The Instagram Graph API lets an account publish 100 posts in a rolling 24 hours, counted when media_publish is called, and a carousel counts as one. That is the figure the endpoint itself returned on 30 October 2026, although Meta's documentation names 100 in one place and 50 in another. Separate from that daily cap there is call rate limiting, measured over an hour, that answers with codes 4, 17, 32 or 613. This page keeps the two apart, because they have different causes and different fixes.
The two limits
| Publishing limit | Call rate limit | |
|---|---|---|
| What it counts | Posts published through media_publish | API calls by the app, the user or the Page |
| Window | Rolling 24 hours | About an hour |
| Size | 100 per account (read 30 October 2026) | Depends on the app and the account |
| Error | Code 9, subcode 2207042 | Codes 4, 17, 32 or 613 |
| What to do | Wait for the window to roll | Back off and retry later |
Read the publishing quota instead of guessing
The account tells you where it stands. A call to GET /{ig-user-id}/content_publishing_limit?fields=config,quota_usage returns quota_usage, the number of publishes in the last 24 hours (or since a since timestamp that is not older than 24 hours), and config.quota_total and config.quota_duration, which were 100 and 86,400 seconds when read. A tool that checks it before publishing never has to hit the error.
What counts and what does not
- Counted at publish, not at creation. Creating a media container does not use the quota;
media_publishdoes. - A carousel is one. Up to 20 items still use a single publish.
- It is per account. Ten accounts each have their own 100.
- The window rolls. There is no midnight reset; a slot returns 24 hours after the publish that used it.
What a tool does when the cap is reached
Preflight treats code 9 / 2207042 as a wait and not a failure: it retries after three hours, up to 12 attempts, which covers a full day of rolling. For the hourly call limits (4, 17, 32, 613) it waits 30 minutes, up to 8 attempts. A normal schedule is far below 100 a day, so the cap shows up when many posts are imported at once, and the fix there is to spread them over days.
The app has its own, smaller limit for scheduling: 25 posts a day, up to 30 days ahead, from a public account (see how many times a day to post). The full list of codes is in Instagram API error codes, and the rest of the publishing flow is in publishing to Instagram through the API and the Instagram limits.
The 100-in-24-hours figure was read from the endpoint on 30 October 2026; Meta's own pages give 100 and 50, so read the endpoint for your account before relying on either.
Questions people ask
- What is the Instagram API rate limit for publishing?
- 100 posts in a rolling 24 hours per account, read from the content_publishing_limit endpoint on 30 October 2026. A carousel counts as one post.
- How do I check how many posts I have left on Instagram?
- Call GET /{ig-user-id}/content_publishing_limit with fields=config,quota_usage. It returns how many posts were published in the last 24 hours and the total allowed.
- What does Instagram error code 9 subcode 2207042 mean?
- The account has reached its daily publishing limit. It is temporary: wait for the 24-hour window to roll and publish again.
- Does creating a media container use up the quota?
- No. The quota is counted when media_publish is called, not when the container is created.