Unofficial Instagram API

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WORK UNITS

Newsfeed Stories	User Story id can_reply expiring_at latest_reel_media muted ranked_position seen seen_ranked_position Story id caption_is_edited comment_count comment_likes_enabled has_liked media_type original_height original_width photo_of_you taken_at view_count Video id url Image url User pk full_name is_private is_verified profile_pic_url username	chevron_right Details
Newsfeed Posts	Instagram Posts id caption_is_edited code comment_count device_timestamp filter_type has_liked has_more_comments like_count max_num_visible_preview_comments media_type original_height original_width photo_of_you taken_at User pk full_name has_anonymous_profile_picture is_favorite is_private is_unpublished is_verified profile_pic_id profile_pic_url username Friendship Status following outgoing_request Images url height width Caption pk created_at status text type	chevron_right Details
Liked Content	Items pk comment_count filter_type lat like_count lng original_height original_width photo_of_you taken_at Location pk address city name Image url Video id url User pk full_name is_private profile_pic_url username Caption pk created_at text	chevron_right Details
Hashtag Posts	Top Posts id code comment_count lat like_count lng media_type taken_at User pk full_name is_private profile_pic_url username Image url height width Caption pk text Video id url height type width	chevron_right Details
User Profile	User id biography business_address_json business_category_name business_email business_phone_number external_url full_name is_business_account is_joined_recently is_private profile_pic_url_hd username Posts Info ../id count Posts ./node/id Post id display_url	chevron_right Details
Hashtag Search	Hashtags id media_count name	chevron_right Details
User Stories	User Story id expiring_at media_type taken_at total_viewer_count viewer_count Videos url Viewers pk full_name username Images url height width User full_name pk profile_pic_url username	chevron_right Details
User Following	Users pk full_name is_private profile_pic_url username	chevron_right Details
User Followers	Users pk full_name is_private profile_pic_url username	chevron_right Details
User Posts	Posts id code comment_count lat like_count lng media_type taken_at Video id url height type width Caption pk text Image url height width User pk full_name is_private profile_pic_url username	chevron_right Details
Search	Users ./user/pk User follower_count full_name is_private pk profile_pic_url username Hashtags ./hashtag/id Hashtag id media_count name	chevron_right Details
Login	Cookies sessionid	chevron_right Details

README

Instagram made some changes to its API & app approval policies as of 2018, revoking access to existing apps and requiring a much stricter approval process to even access any amount of data from Instagram (even if public or from your own account).

Frequently Asked Questions

The taken_at field in posts is an epoch, you can convert it to a human readable timestamp with an epoch converter.

The code field in posts can be used to construct the URL to the Instagram post on the web by prepending https://www.instagram.com/p/ to it.

Developers

While this was a win for user privacy, this change makes it even more difficult for developers to get started building something to prototype with (and then eventually go to Instagram for formal approval).

Unofficial APIs

A number of unofficial APIs and platforms still exist for accessing Instagram data, though Instagram is aggressively making these approaches more difficult to use with request signatures and certificate pinning on applications.

One such project that caught our eye is the Instagram Private API, which documents known endpoints used in their mobile apps.

Although these private API endpoints appear to require signatures to work properly (why a full-fledged Python library exists), with a little trickery it's possible to use these endpoints with your cookie from the Instagram Web App.

Getting Your Cookie

You'll need to use the Chrome Developer tools and need a valid Instagram login to get your cookie, but the process is very simple.

Go to Instagram and log in if you haven't already
Open up Chrome Developer Tools and go to the Application tab
Under the storage header ont he left-hand menu, expand "Cookies" and click on the entry for "https://www.instagram.com/"
Find the row with the Name equal to sessionid and double click the value to the right of it. This is your Session ID you'll need to use these endpoints

Automated Logging In

While not recommended for beginners, if you need an automated access to log in and retreive your session ID, please see the Instagram Login task, which will retreive your session ID via endpoint.

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