Posting and Autopilot
Posting to Instagram Reels
Connect an Instagram professional account and post clips as Reels, with captions, cover frames and Instagram's limits.
Updated
You can post clips to Instagram as Reels and schedule them ahead. This page covers what's specific to Instagram; for the general steps, see Post and schedule clips.
Is Instagram available for you?
Instagram posting is switching on gradually. Look at the Instagram card on Connections:
- Connect Instagram means you can connect now.
- Instagram: coming soon means it isn't switched on for your workspace yet. You can still download the MP4 and upload it in the Instagram app.
Depending on your workspace, Instagram connects either directly or through our posting partner. When it's the partner, the card says so and the partner's name shows on the sign-in screen.
You need a professional account
Instagram only lets apps post to professional accounts (creator or business). Personal accounts can switch for free in the Instagram app, under Settings, then Account type and tools. If you connect a personal account, you'll see a message asking you to switch, then connect again.
Connect your account
- On Connections, press Connect Instagram.
- Sign in with Instagram and approve access. When Instagram connects directly, Reeltopus asks to read the account's name and picture, publish the Reels you choose, and read insights for those Reels (they feed your Analytics page and help rank your next clips).
- You land back on Connections.
Only workspace owners and admins can connect accounts.
What the post form asks
- Caption: the description, up to 2,200 characters and up to 30 hashtags. Leave it empty to use the title. Instagram has no separate title field.
- Show in: Reels and profile grid, or Reels tab only.
- Cover frame: the number of seconds into the clip to use as the cover. Leave it empty for Instagram's pick.
Trial Reels
When you post a Packaging Lab variant to Instagram, you can tick Post as a Trial Reel. Instagram shows it to non-followers first and shares it with your followers if it does well.
Length and limits
- Reels from apps must be between 3 seconds and 15 minutes long.
- An account can publish up to 100 posts through apps in any 24 hours. If a scheduled time would go past that, the form asks you to pick another day.
- Instagram processes each video before it goes live, so a post can show Posting… for a while. If Instagram fails to process it, the post shows the reason and you can post the clip again.
Links
Instagram captions can't hold a tappable link. If you pick a smart link, the caption stays as it is and a tracked short link is made for your bio. Its clicks still count under Links.
Reconnecting
Instagram sign-ins renew automatically while the account stays connected. If Instagram ends the sign-in (for example, you removed Reeltopus in Instagram's settings), the account shows needs reconnecting on Connections. Press Reconnect.
Disconnecting
Press Disconnect on Connections. That deletes Reeltopus's access at once and cancels scheduled posts to the account. Instagram doesn't let apps remove themselves, so also remove Reeltopus in Instagram under Settings, then Website permissions, then Apps and websites. Removing it there tells us too, and we delete the account's name, picture, token and the numbers we collected for its Reels. See the privacy policy.