Automate Instagram with VS Code
Instagram is one of only two places here where images and video can share a post, and the only one that will not take a PNG.
VS Code installs Antwork from a single click, straight into the Copilot chat MCP servers. The one thing that catches people is the extension it rides on.
MCP servers in VS Code run through GitHub Copilot, so the extension has to be installed and signed in.
Connect it
- 01Click Add to VS CodeVS Code opens and prompts you to confirm. The server name, URL and HTTP transport are all carried in the link, so nothing is typed.
- 02Authorize in the browserThe first tool call opens an OAuth consent screen. There is no API key to generate or store in your settings file.
- 03Connect the social accountAsk Copilot chat to connect your account and it returns a connect link per platform. Authorize once and Antwork keeps that token alive.
What you can say once Instagram is connected
“Draft an Instagram caption for this photo in my voice, with three hashtags at the end.”
“Turn this carousel of five images into an Instagram post and schedule it for Saturday.”
“Rewrite my last Instagram caption with a stronger first line.”
“Which of my Instagram posts got the most engagement this month?”
What is different about Instagram
Only hereJPEG only
Instagram accepts .jpg and .jpeg and nothing else. A PNG, which is what most design tools export by default, is refused. Antwork checks the extension when you attach rather than letting you find out at publish.
A carousel does not have to be all one thing
Up to ten items in a post, and they can be images and video together. Most platforms here force you to pick one kind; this is not one of them.
There is no landscape
Image ratios are 4:5, 1:1 and 1.91:1, and video is 9:16, 1:1 or 4:5. Nothing 16:9 fits, so a cut made for YouTube needs recutting before it comes here.
Fifteen minutes, ten times over
Each video can run fifteen minutes at 300 MB, and ten of them can sit in one post. The limit you will hit first is almost never the length.
Questions
- Do I need an API key to connect VS Code?
- No. Antwork connects over OAuth — you approve a consent screen in the browser and you are done. There is no key to generate or paste into a URL, which is how most social MCP servers handle it.
- Do I need a paid account?
- No. Your first two connected accounts are free forever, with unlimited posts and workspaces, and there is no plan gate on MCP access.
- Will VS Code post without showing me first?
- Not unless you ask it to. Drafting and publishing are two separate steps: the agent writes, renders the post card, and only publishes when you confirm.
- Does the writing sound like AI?
- Antwork hands the agent that account's recent posts, along with how each performed, and the agent writes to match them. On Instagram that includes writing to the length the format rewards, up to 2,200 characters.
Never leave VS Code to post again.
One command, one consent screen, and Instagram is something you can just ask for.