# Find the latest Instagram posts under a hashtag

Pass a hashtag such as #coldbrew. social.search returns recent public Instagram posts tagged with it: caption, post date, likes, comment count, author and link. Use it to see which businesses use a tag right now, what they promote and how much engagement it brings.

HTML page: https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram/hashtag-search
Part of: [Instagram tools](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram.md)

## The call

[`social.search`](https://www.routergrowth.com/catalog/social.search): Public posts matching a keyword on X, LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook: brand mentions, category conversations, competitor chatter.

Price on this network: $0.004025 per post, $0.002 minimum a call. The exact quote is shown before every run.

## What a real run returned

Run on 2026-10-26: 5 records in 8.1 s for $0.023. Personal fields are masked. Five #coldbrew posts, all from the morning of the run, by cafes in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, with single digit likes.

| text | posted | likes | replies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press REFRESH on your mind, body and soul. At @fablescafepune, we believe the right brew can reset your entire day. Our chilled iced… | 2026-10-26 | 6 | 0 |
| Yang ditunggu-tunggu di akhir bulan… PAYDAY SALE is here! ☕️❤️ • Special price for all cold brew coffee dari tanggal 26 Oktober… | 2026-10-26 | 4 | 2 |
| You asked. We listened. 🖤 Over the past few nights, a few of you have asked us for more on the menu. So The Monolith kitchen, aka… | 2026-10-26 | 0 | 0 |

## How to do it

1. **Pick the hashtag.** Instagram search works on hashtags, so pass one tag, with or without the #.
2. **Call social.search.** platform instagram, the tag and a limit. Each post has its caption, date, likes and link.
3. **Read the accounts.** Group posts by author to see which businesses use the tag most, then social.profile on the ones that matter.
4. **Open a post.** social.comments on a post URL returns the comments under it.

## Ask it like this

- Search #coldbrew on Instagram and list the cafes posting with it today. (`social.search`)
- Find recent posts under our campaign hashtag and read the comments on the three with the most likes. (`social.search`, `social.comments`)

## Connect

MCP server: `https://api.routergrowth.com/mcp`

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http routergrowth https://api.routergrowth.com/mcp
```

```bash
npm install -g routergrowth && routergrowth setup
routergrowth run -c social.search -i '{"platform": "instagram", "query": "#coldbrew", "limit": 5}'
```

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.routergrowth.com/v1/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ROUTERGROWTH_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"capability": "social.search", "input": {"platform": "instagram", "query": "#coldbrew", "limit": 5}}'
```

## Worth knowing

- **Latest posts, not top posts.** Every result here was posted the same morning. The call shows what is tagged now, not the all time popular posts.
- **Hashtags only.** Instagram search matches hashtags, not free words in captions. Use one tag per call.
- **Mixed languages.** A global tag brings posts in many languages. Filter by caption language if you sell in one market.

## Questions

### Can I search a keyword instead of a hashtag?

On Instagram the search runs on hashtags. Pick the tag closest to your keyword.

### Does it return Reels?

Posts come back with an is_video flag, so you can tell video posts from images.

### Do I need a Meta app?

No. One RouterGrowth key runs it. RouterGrowth is independent of Instagram.

### Is the author included?

Yes, each post carries its author handle. Mask people's handles before you publish.

## Related

- [Scrape the posts under an Instagram hashtag without running a scraper](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram/scraper.md)
- [Scrape a brand's Instagram profile into one clean record](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram/profile-scraper.md)
- [Scrape a brand's Instagram posts with captions and engagement, no setup](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram/posts-scraper.md)
- [Scrape the comments under a brand's Instagram post](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram/comment-scraper.md)
- [What reading Instagram posts costs: a quote before, a charge per post after](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram/api-costs.md)
- [Call Instagram post data from a Python script with requests](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram/api-python.md)
- [Read any public Instagram brand feed through one REST or MCP call](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/instagram/api.md)