Uploading Reels to Instagram

Instagram in Lusiesta Studio is published as Reels: the engine takes one video file, puts it into the phone gallery and runs the upload scenario inside the Instagram app. The upload engine does not publish photo posts, carousels or Stories. This article covers how to create the task, the behavior on the phone, working with clones and the usual failures.

What you need to prepare

• Vertical clips and a caption list - as described in preparing content for upload.
• The Siesta input agent installed and enabled on every device.
• A proxy on the device and a warmed-up account: Instagram is sensitive both to the network and to behavior.
• A manual sign-in in the Instagram app on the phone. The app does not type logins or passwords and does not store them.

Creating the task

1. Open "New publication" in the left menu.
2. Turn on the toggle on the Instagram card (labeled "Reels / posts").
3. In the "Media" section choose "Local folder" and point it at the folder with your clips.
4. Fill in the "Captions" block: one line, one caption, with hashtags in the same line.
5. In "Publishing options" set "Threads" and "Start time". For Instagram it makes sense to keep the thread count low: running a dozen phones in parallel runs into USB bandwidth and file transfer speed.
6. Tick the devices in the "Devices" section.
7. Click "Start publishing" and follow the tasks on the "Tasks" page.

If you forget to fill something in, the app tells you plainly: "No videos to publish", "Select a platform or clones", "No devices selected" or "Add a caption for a local publication".

Several accounts on one phone: clones

There is only one base Instagram app on a phone, and it works with the account you signed in to. To run several accounts from one device you use clones - copies of the app with a changed package identifier. Lusiesta Studio does not create the clones itself: you bring ready APK files, and the app installs them on the phones and keeps a map of device to installed clones. The installation procedure is described in installing apps and clones.

What matters when you upload through clones:

• The clone toggle in the "Clones" section works independently of the main platform toggle. You can upload to clones only, to the base app only, or to both at once.
• Every clone takes its own video from the queue: the gallery is wiped and a new clip is transferred before each one.
• One clone failing does not bring down the whole task - the result will read something like "Succeeded on 3/4 clones".
• If clones are enabled but the device has none, the log gets a warning that no active clones were found and only the main app is used.
• You have to sign in to every clone once by hand - it is a separate copy of the app with its own session.

What happens on the device

1. The gallery is wiped and one clip is transferred to the camera folder.
2. Instagram (or the clone) is launched and the publication screens are walked through by the interface tree: the scenario looks for elements by what is on screen, so it works the same way on the base app and on a clone.
3. The uploaded clip is selected and the caption screen opens.
4. The Siesta agent pastes the caption through the clipboard and the post is published.
5. The account name and the post link are captured for the "Statistics" page.

In the log a successful result looks like "Instagram: video published", and for a clone "Clone name: video published". A failure gives "Instagram: failed to publish" with the tail of the scenario log.

Instagram reacts to sudden spikes in activity more visibly than the other platforms. If an account has only just finished its warm-up, start with one publication a day per account and raise the frequency gradually. No tool can give you guarantees, but this pace removes the most obvious reasons for restrictions.

Typical problems

"Instagram: account is not signed in". The scenario saw a login or sign-up form on screen. Sign-outs happen after an IP change, an app update or a check from the platform side. Sign in manually on the phone, pass the verification if there is one, and run the task again. With clones you have to sign in to each clone separately.

No access to files. If Instagram shows a system request for access to photos and videos when it opens the gallery, grant it once by hand on the phone. Some firmware offers an option to allow access to selected files only - in that case the scenario may not see the fresh clip, so it is better to grant full media access.

The gallery did not refresh. After the transfer the engine asks the system to rescan the media library, but on some firmware the gallery cache updates with a delay. Close the app through Close All in the device card menu, clear the gallery manually with the "Clear gallery" button if needed, and start the task again.

The app updated and the buttons moved. Publishing scenarios live on the server and are pulled the moment a task starts, so the fix arrives without reinstalling the client: restarting the app is enough. If a task failed, click "Report an error" on it - a screenshot and the interface tree of the exact screen where it stalled are attached automatically.

The task will not start because of the agent. Messages about a missing agent or accessibility access that has not been granted are solved with the "Initialize agent" button in the panel on the right and the "Enable manually" button in the Siesta app on the phone.

Scenario not found. The text "Scenario not found" means the client could not fetch the scenario body from the server. Check your internet connection and your sign-in, then run it again.

What Instagram uploading does not include

• Publishing Stories, carousels, photo posts and text posts.
• Mass following, auto-commenting on other accounts and audience scraping.
• Automatic sign-in to accounts and password storage.

Besides publishing, the Instagram automation available to you is a Reels feed warm-up - it is set up on the "Warm-up" tab of the Instagram page, with details in what a warm-up is.