If you already record long videos for YouTube, Instagram has given you a reason to think about where else they could go. On 26 October it announced Features, a horizontal long-form format for videos up to 90 minutes, and for now it is open to a small group of creators.
Progress update from 30 October 2026. Feature availability reflects that date.
TL;DR
Clipflow updates
- You can upload files from your AI assistant or the command line (27 October). Ask Claude, ChatGPT or another connected assistant to upload files and it gives you a link straight to the right project. With the new Clipflow command-line tool, you or your coding agent can create projects and upload footage and documents without opening a browser. Assistant setup is in the MCP server guide.
- You can pick from your File Library when adding media to a post or a design (28 October). Search every file at once, and files already on a post are marked in use. Media can only be added to a post from that post's own organization.
- The week's build list also included a batch of new carousel templates. It was a working list, and the changelog gives no template count, so treat the number as unconfirmed.
Putting it to work
- Keep one long video as the source: cut shorts from it and publish the long version wherever your audience already watches.
- Link each short to its long video: do it as part of publishing, not as a job for later.
- Check your formats before you need them: find out whether you have a horizontal master of your long videos and what your ads would need.
What Instagram announced
Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, appeared in a video with its vice president of product, Tessa Lyons, to announce Features. Videos can be horizontal and run up to 90 minutes.
Meta is testing it with select US creators after a trial in Brazil, and a broader rollout is expected in the weeks ahead. The report we checked doesn't say how creators will be paid, so that is an open question. If you aren't in the first group, you can't post a Feature today.
Why the link between a short and a long video matters
We make shorts from our long videos, and we should link the two. On YouTube that link is a manual step after you upload, and it's one we skip.
What we hope Instagram does better is make the connection easy to set up in advance. If someone watches a short and wants more, the long video is the obvious next step, so it helps if the platform does the joining for you.
Check the format before you need it
The long videos in the coverage we saw were horizontal. We don't know whether vertical long-form will follow, and that affects what you film and how you frame it.
We also wonder whether Meta ads will need a new format to sit alongside long-form video. We don't know yet, so it's worth checking which ad formats you have.
What this means for a small business
Most of the early reaction came from creators asking whether it's worth the effort of posting to Instagram. A business on Instagram looks at it differently: you want reach, and one more place to publish a video you've already made is cheap if you have a way to do it.
That is the case for keeping one long video as the source and building everything else from it.
A small test for this week
Take your most recent long video. Write down three things: where it would go on Instagram, which 60-second cut would point people to it, and whether you have a horizontal version ready.
If you have all three, you can move when your account gets access. If one is missing, that's the job to do now.
Smaller shipping notes
The command-line tool is for people who use a coding agent. It can create projects and upload footage and documents without opening a browser.
Files you upload from an assistant arrive with a link to the right project, so you can open it and check where they landed.
This week: a developer we know says their company runs a leaderboard for how many tokens people use each week, and none of their goals are tied to features or customer satisfaction. Our view is that a target you can push up without helping a customer stops measuring anything useful.
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