scraper-instagram

Scrape data from Instagram without applying for the authenticated API.

Getting started

Prerequisites

• NodeJS
• NPM or Yarn

Install

From npm

npm i scraper-instagram --save

or

yarn add scraper-instagram

Basic usage

const Insta = require('scraper-instagram');
const InstaClient = new Insta();

InstaClient.getHashtag("javascript")
    .then((hashtag) => console.log(hashtag))
    .catch((err) => console.error(err));

...
{
	shortcode: 'CbGxIdAXxA',
	caption: 'Lorem ipsum #javascript',
	comments: 66,
	likes: 1090,
	thumbnail: 'https://scontent-dus1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/123',
	timestamp: 1647290186
},
...

Authentication

Authentication allows you to access private profile as long as you follow them.

Importing your session ID

• Go to instagram.com
• Login (if not already logged in)
• Open development tools (Ctrl + Shift + I)
• Get the sessionid cookie value
  • For chromium-based browsers : application tab
  • For firefox-based browsers : storage tab

Code

InstaClient.authBySessionId(yourSessionId)
	.then(account => console.log(account))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

If authentication is successfull, you'll get the form data from accounts/edit :

{
	"first_name": "",
	"last_name": "",
	"email": "",
	"is_email_confirmed": true,
	"is_phone_confirmed": true,
	"username": "",
	"phone_number": "",
	"gender": 1,
	"birthday": null,
	"biography": "",
	"external_url": "",
	"chaining_enabled": true,
	"presence_disabled": false,
	"business_account": false,
	"usertag_review_enabled": false
}

If your session ID is invalid, you'll get the 401 error.

Username/password authentication may be supported in the future.

Get

These methods allows you to get specific elements from Instagram while you know exactly what you're looking for.

Errors handling

get may return errors in the two following cases.

• Request error : failed to get data from Instagram (HTTP code)
• Parsing error : failed to parse data returned by Instagram (406)
• No content : nothing to parse (204)
• Authentication required : session ID required to access data (401)
• Too many requests : rate limit exceeded (429)
• Conflict : automation detected, password reset required (409)

Get profile by username

InstaClient.getProfile(username)
	.then(profile => console.log(profile))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result

• id string - Instagram identifier, only used for stories
• name string - public full name
• pic url - public profile picture
• bio string - public biography
  website url - public website
  more info about bio & website
• private boolean - account private state
• access boolean - access to the profile's feed
  In order to have access to a private account's feed, you must have sent him a follow request that he accepted.
• verified boolean - account verified state
• followers integer - number of users following this profile
• following integer - number of users this profile follows
• posts integer - number of posts this profile published
• lastPosts array of posts - last posts
  This property is empty ([]) when the profile doesn't have any post but null if access is false (denied).
• link url - link to the profile's page
• business string - business category (when applicable and profile unblocked)
• user object - user relevant properties (while authenticated) :
  • mutualFollowers array of usernames - people following you and this profile
  • blocking boolean - you blocked this profile
  • blocked boolean - this profile blocked you (only available property in user while true)
  • requesting boolean - you sent a follow request to this profile (if private)
  • requested boolean - this profile sent you a follow request (if yours is private)
  • following boolean - you're following this profile
  • followed boolean - this profile follows you

Get profile story (requires authentication)

Using profile ID

InstaClient.getProfileStoryById(id)
    .then(profile => console.log(profile))
    	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Using profile username (will automatically request profile ID)

InstaClient.getProfileStory(username)
    .then(profile => console.log(profile))
    	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result

• unread boolean - profile story is unread
• author object - a subset of profile
  • username
  • pic
• user object - user relevant properties
  • requesting
  • following
• items array of stories - profile stories
  • url string - link to original story file (jpg, mp4, ...)
  • type string - story type : photo or video
  • timestamp epoch
  • expirationTimestamp epoch

Those methods will return null when a profile has no story.

Note : calling this method will not mark the story as read.

Get hashtag

InstaClient.getHashtag(hashtag)
	.then(hashtag => console.log(hashtag))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result

• pic url - hashtag profile pic (can't find out how it is chosen)
• posts integer - number of posts containing this hashtag
• featuredPosts array of posts - featured posts published with this hashtag
  lastPosts array of posts - last posts published with this hashtag
  more info about hashtag posts
• link url - link to the hashtag's page
• user object - user relevant properties (while authenticated) :
  • following boolean - you subscribed to this hashtag (receiving posts in your personal feed)

Get location by ID

Unfortunately, using IDs is currently the only way to get a location, at least for now.

InstaClient.getLocation(id)
	.then(location => console.log(location))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result

• pic url - location profile pic
• posts integer - posts published from that location
• address object
  • street string
  • zipCode string
  • city string
  • latitude float
  • longitude float
• website url - place's website
• phone string - place's contact phone number
• featuredPosts array of posts - featured posts published from this location
  lastPosts array of posts - last posts published from this location
• link url - link to this location's page

Array of posts

This is a subset of a real post, containing the following properties :

• shortcode string - post identifier
• caption string - post description
• comments integer - number of comments
• likes integer - number of likes
• thumbnail url - post thumbnail
  Always static image wether it's a photo or a video post, lower quality.

Get post by shortcode

The shortcode is the post's identifier : the link to a post is instagram.com/p/shortcode.

