[Feature] Support Instagram "Link a Reel" (link one reel to another / multi-part series)

[OmAgr241]

Problem to solve

Instagram launched the "Link a Reel" feature on Aug 20, 2025: a creator can link one reel to another so viewers get a "next" navigation button — ideal for multi-part series (anime/episode parts, tutorials, etc.). There's currently no instagrapi method to set this link, so multi-part automations can't connect their parts programmatically.

Proposed API

# Link `media_id` so its viewers can navigate to `target_media_id`
cl.media_link_reel(media_id, target_media_id)
# remove the link
cl.media_unlink_reel(media_id)

(naming up to maintainers — e.g. clip_link / reel_link)

Example usage

cl = Client()
cl.login(USERNAME, PASSWORD)

part1 = cl.clip_upload("part1.mp4", "Episode 1 — Part 1")
part2 = cl.clip_upload("part2.mp4", "Episode 1 — Part 2")

# Make Part 2 link back to Part 1 (viewers get the linked-reel "next" button)
cl.media_link_reel(part2.pk, part1.pk)

Why current methods are insufficient

clip_upload() / clip_configure() expose no parameter for linking reels, and there's no post-upload edit method for it. The only existing "link" helper, bloks_fxcal_link_reels_share(), is for linking the IG account to Facebook for Reels cross-posting — unrelated. extra_data has no linked/target-media field.

Does this require new Instagram endpoint knowledge?

yes

References, logs, HAR, or similar implementations

• Feature announcement — TechCrunch (Aug 21, 2025): https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/21/instagram-now-lets-creators-link-multiple-reels-in-a-series/
• Instagram Help — "Link a reel on Instagram": https://help.instagram.com/31179524024966208/
• I don't have a HAR/endpoint capture yet; I can try to capture the app request and add it here if useful.

[SkyPlay-Code]

Technical Update: Sniffed Endpoints & Payload Schema for "Link a Reel"

I have successfully reverse-engineered the raw API requests and payload structures for the "Link a Reel" feature (introduced in August 2025) using a Charles Proxy capture on the Android Alpha client (436.0.0.0.19).

It turns out linking reels is not a standalone endpoint—it is handled directly by extending the payload of the standard edit_media private-API endpoint!

---

1. The Linking Payload (media/{media_id}/edit_media/)

To link one reel to another, the client sends a POST request to the origin media's edit endpoint. The connection is established by passing a nested JSON string called linked_media_info inside the signed body.

• Endpoint: POST https://i.instagram.com/api/v1/media/{origin_media_id}/edit_media/
• Signed Body (Payload):

{
  "_uid": "74229643764",
  "_uuid": "3a66a40d-b663-4ab8-8d7c-14d1291f7406",
  "linked_media_info": "{\"media_id\":\"3929232410206310983_74229643764\",\"link_name\":\"it is a Linked\"}"
}

• media_id inside linked_media_info is the destination Reel ID.
• link_name is the custom text that appears on the navigation button.

---

2. The Selection Feed (GraphQL Query)

When the user clicks the "Link a Reel" button in the app UI, the app fetches a grid of the user's eligible reels to link to using the UserLinkedMediaSelectionFeed GraphQL query.

• Endpoint: POST https://i.instagram.com/graphql/query
• Friendly Name: UserLinkedMediaSelectionFeed
• X-Client-Doc-ID: 462817015361801580965026631
• Variables:

  {
    "user_id": "74229643764",
    "enable_video_versions_in_light_media": false,
    "include_attribution_ui_data_v2": false,
    "enable_audience_in_light_media": false,
    "data": {
      "media_id": "3929233943232854492_74229643764",
      "max_id": null
    },
    "include_attribution_ui_data": false,
    "enable_thumbnails_in_light_media": true
  }

---

Proposed Python Implementation

This can be cleanly integrated into instagrapi under mixins/media.py:

def media_link_reel(self, media_id: str, target_media_id: str, link_name: str = "Watch Next") -> bool:
    """
    Links one reel (media_id) to another (target_media_id) so viewers get a navigation button.
    """
    media_id = self.media_id(media_id)
    target_media_id = self.media_id(target_media_id)
    
    data = {
        "_uid": str(self.user_id),
        "_uuid": self.uuid,
        "linked_media_info": dumps({
            "media_id": str(target_media_id),
            "link_name": str(link_name)
        })
    }
    
    result = self.private_request(
        f"media/{media_id}/edit_media/",
        data=self.with_action_data(data),
    )
    return result.get("status") == "ok"

def media_unlink_reel(self, media_id: str) -> bool:
    """
    Removes the linked reel connection from a media item.
    """
    media_id = self.media_id(media_id)
    data = {
        "_uid": str(self.user_id),
        "_uuid": self.uuid,
        "linked_media_info": "" # Sending an empty string clears the link connection
    }
    result = self.private_request(
        f"media/{media_id}/edit_media/",
        data=self.with_action_data(data),
    )
    return result.get("status") == "ok"

[subzeroid]

Thanks @OmAgr241 for the feature request and @SkyPlay-Code for the Charles capture details.

PR #2712 adds the verified link flow via media/{media_id}/edit_media/ and linked_media_info: #2712

I also live-tested unlink separately. The proposed linked_media_info=""/empty-object payloads return HTTP 400, and Android 434's LinkedMediaDelete GraphQL mutation returns an ok transport response with null mutation data but does not remove linked_media_data in live testing. I left unlink out of the PR until we have a capture that produces the actual side effect.

[subzeroid]

Released now:

• instagrapi 2.17.0: https://github.com/subzeroid/instagrapi/releases/tag/2.17.0
• mirrored async API in aiograpi 1.11.0: https://github.com/subzeroid/aiograpi/releases/tag/1.11.0

The released API includes media_link_reel(media_id, target_media_id, link_name="Watch Next") / async await media_link_reel(...) for the verified linked-Reel flow.