Venice.aiMaintaining a consistent presence on social media takes time you probably don't have. What if you could automate your entire Instagram workflow—from generating images to writing captions and publishing posts—every single day?
With Venice AI and N8N, you can. After an initial setup investment, your ongoing API costs drop to zero thanks to Venice's API daily credit refresh system.
This step-by-step guide walks you through building an AI agent workflow that generates on-brand visuals, writes engaging captions, and auto-posts to Instagram without manual intervention.
Download the Venice x n8n Instagram Agent json workflow file here.
What you'll need
This workflow combines several tools to automate your content pipeline. Here's what you'll be working with:
N8N for workflow orchestration
Venice AI for content generation (Hydri image model and Venice Small for captions)
Cloudinary for image hosting
Facebook Graph API for Instagram publishing
Google Docs as your brand knowledge base
Once configured, the workflow runs autonomously every day at 9 a.m. You can also trigger it manually for testing.
How the workflow operates
The automation runs through five distinct steps. Each one builds on the previous to create a complete content pipeline.
Step 1: Generate the content idea
An AI agent reads your brand's Google Docs knowledge base containing your brand voice, content pillars, messaging framework, and visual style guide. Based on this context, it generates a tailored image prompt in JSON format.
Step 2: Create the image
The prompt is sent to Venice's Hydri model, an open-source image generator that produces visuals comparable to corporate models like DALL·E. The difference: you maintain full control and privacy over your content.
Step 3: Host the image
The generated image is converted to JPEG and uploaded to Cloudinary, which returns a public URL ready for Instagram.
Step 4: Write the caption
A second AI agent uses Venice Small to generate a caption based on your daily content theme, tone guidelines, post length preferences, and hashtag rotation strategy.
Step 5: Publish to Instagram
Using the Facebook Graph API, the system publishes the image and caption directly to your Instagram business account. A successful post triggers a confirmation email or notification.
Why use Venice AI for this workflow
You might ask: why not just use OpenAI? Two reasons make Venice the better choice for automated content creation.
Your ongoing API costs become zero
You can purchase API credits with USD or stake the Diem token. For every 1 Diem staked, you receive $1 worth of daily API credits. After an upfront investment—like staking 15 Diem—your daily inference needs are covered at no additional cost.
Running this workflow would normally cost a few cents per day. With staking, that cost drops to zero after your initial setup investment.
It works with existing OpenAI integrations
Venice is fully compatible with the OpenAI API schema. Simply change the base URL in any OpenAI-compatible tool like N8N to point to Venice. No code changes required.
Setting up the workflow
Follow these steps to configure each tool in your automation pipeline. The process takes about an hour if you're starting from scratch.
Step 1: Set up N8N
Use n8n.io ($20/month hosted) or self-host via Hostinger or Cloudflare. Once you have N8N running, import the provided JSON workflow template. This gives you the basic structure you'll customize in the following steps.
Step 2: Configure Venice AI
Generate an API key from your Venice dashboard. In N8N, add it as an OpenAI credential but change the base URL to Venice's endpoint. You'll need to repeat this process twice—once for the image generation node and once for the caption writing node.
Step 3: Set up Cloudinary
Sign up for a free Cloudinary account. Create an unsigned upload preset (for example, "Instagram automation") and set up a folder called "Instagram posts." Input your cloud name, API key, and preset into the N8N node. Cloudinary will host your generated images and provide the URLs Instagram needs.
Step 4: Connect Facebook Graph API
Connect your Facebook Page and Instagram Business account in Meta Business Suite. Create an app at developers.facebook.com/apps and use Graph API Explorer to generate a token with instagram_content_publish and instagram_basic permissions.
Extend the token to 60 days using the Access Token Debugger. Short-lived tokens expire quickly, so this step is important for keeping your workflow running without manual intervention. Paste the extended token into your N8N credential.
Step 5: Get your Instagram Business Account ID
Use a simple N8N sub-workflow to retrieve your ID via API calls. This ID tells the workflow which Instagram account to post to. Plug this ID into the Instagram parameters within your workflow.
Step 6: Create your brand knowledge base
Set up a Google Doc with your brand guidelines. Include your brand voice, content pillars, visual style preferences, character descriptions, hex codes, and any specific instructions for tone or topics to avoid. The AI agent will reference this document every time it generates content.
This step determines how on-brand your automated content becomes.
Making the content on-brand
The quality of your automated content depends on the instructions you provide. Here's how to customize the workflow for your specific brand.
Build a detailed knowledge base
Your Google Doc should include specific guidelines the AI can follow. Add your brand voice and tone, content pillars, messaging framework, visual style preferences, and examples of past successful posts. The more context you provide, the better the AI understands what you want.
Implement a content rotation
Set up a 7-day content cycle to keep your feed diverse. For example: Motivation Monday, Tutorial Tuesday, Behind-the-Scenes Wednesday, Feature Friday. The workflow can rotate through these themes automatically, preventing repetitive content.
Define visual consistency
Include hex codes for your brand colors, descriptions of recurring characters or elements, and style references the AI should follow. If you want a specific aesthetic—minimalist, vibrant, vintage—spell it out clearly.
Set caption parameters
Define your preferred tone, typical post length, hashtag strategy, and topics to avoid. If you rotate hashtags to avoid Instagram's spam filters, document that rotation pattern. The AI will follow these rules for every caption it writes.
What happens after setup
Once live, your AI agent runs autonomously without manual intervention. It generates unique images daily, writes context-aware captions, publishes to Instagram, and sends you a confirmation alert.
With Venice's daily credit refresh from staking, your operational costs stay at zero after the initial investment. The workflow continues running indefinitely as long as your tokens remain staked.
Next steps
Test the workflow manually before setting it to auto-run. Review the first week of posts to see if any adjustments to your brand knowledge base would improve quality. Most users find they need to refine their guidelines once or twice before the output matches their standards consistently.
Venice isn't just a tool—it's a platform for private, uncensored, and decentralized AI. Join the Venice Discord to explore more automation use cases, share workflows, and connect with other builders pushing the boundaries of AI agents.
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