InstaClient.getPost(shortcode)
	.then(post => console.log(post))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result

• author object - a subset of a profile's properties.
  • username string
  • name string
  • pic url
  • verified boolean
  • link url
• location
  • name string
  • city string
• contents array of posts
  • type string - post type : photo or video
  • url string - link to original post file (jpg, mp4, ...)
  • if type is video :
    thumbnail string - link to thumbnail
    views integer - number of views
• tagged array of usernames - people tagged in post contents
• likes integer - number of likes
• caption string - post description
• hashtags array of hashtags - hashtags mentioned in post description
• mentions array of usernames - people mentioned in post description
• edited boolean - caption edited
• comments array of objects (Max 40)
  • user string - comment author's username
  • content string - comment content
  • timestamp epoch
  • hashtags array of hashtags
  • mentions array of usernames
  • likes integer
• commentCount integer
• timestamp epoch
• link string - link to the post

Paginated getters (require authentication)

Paginated getters allows bulk data downloads.

Params :

• maxCount integer - max number of items to return
• pageId string (optional) - page navigation identifier

Result : array + nextPageId property

Sample :

(async () => {
	const page0 = await somePaginatedGetter(someId, 50);
	const page1 = await somePaginatedGetter(someId, 50, page0.nextPageId);
	const page2 = await somePaginatedGetter(someId, 50, page1.nextPageId);
})();

The pageId/nextPageId property may contain a string of digits, a base64 string, or a JSON string, but always must be leaved untouched.

Get profile posts

Result in array : full post object

Using profile ID

InstaClient.getProfilePostsById(profileId, maxCount, pageId)
    .then(posts => console.log(posts))
    	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Using profile username (will automatically request profile ID)

InstaClient.getProfilePosts(profileUsername, maxCount, pageId)
    .then(posts => console.log(posts))
    	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Get post comments

InstaClient.getPostComments(shortcode, maxCount, pageId)
	.then(posts => console.log(posts))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result in array : comment object

Get hashtag posts

InstaClient.getHashtagPosts(hashtag, maxCount, pageId)
	.then(posts => console.log(posts))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result in array : partial post object

Get location posts

InstaClient.getLocationPostsById(locationId, maxCount, pageId)
	.then(posts => console.log(posts))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result in array : partial post object

Search

Search profile

InstaClient.searchProfile(query)
	.then(profiles => console.log(profiles))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result in array : a subset of profile.

• username
• name
• pic
• private
• verified
• followers
• user
  • following

Search hashtag

InstaClient.searchHashtag(hashtag)
	.then(hashtags => console.log(hashtags))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result in array : a subset of hashtag.

• name
• posts

Search location

InstaClient.searchLocation(location)
	.then(locations => console.log(locations))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result in array : a subset of location.

• id
• name
• address
  • street
  • city
  • latitude
  • longitude

Subscribe to posts

• options object (optional)
  • interval integer (optional) - time in seconds between requests. Default : 30
  • lastPostShortcode string (optional) - shortcode from which to begin if not the next one to be published.
  • fullPosts boolean (optional) - fetch full post data, additional request required

From user

InstaClient.subscribeUserPosts(username, (post, err) => {
    if(post)
        console.log(post.shortcode);
    else
        console.error(err);
}, {
    interval,
    lastPostShortcode,
    fullPosts
});

From hashtag

InstaClient.subscribeHashtagPosts(hashtag, (post, err) => {
    if(post)
        console.log(post.shortcode);
    else
        console.error(err);
}, {
    interval,
    lastPostShortcode,
    fullPosts
});

Account requests (user-relevant methods)

Get account notifications

InstaClient.getAccountNotifications()
	.then(notifications => console.log(notifications))
	.catch(err => console.error(err));

Result in array : notification

• id string - Notification identifier
• timestamp epoch
• type string - Notification type : like, mention, comment, follow
• post
  • shortcode
  • thumbnail
• by
  • username
  • name
  • pic
• content string - Comment content (when applicable)

Subscribe to account notifications

• options object (optional)
  • interval integer (optional) - time in seconds between requests. Default : 30
  • lastNotificationId string (optional) - Notification ID

InstaClient.subscribeAccountNotifications((post, err) => {
    if(post)
        console.log(post.shortcode);
    else
        console.error(err);
}, {
    interval,
    lastNotificationId
});

Get account stories

InstaClient.getAccountStories()
    .then(stories => console.log(stories))
    .catch(err => console.error(err));

Result in array : inbox-like

• unread
• author object - a subset of a profile's properties.
  • id
  • username
  • pic
• user object - user relevant properties
  • requesting
  • following

Test

• git clone https://github.com/ezzcodeezzlife/ig-scraper.git
• yarn install or npm install
• yarn test or npm run test

Optional environment variables for more complete testing :

• SESSION_ID : a session ID for authentication test and authenticated tests
• PUBLIC_PROFILE : a public profile to access
• PRIVATE_PROFILE : a private profile to access
• STORY_PROFILE_ID : a profile ID with a story to read
• STORY_PROFILE_USERNAME : a profile username with a story to read
• HASHTAG (default value : cat) : a hashtag to fetch
• LOCATION_ID (default value : 6889842 aka. Paris) : a location to fetch
• POST : a post to fetch
• SEARCH_PROFILE : a profile to search for
• SEARCH_HASHTAG (default value : cats) : a hashtag to search for
• SEARCH_LOCATION (default value : Paris) : a location to search for

Methods not covered by tests :

• subscribeUserPosts
• subscribeHashtagPosts
• subscribeAccountNotifications