Instaloader
===========
Download pictures (or videos) along with their captions and other metadata
from Instagram.
Installation
------------
Instaloader is written in Python, thus ensure having
`Python `__ (at least version 3.5) installed.
If you intend to use this tool under Windows, it is recommended
to install
`win-unicode-console `__.
If you have `pip `__ installed, you
may install Instaloader using
::
pip3 install instaloader
Alternatively, to get the most current version of Instaloader from our
`Git repository `__:
::
pip3 install git+https://github.com/Thammus/instaloader
(pass ``--upgrade`` to upgrade if Instaloader is already installed)
Instaloader requires
`requests `__, which
will be installed automatically, if it is not already installed.
How to automatically download pictures from Instagram
-----------------------------------------------------
To **download all pictures and videos of a profile**, as well as the
**profile picture**, do
::
instaloader profile [profile ...]
where ``profile`` is the name of a profile you want to download. Instead
of only one profile, you may also specify a list of profiles.
To later **update your local copy** of that profiles, you may run
::
instaloader --fast-update profile [profile ...]
When ``--fast-update`` is given, Instaloader stops when arriving at
the first already-downloaded picture.
Instaloader can also be used to **download private profiles**. To do so,
invoke it with
::
instaloader --login=your_username profile [profile ...]
When invoked like this, it also **stores the session cookies** in a file
in your temporary directory, which will be reused later when ``--login`` is given. So
you can download private profiles **non-interactively** when you already
have a valid session cookie file.
You may also download
**the most recent pictures by hashtag**:
::
instaloader "#hashtag"
This downloads the requested posts into a directory named according to the specified
hashtag and the filenames correspond to the timestamp of the posts.
As with all download tasks, this behavior can easily be customized, for example
encode the poster's profile name in the filenames:
::
instaloader --filename-pattern={date}_{profile} "#hashtag"
If you want to **download all followees of a given profile**, call
::
instaloader --login=your_username @profile
To **download all the pictures from your feed which you have liked**, call
::
instaloader --login=your_username :feed-liked
or to **download all pictures from your feed**:
::
instaloader --login=your_username :feed-all
Advanced Options
----------------
The following flags can be given to Instaloader to specify how profiles should
be downloaded.
To get a list of all flags, their abbreviations and their descriptions, you may
run ``instaloader --help``.
What to Download
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Specify a list of profiles or #hashtags. For each of these, Instaloader
creates a folder and downloads all posts along with the pictures's
captions and the current **profile picture**. If an already-downloaded profile
has been renamed, Instaloader automatically **finds it by its unique ID** and
renames the folder likewise.
--profile-pic-only Only download profile picture.
--skip-videos Do not download videos.
--geotags **Download geotags** when available. Geotags are stored as
a text file with the location's name and a Google Maps
link. This requires an additional request to the
Instagram server for each picture, which is why it is
disabled by default.
--comments Download and update comments for each post. This
requires an additional request to the Instagram server
for each post, which is why it is disabled by default.
When to Stop Downloading
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If none of these options are given, Instaloader goes through all pictures
matching the specified targets.
--fast-update For each target, stop when encountering the first
already-downloaded picture. This flag is recommended
when you use Instaloader to update your personal
Instagram archive.
--count COUNT Do not attempt to download more than COUNT posts.
Applies only to ``#hashtag``, ``:feed-all`` and ``:feed-liked``.
Login (Download Private Profiles)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Instaloader can **login to Instagram**. This allows downloading private
profiles. To login, pass the ``--login`` option. Your session cookie (not your
password!) will be saved to a local file to be reused next time you want
Instaloader to login.
--login YOUR-USERNAME Login name (profile name) for your Instagram account.
--sessionfile SESSIONFILE Path for loading and storing session key file.
Defaults to a path
within your temporary directory, encoding your local
username and your Instagram profile name.
--password YOUR-PASSWORD Password for your Instagram account. Without this
option, you'll be prompted for your password
interactively if there is not yet a valid session
file.
How to Download
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
--dirname-pattern DIRNAME_PATTERN
Name of directory where to store posts. ``{profile}``
is replaced by the profile name, ``{target}`` is replaced
by the target you specified, i.e. either ``:feed``,
``#hashtag`` or the profile name. Defaults to ``{target}``.
--filename-pattern FILENAME_PATTERN
Prefix of filenames. Posts are stored in the
directory whose pattern is given with ``--dirname-pattern``.
``{profile}`` is replaced by the profile name,
``{target}`` is replaced by the target you specified, i.e.
either ``:feed``, ``#hashtag`` or the profile name. Also, the
fields ``{date}`` and ``{shortcode}`` can be specified.
Defaults to ``{date:%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S}``.
--user-agent USER_AGENT User Agent to use for HTTP requests. Per default,
Instaloader pretends being Chrome/51.
--no-sleep Do not sleep between requests to Instagram's servers.
This makes downloading faster, but may be suspicious.
Miscellaneous Options
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
--shorter-output Do not display captions while downloading.
--quiet Disable user interaction, i.e. do not print messages
(except errors) and fail if login credentials are
needed but not given. This makes Instaloader
**suitable as a cron job**.
Usage as Python module
----------------------
You may also use parts of Instaloader as library to do other interesting
things.
For example, to get a list of all followees and a list of all followers of a profile, do
.. code:: python
import instaloader
# Get instance
loader = instaloader.Instaloader()
# Login
loader.interactive_login(USERNAME)
# Retrieve followees
followees = loader.get_followees(PROFILE)
print(PROFILE + " follows these profiles:")
for f in followees:
print("\t%s\t%s" % (f['username'], f['full_name']))
# Retrieve followers
followers = loader.get_followers(PROFILE)
print("Followers of " + PROFILE + ":")
for f in followers:
print("\t%s\t%s" % (f['username'], f['full_name']))
Then, you may download all pictures of all followees with
.. code:: python
for f in followees:
try:
loader.download(f['username'])
except instaloader.NonfatalException:
pass
You could also download your last 20 liked pics with
.. code:: python
oader.download_feed_pics(max_count=20, fast_update=True,
filter_func=lambda node:
not node["likes"]["viewer_has_liked"] if "likes" in node else not node["viewer_has_liked"])
To download the last 20 pictures with hashtag #cat, do
.. code:: python
loader.download_hashtag('cat', max_count=20)
If logged in, Instaloader is also able to download user stories:
.. code:: python
loader.download_stories()
Each Instagram profile has its own unique ID which stays unmodified even
if a user changes his/her username. To get said ID, given the profile's
name, you may call
.. code:: python
loader.get_id_by_username(PROFILE_NAME)
``get_followees()`` also returns unique IDs for all loaded followees. To
get the current username of a profile, given this unique ID
``get_username_by_id()`` can be used. For example:
.. code:: python
loader.get_username_by_id(followees[0]['id'])