Instagram scheduler for posts, carousels and Reels

What you can schedule on Instagram

Instagram accepts three kinds of feed content through its publishing API, and Postika handles all three from the same composer:

• Single photo posts: one image and a caption.
• Carousels: several images in one post. Postika allows up to 10 per post. See the Instagram carousel guide.
• Videos: one video per post. Instagram's API publishes feed videos as Reels, so a vertical clip is the format to aim for. Details in scheduling Instagram Reels.

Stories are not part of Postika: if Stories are central to your plan, keep posting them from the Instagram app and use Postika for the feed.

Instagram's publishing API works with professional accounts (Business or Creator). If your profile is still personal, switch it in the Instagram settings before connecting it.

Instagram best practices that hold up

A scheduler does not make a post good, but it removes the reasons to post badly (in a hurry, at the wrong time, with a typo). A few habits that work on Instagram:

• Lead with the first line. Instagram truncates long captions behind "more", so the opening sentence carries the post. Put the hook or the offer there, details below.
• Plan in batches. Sit down once a week, fill the calendar for the next seven days and spend the rest of the week replying to comments in the Instagram app.
• Use hashtags with intent. Instagram's API accepts up to 30 hashtags and 20 mentions per caption. A handful of specific tags usually beats a wall of generic ones.
• Pick times from your own data. Instagram Insights shows when your followers are online. Postika does not include analytics, so read those numbers in Instagram and set your times in Postika.
• Write alt text for images. Instagram supports it on images, and it helps people using screen readers.

If you also publish on Facebook or Threads, the cross-posting guide explains when to reuse a caption and when to rewrite it.

What Postika checks before an Instagram post goes out

Postika checks each post against the network's rules before it can be scheduled, so problems show up in the composer instead of as a failed post at 9 a.m.:

Instagram's own API allows carousels of up to 20 items; Postika currently stops at 10 images per post. The full spec table above comes from Instagram's developer documentation, and the social media limits reference puts every network side by side.

Using your AI for Instagram captions

Postika has no built-in AI. Instead, you connect the AI you already use (Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor and other MCP clients) to Postika's MCP server. It can read your calendar and create posts in your project.

There is one limit worth knowing: photos and videos cannot be sent over MCP. For Instagram, the AI writes the caption and leaves the post as a draft or pending approval on the right day; you open it in Postika, add the image or video and confirm. A prompt that works well:

"Write captions for next week's three Instagram posts about our autumn menu, one per day Monday to Wednesday at 12:30, and leave them pending my approval."

The step-by-step setup is in Claude for Instagram and ChatGPT for Instagram. All plans include the AI connection, see pricing.