Instagram API for Java

Instagram API for Java Developers

HikerAPI is a REST API that works with Java's built-in HttpClient (Java 11+). For JSON parsing, use Jackson or Gson.

Quick Start (Java 11+)

import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;

public class HikerApiExample {
    static final String API_KEY = "your_access_key";
    static final String BASE = "https://api.hikerapi.com";
    static final HttpClient client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
    static final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();

    static JsonNode apiGet(String endpoint, String query)
            throws Exception {
        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
            .uri(URI.create(BASE + endpoint + "?" + query))
            .header("x-access-key", API_KEY)
            .build();
        HttpResponse<String> response = client.send(request,
            HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
        return mapper.readTree(response.body());
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        JsonNode user = apiGet("/v1/user/by/username",
            "username=instagram");
        System.out.printf("Followers: %,d%n",
            user.get("follower_count").asLong());
    }
}

Maven Dependency (Jackson)

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
    <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
    <version>2.17.0</version>
</dependency>

Spring Boot

@Service
public class InstagramService {
    private final RestTemplate rest = new RestTemplate();

    public JsonNode getUser(String username) {
        HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
        headers.set("x-access-key", "your_access_key");
        String url = "https://api.hikerapi.com/v1/user/by/username"
            + "?username=" + username;
        return rest.exchange(url, HttpMethod.GET,
            new HttpEntity<>(headers), JsonNode.class).getBody();
    }
}

FAQ

What Java version do I need?
Java 11+ for HttpClient. Java 8 works with Apache HttpClient or OkHttp.

Does it work with Spring Boot?
Yes. Use RestTemplate or WebClient.

Getting Started

  1. Add Jackson to your pom.xml
  2. Register for an API key
  3. API docs — all 147+ endpoints

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