Instagram MCP Server for Claude AI

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other AI clients call external tools directly. DataLikers ships an Instagram MCP Server that turns Claude into an Instagram analyst — ask a question in English, Claude queries Instagram via the server, and answers with real data. No API integration code required.

This guide covers what the MCP Server does, how to install it, and the kind of workflows it unlocks.

What Is an MCP Server?

Model Context Protocol is Anthropic's open standard for connecting LLMs to external tools and data sources. An MCP server exposes a set of "tools" (functions) that a compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT with MCP support) can call on the user's behalf.

For Instagram data, this means: instead of writing Python to loop through the API, you ask Claude the question in natural language and Claude figures out which tools to call, in what order, and how to present the answer.

What You Can Ask

Example prompts that work out of the box with DataLikers MCP:

• "What's @natgeo's follower count and top three most-liked posts this month?"
• "Find Instagram profiles similar to @blueoriginals — creators in the lifestyle niche with 50K–200K followers."
• "Pull the last 100 comments on post shortcode CxABC123 and summarize the sentiment."
• "Which hashtags does @foodandwine use most often? List the top 20 with post counts."
• "Give me the most recent Reels from the #minimalism hashtag and classify them by topic."

Claude translates each into the right sequence of Instagram queries, fetches the data, and returns the answer in the format you asked for (table, summary, CSV, whatever).

Installation (Claude Desktop)

1. Get a DataLikers API key from datalikers.com/dashboard.
2. Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows).
3. Add the DataLikers MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "datalikers": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@datalikers/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DATALIKERS_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Restart Claude Desktop. You'll see a "datalikers" tool indicator appear — ready to use.

For Cursor, the setup is the same config file under Cursor's MCP settings.

Example: Analyst Workflow

You: "Find the ten most active sponsored creators in the sustainability niche (100K–500K followers) who have posted a branded collaboration in the last 90 days."

Claude (with DataLikers MCP):
1. Searches hashtags #sustainability, #ecofriendly, #zerowaste via /v1/hashtag/by/name.
2. Pulls creators whose posts appear in those feeds.
3. Filters to follower range 100K–500K using /v1/user/by/username for each candidate.
4. Inspects recent posts for #ad, #sponsored, or paid-partnership tags.
5. Returns a ranked list.

All of that, from a single prompt. No code written. The same workflow via raw API would be 100+ lines of Python and significant orchestration logic.

Pricing

MCP Server calls use your DataLikers API balance at the same per-request rate as the Cache API — $0.0003 and up. There's no additional MCP Server fee. A typical analyst prompt consumes 5–50 underlying API calls depending on complexity; that's cents of cost per answer.

When to Use MCP vs. Cache API

Most teams end up using both: Cache API for the product feature, MCP Server for the growth team's daily questions.

What the MCP Server Exposes

The DataLikers MCP Server exposes the same 18 endpoints as the Cache API, wrapped as MCP tools: get_user_by_username, get_media_by_url, get_hashtag_by_name, get_user_face (visual similarity), etc. Claude picks which to call based on the conversation.

Full MCP tool catalog and usage examples: datalikers.com/docs/mcp.

Summary

The Instagram MCP Server turns Claude into an Instagram analyst that your whole team can query. Install once, ask questions in English, get answers backed by live Instagram data. Same pricing as the Cache API, zero integration code, and a workflow multiplier for non-engineering teams.

Signup: datalikers.com — 100 free requests included, enough to run a dozen analyst prompts before you deposit anything.