Hermoso is a marketing MCP server: 876+ 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. Paperclip reaches all of it through one connection. This page covers one slice of that: what Paperclip can actually do on Instagram, and what Instagram will not let it do.
Connect Hermoso to Paperclip
- Copy the connector URL.
https://app.hermoso.ai/mcp - Paperclip → Connectors → Connect your own MCP server. Paste the URL. Paperclip asks the server what it needs; Hermoso advertises OAuth, so Paperclip registers a client by itself and opens a browser sign-in.
- Approve on the Hermoso page. Sign in with your Hermoso account and allow access. No key is pasted.
- Set the action permissions. Paperclip lists Hermoso’s tools as read, write or destructive, and each can be Allowed, Ask first or Off. Allow the reads, and keep anything that publishes, schedules or spends on Ask first.
- Ask an agent in Paperclip 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.
Paperclip labels any server outside its reviewed catalog an Unverified server, which in Paperclip’s words is a statement about review, not about whether the connection works. Every Hermoso tool publishes read-only and destructive annotations, so the read, write and destructive split comes from the server rather than from Paperclip guessing at tool names. The steps are quoted from Paperclip’s custom MCP server guide, read on 2026-10-03, and documented rather than run here. Hermoso is not affiliated with or endorsed by Paperclip.
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 Paperclip 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, for research rather than 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 caption cannot be edited once the post is live: the only thing Meta lets you change on a published post is whether comments are enabled. Deleting one is supported: manage_meta_post removes ordinary posts, Stories, Reels and entire carousel albums, though never a single card out of an album.
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, so an overlong post is refused while you are still there to fix it instead of being silently cut on the way out. |
|---|---|
| Visibility | Public only. Meta’s Content Publishing API publishes immediately or not at all, and Instagram “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 Paperclip
Ask for it in ordinary language. These are plain sentences, not a DSL:
“Social agent: build a 4-slide Instagram carousel announcing the new colourway, write the caption, and submit the post for approval.”
That walks search_instagram → plan_ad → render_ad → post_to_meta (target: "instagram"). Paperclip puts its own gate in front of every Hermoso call: each action is Allowed, Ask first or Off. Hermoso’s gates sit underneath: campaigns are born paused, and spend switches and deletes need an explicit confirmation.
Paperclip on Instagram: the part that bites
Instagram has no draft and no caption edit once live, which makes Paperclip’s Ask first the review step that matters on this channel. The post can still be deleted with manage_meta_post; Paperclip classifies that tool as destructive from Hermoso’s own annotations, so keep it on Ask first too.
There is a second way to give a Paperclip agent Hermoso, and Paperclip warns that it is different: attaching a server to the agent’s runtime, such as installing Hermoso’s plugin into the Claude Code an agent runs on. That works, but Paperclip’s action permissions and review queue do not sit in front of it. Use the connector when you want Paperclip deciding what an agent may publish.
Research Instagram before you post
search_meta_ads covers Instagram placements as well as Facebook, since 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 fetch_social_data and search_instagram_hashtag.
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. 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. That breakdown is what shapes the next creative.
What Paperclip 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). 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 Paperclip, post to: Facebook · Threads · TikTok · YouTube · X · LinkedIn · Pinterest · Bluesky · Telegram. Or see everything Paperclip can publish to.
Post to Instagram from: Claude · ChatGPT · Claude Code · Cursor · Codex · Cline · OpenClaw · Grok Bot · Hermes · Gemini CLI · Perplexity · Le Chat · Claude Cowork · Perplexity Computer
Frequently asked questions
Can Paperclip post to Instagram?
Yes, through Hermoso's MCP server. In Paperclip, open Connectors, choose Connect your own MCP server, paste https://app.hermoso.ai/mcp and approve the sign-in with your Hermoso account. There is no key to paste. Paperclip then has 876+ tools, including the ones that publish to Instagram, plus 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 Paperclip?
Two steps, once each. In Paperclip, open Connectors, choose Connect your own MCP server, paste https://app.hermoso.ai/mcp and approve the sign-in with your Hermoso account. There is no key to paste. Then connect Instagram inside Hermoso under Settings → Connectors, which is an OAuth consent screen in a browser. After that Paperclip publishes to Instagram as an ordinary tool call.
Does Paperclip need my Instagram password?
No. You connect Instagram to Hermoso once through an OAuth consent screen in a browser, and Paperclip then reaches it as a tool call. Linking an account is the one step that is not headless; nothing after it needs a password, and no credential is ever handed to the model.
Can Paperclip schedule a Instagram post for later?
Yes. schedule_post queues it on one calendar shared with every other channel, with a per-channel caption if the copy should differ, and list_scheduled and cancel_scheduled read and pull it back. Instagram is one of the ten channels that queue.
Can Paperclip post a carousel to Instagram?
Yes, 2 to 10 slides, and images and video can be mixed. Ten is Meta’s own published limit, not one Hermoso invented. Paperclip calls the same publish tool either way, and a channel that cannot carry a carousel is refused with the real reason attached.
What does it cost to post to Instagram from Paperclip?
Publishing to Instagram costs no credits; Meta charges nothing per API call. Credits go on the render itself. Plans are $19, $49 and $149 a month for 1,000, 3,000 and 10,000 credits, and every feature is on every plan including Free. The only exception is enterprise SSO.
Start free with 30 credits at signup and 250+ more to earn. Every feature is on every plan. Credits are spent only on AI models and Ad Spy research; posting, scheduling, ads management and analytics are free.
Start free → See pricing