shell entirely and use the MCP server directly

How It Works Underneath

Every CLI command is a JSON-RPC tools/call against SociaHive's MCP endpoint (/api/mcp) — the identical tool registry AI assistants connect to. Destructive operations (publish now, delete) return a short-lived confirmation token first; --yes completes the two-step confirm. Meta platform compliance, OAuth token refresh, and rate limits are handled server-side, so a shell script can't get your account restricted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an official Instagram CLI from Meta?

No. Meta provides no command-line tool for Instagram. Anything advertising direct Instagram CLI posting either wraps an approved platform's API (compliant) or automates a browser session (against Instagram's terms, ban risk).

Can I schedule Instagram posts from a cron job?

Yes — sociahive posts create + posts schedule in any cron script. The scheduler runs server-side, so your machine doesn't need to be online at publish time.

Does the CLI work with other platforms?

Yes. The same commands target Facebook, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky, and Pinterest — pass a different platform in --platforms.