Instagram DMs MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI assistants read and send Instagram DMs.

Deployment

Option 1: One-Click Deploy (Render)

1. Click the "Deploy to Render" button above
2. Add your environment variables in Render dashboard:
   • IG_COOKIES - Your Instagram cookies as JSON (see below)
   • POKE_API_KEY - Your Poke API key (optional, for DM notifications)
3. Your MCP server will be at https://your-service.onrender.com/mcp

Option 2: Local Development

Quick Start

1. Get Your Instagram Cookies

1. Go to instagram.com and log in
2. Open DevTools (F12) → Application tab → Cookies → https://www.instagram.com
3. Copy these values into your .env:

Cookie	Env Variable
sessionid	IG_SESSION_ID
ds_user_id	IG_USER_ID
csrftoken	IG_CSRF_TOKEN
datr	IG_DATR
ig_did	IG_DID
mid	IG_MID

2. Setup

git clone https://github.com/braindead-dev/instagram-dms-mcp.git
cd instagram-dms-mcp

# Build the gateway (requires Go 1.22+)
cd gateway && ./build.sh && cd ..

# Configure
cp env.example .env
# Edit .env with your cookies

# Run
pip install -r requirements.txt
python src/server.py

Tools

Tool	Description
get_inbox()	See all your conversations
get_conversation(user)	Read messages with someone
send_message(user, message)	Send a message
react(user, emoji)	React to their last message

Example Flow

User: "Check my Instagram DMs"
→ get_inbox()

User: "What did @johndoe say?"
→ get_conversation("johndoe")

User: "Reply with 'sounds good!'"
→ send_message("johndoe", "sounds good!")

User: "React with a heart"
→ react("johndoe", "❤️")

Incoming DM Notifications (Poke)

To get notified when you receive new DMs:

1. Get your API key from poke.com/settings/advanced
2. Add to .env:

   POKE_API_KEY=your_key_here
   

New DMs will be forwarded to Poke as: 📩 Instagram DM from @username: message

Behavior Settings

The MCP simulates natural behavior by default:

Setting	Default	Description
IG_SIMULATE_TYPING	true	Show typing indicator before sending
IG_AUTO_MARK_SEEN	true	Mark as read when opening conversation
IG_TYPING_DELAY	1.5	Seconds to "type" before sending