Prerequisites and Environment
- Ensure you have PHP installed on your server, ideally PHP 7.4 or higher, with cURL extension enabled.
- Composer must be installed for managing dependencies.
- Create a Facebook App and link it to Instagram for use with the Instagram Graph API. You'll need a valid Access Token with the required permissions.
Install Required Libraries
- Use Composer to install the Facebook Graph SDK for PHP, which will facilitate API communication.
composer require facebook/graph-sdk
Authenticating with the Instagram Graph API
- Obtain a User Access Token with the necessary permissions (e.g., `instagram_basic`, `instagram_manage_insights`, etc.).
- Generate a Long-Lived Access Token if you require more extended access without frequent re-authorization.
Setting Up the PHP Environment
- Set up your PHP script to use the Facebook Graph SDK to initialize the Graph API Client.
- Use the Access Token obtained earlier to authorize requests.
require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
use Facebook\Facebook;
$fb = new Facebook([
'app_id' => '{app-id}',
'app_secret' => '{app-secret}',
'default_graph_version' => 'v16.0',
]);
$accessToken = '{access-token}';
Fetching User Media
- Use the `/me/media` endpoint to request a user's media data.
- Build and execute a request to the Instagram Graph API to fetch media.
try {
$response = $fb->get('/me/media?fields=id,caption,media_type,media_url,thumbnail_url,permalink,timestamp', $accessToken);
$media = $response->getDecodedBody();
foreach ($media['data'] as $mediaDatum) {
echo 'ID: ' . $mediaDatum['id'] . '<br>';
echo 'Caption: ' . $mediaDatum['caption'] . '<br>';
echo 'Media Type: ' . $mediaDatum['media_type'] . '<br>';
echo 'Media URL: ' . $mediaDatum['media_url'] . '<br>';
echo 'Permalink: ' . $mediaDatum['permalink'] . '<br>';
echo 'Timestamp: ' . $mediaDatum['timestamp'] . '<br><br>';
}
} catch(Facebook\Exceptions\FacebookResponseException $e) {
echo 'Graph returned an error: ' . $e->getMessage();
exit;
} catch(Facebook\Exceptions\FacebookSDKException $e) {
echo 'Facebook SDK returned an error: ' . $e->getMessage();
exit;
}
Handling Errors and Exceptions
- Include error checking to handle possible exceptions when communicating with the API.
- Implement loggers or alerts to keep track of errors for easier debugging and maintenance.
Refreshing Tokens
- Keep track of the token expiry to refresh Access Tokens as needed using the Facebook API SDK methods.
- Consider implementing a cron job for seamless token management.
Security Considerations
- Never expose your `app secret` or `access token` publicly. Store them securely in environment variables or secure configuration files.
- Regularly audit permissions and refresh tokens routinely to maintain security and access control.
