Warning This project uses a version of the Instagram API Platform deprecated in early 2020 and is now read-only.

Instagram Scraper

A simple Ruby application to scrape Instagram posts, built using a set of helpers and proxies to bypass Instagram API's rate limit.

The app doesn't need any API key and can be used with a CLI app or a Sinatra-based API.

Table of contents

• Usage
  • Ruby
  • CLI
  • API
• Contributing
• License

Usage

You must have Ruby 2.6.2 in order to run this application. If you don't already, install it with rbenv install 2.6.2 or rvm install ruby-2.6.2.

Then, install the required gems with Bundler:

bundle install

Ruby

require_relative "lib/igscraper"

options = {
  min_likes: 50,
  start_date: Date.new(2017, 01, 01),
  end_date: Date.new(2020, 01, 01),
  keywords: ["coding", "lewagon"],
}

@igscraper = InstagramScraper.new(options)

# Scrape posts by username or hashtag
@igscraper.scrape("@gabrisquonk")
@igscraper.scrape("@lewagonlisbon")
@igscraper.scrape("#lewagon")

# Read posts
@igscraper.posts # =>
# [
#   {
#     :target=>"@gabrisquonk",
#     :target_url=>"https://www.instagram.com/gabrisquonk",
#     :shortcode=>"BgnpVPEHusZ",
#     :url=>"https://www.instagram.com/p/BgnpVPEHusZ",
#     :likes=>92,
#     :comments=>1,
#     :caption=> "Can we do it again, please? 🙏 #Batch122 #DemoDay Last Friday @lewagon 🎤 🙌 #coding #learning #erasmusforadults",
#     :date=>"2018-03-22",
#     :country_code=>"PT",
#     :publisher=>"Le Wagon Lisbon",
#     :publisher_username=>"lewagonlisbon",
#     :publisher_url=>"https://www.instagram.com/lewagonlisbon"
#   },
#   {
#     ...,
#   }
# ]

# Remove a post by shortcode
@igscraper.remove_post("BgnpVPEHusZ")

# Update the options
new_options = {
  min_likes: 0,
  start_date: Date.new(2019, 01, 01),
  end_date: Date.today,
  keywords: [],
}
@igscraper.update(new_options)

# Scrape new posts using the updated options
@igscraper.scrape("@fedesquonk")

# Generate a CSV file containing the current posts
@igscraper.to_csv("Desktop/posts.csv") # path relative to $HOME

CLI

⚠️ Make sure to have ./bin in your $PATH and be in the igscraper folder

Run locally, specifying one or multiple comma-separated usernames/hashtags as target (without # before an hashtag):

igscraper -T @gabrisquonk,lewagon -l 50 -k coding,lisbon -o Desktop/posts.csv

Print the usage message in your terminal:

igscraper --help

API

A Procfile has also been included for easy deployment! 🚀

Start a local server on port 5000:

foreman start

Endpoints

GET Get posts

Returns a CSV file containing the posts matching the specified parameters or an eventual error in JSON format.

• URL: /

• Method: GET

• URL Params:

  • users=[list]*
  • hashtags=[list]*
  • keywords=[list]
  • min_likes=[number]
  • start_date=[date]
  • end_date=[date]
  • output=[filename]

*at least one has to be specified

Contributing

If you wish to contribute please create a new issue or fork the repository and open a new pull request.

License

MIT