Hermoso is a marketing MCP server: 301 tools over one OAuth’d endpoint that let an agent research the ads already running in a market, generate finished image and video ads, publish them, and build the paid campaigns behind them. Hermes reaches all of it through one connection. This page is about one slice of that — what Hermes can actually do on Instagram, and what Instagram will not let it do.
Connect Hermoso to Hermes
- Create an API key. In Hermoso, open Settings → Agents & API keys and press ＋ Create API key. It looks like
hmk_…and carries real spend authority, so treat it like a password. - Add an MCP server pointing at the hosted endpoint with your key:
{ "url": "https://app.hermoso.ai/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <your key>" } } - Ask Hermes for something. “Pull my three closest competitors’ longest-running ads and remix the best hook into a 9:16 video,” or “post this render to the channel.” The agent picks the tools; you approve the spend.
Hermoso is not affiliated with or endorsed by the makers of Hermes, and this is not a bespoke integration — it is the same generic HTTP MCP block any conforming client takes. We would rather say that than imply a partnership that does not exist.
Then connect Instagram itself, once, under Settings → Connectors in Hermoso. That is an OAuth consent screen, so it is the one step that needs a browser — everything after it is a tool call.
The Instagram tools Hermes gets
post_to_meta— publishes to Instagram withtarget: "instagram". Instagram is a visual channel and the API agrees — a post needs an image or a video.schedule_post— queues it on the shared calendar, with a per-channel caption if the copy should differ from your Facebook or LinkedIn version.list_meta_comments / reply_to_meta_comment / moderate_meta_comment— read, reply and moderate under a post.meta_page_insights / meta_post_insights— reach, impressions, saves and engagement, per account and per post.search_instagram— keyword search across public Instagram Reels — research, not publishing.
Two Instagram facts worth knowing before you automate anything. There is no native Instagram scheduling in Meta’s API, so a schedule is Hermoso’s queue rather than Instagram’s, and passing Facebook’s scheduleAt for Instagram is refused rather than silently posted now. And an Instagram post cannot be edited or deleted through the API at all — whatever goes out, stays, and has to be removed by hand in the app.
Instagram limits worth knowing before you automate anything
| Text | An Instagram caption is capped at 2,200 characters. It is enforced when the post is created or queued — refused while you are still there to fix it, rather than silently cut on the way out. |
|---|---|
| Visibility | Public only. Meta’s Content Publishing API publishes, full stop — “Instagram publishes immediately when it publishes at all — it has no unlisted, private or draft post.” If you want a review step on Instagram, it has to happen before the call, not after. |
| Carousel | 2 to 10 slides, and images and video may be mixed. That upper bound is Meta’s own, quoted in the capability table it enforces: “Carousels are limited to 10 images, videos, or a mix of the two.” The floor of 2 is ours, because one slide is not a carousel on any platform — a single-slide ask publishes as an ordinary post rather than being refused. |
| Which account | pageId — Instagram publishes through the connected Facebook Page, so the same identity field selects it. |
Try it in Hermes
Ask for it in ordinary language — these are sentences, not a DSL:
“Build a 5-slide Instagram carousel from the current campaign assets and publish it with a caption under 2,200 characters.”
That walks search_instagram → plan_ad → render_ad → post_to_meta (target: "instagram"). Approval behaviour is yours to configure. Hermoso’s own guarantees do not depend on it: campaigns are born paused, spend switches are confirm-gated, and no generation call runs without a verified account behind it.
Hermes on Instagram: the part that bites
Treat the publish call as the point of no return, because on Instagram it is: the Content Publishing API publishes and there is no draft, no edit and no delete. Everything before it — research, planning, rendering, captioning — is reversible and safe to automate.
For unattended runs the hermoso CLI with --json is easier to assert on than a tool manifest, and much cheaper in context.
Research Instagram before you post
search_meta_ads covers Instagram placements as well as Facebook — it is one library. For organic, search_instagram searches public Reels by keyword, which is the surface where the format actually moves; profile and hashtag pulls go through scrapecreators_fetch.
The paid half
Instagram placements are bought through the same Meta campaign tree as Facebook: create_meta_campaign → create_meta_adset → create_meta_ad, with placements selectable per platform and position. Objects are created paused with no caller override, preview_meta_ad shows the real rendered ad per placement before you spend, and meta_insights breaks results down by age, gender, placement and country — which is the input to the next creative, not just a total.
What Hermes cannot do on its own
An agent with a budget is only useful if the blast radius is bounded, so the fence is in the server rather than in a prompt. Every ad campaign, ad set, ad group and ad is created paused, and the status switches that arm real money refuse to run without an explicit confirmation flag. Every render is quoted first — hermoso_capabilities publishes each model’s exact credit cost before anything spends — and credits are reserved before the first provider call and settled at the exact cost afterwards, so a failed dispatch refunds rather than leaving you billed for nothing. Deletes are confirm-gated too, and every campaign tree is read back from the ad platform before your agent tells you what it built.
One step is deliberately not headless: linking an account is an OAuth consent screen, so you connect the channel once in a browser. Everything after that is a tool call.
The rest of the matrix
From Hermes, post to: Facebook · Threads · TikTok · YouTube · X · LinkedIn · Pinterest — or see everything Hermes can publish to.
Post to Instagram from: Claude · ChatGPT · Claude Code · Cursor · Codex · Cline · OpenClaw
Frequently asked questions
Can Hermes post to Instagram?
Yes, through Hermoso's MCP server. Create an API key in Hermoso under Settings → Agents & API keys, then add https://app.hermoso.ai/mcp to Hermes with an Authorization: Bearer header. Hermes then has 301 tools, including the ones that publish to Instagram — and the ones that research the ads already running in your market and render the creative in the first place.
How do I connect Instagram to Hermes?
Two steps, once each. Create an API key in Hermoso under Settings → Agents & API keys, then add https://app.hermoso.ai/mcp to Hermes with an Authorization: Bearer header. Then connect Instagram inside Hermoso under Settings → Connectors, which is an OAuth consent screen in a browser. After that Hermes publishes to Instagram as an ordinary tool call.
What is the Instagram caption limit when posting from Hermes?
An Instagram caption is capped at 2,200 characters, and the limit is enforced when the post is queued rather than when it fires. Hermoso enforces it when the post is created or queued, so Hermes is told immediately rather than failing later when nobody is watching.
Can Hermes run Instagram ads as well as posting?
Yes, through the Meta campaign tree — Instagram placements are selected inside a Meta ad set. Objects are created paused, and preview_meta_ad renders the real ad per placement before you spend.
Start free — 25 credits at signup and 250+ more to earn, and every feature on every plan.
Start free → See pricing