n8n Instagram Auto-Publisher: Google Sheets + Gmail Alerts

Auto-publish Instagram posts from Google Sheets—complete with Gmail success & error alerts

This n8n workflow watches your Google Sheets queue and automatically publishes the next Pending asset to Instagram (Reels for MP4, image posts otherwise). It then updates the sheet and sends Gmail notifications for both success and errors.

What this workflow does

• Runs manually when you click Test workflow or on a daily schedule around 4 PM.
• Reads the first queued row in Sheet1 where Status = Pending.
• Detects asset type: if the queued file is an MP4, it prepares a Reel; otherwise it prepares an image post.
• Creates an Instagram media container via the Facebook Graph API using your provided media URL/filename and caption.
• Polls processing status via the Graph API and waits 15 seconds to retry while the container is IN_PROGRESS.
• Publishes on completion when the container status becomes FINISHED.
• Updates Google Sheets: marks the row as Completed after publishing, or Error Publishing if the container status is ERROR.
• Sends Gmail alerts: success email includes the remaining pending count; errors trigger an error notification.

Use cases

• Maintain a simple content queue in Google Sheets and push scheduled Instagram posts without manual upload.
• Publish a mix of MP4 Reels and image assets from one workflow, with reliable status handling.
• Give your team instant Gmail notifications when posts succeed or fail.

Technical details

• n8n nodes/tools: if, code, wait, gmail, switch, aggregate
• Integrations: Google Sheets (OAuth2), Facebook Graph API (Instagram publishing), Gmail (OAuth2)
• Required setup: replace YOUR_SPREADSHEET_ID, ensure Sheet1 has at least Status and Filename (optionally Url and Caption), and provide YOUR_INSTAGRAM_ACCOUNT_ID (or an instagram_account_id column).