instaharvest 2.14.8

Professional Instagram data collection toolkit with automation features

InstaHarvest 🌾

Professional Instagram Data Collection Toolkit — Powerful library for Instagram automation, data collection, and analytics built on Playwright.

📖 Documentation | 🐛 Report Bug | 💡 Request Feature | 📋 Changelog

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✨ Features

Category	Capabilities
📊 Profile	Stats, verified badge, category, full bio, external links, Threads
🔌 Web API	16+ JSON endpoints — profiles, followers, feed, comments, reels, stories, hashtags
📸 Content	Posts, Reels, Stories, Highlights, Tagged Posts — with JSON-first architecture
💬 Engagement	Comments (with replies), likes, media download (images/videos via yt-dlp)
👥 Social	Followers/Following lists, Follow/Unfollow, Direct Messaging
🔍 Discovery	Search, Hashtag feeds, Location feeds, Explore, Notifications
⚡ Performance	Parallel processing, SharedBrowser (1 browser for all), Excel export
🛡️ Reliability	Rate limiting, graceful shutdown (Ctrl+C), auto-save, retry logic

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🚀 Installation & Setup

# Install from PyPI
pip install instaharvest
playwright install chrome

# OR install from GitHub (latest dev version)
git clone https://github.com/mpython77/insta-harvester.git
cd insta-harvester
pip install -r requirements.txt
playwright install chrome

Create Instagram session (required, one-time):

from instaharvest import save_session
save_session()
# Browser opens → Login manually → Press ENTER → Session saved ✅

⚠️ Without instagram_session.json, the library won't work.

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📖 Quick Start — SharedBrowser (Recommended)

One browser for ALL operations — fastest and most efficient way to use InstaHarvest.

from instaharvest import SharedBrowser
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()

with SharedBrowser(config=config) as browser:
    # ── Profile ──
    profile = browser.scrape_profile("username")
    print(f"{profile.full_name}: {profile.followers} followers")

    # ── Social Actions ──
    browser.follow("user1")
    browser.send_message("user1", "Hello!")
    followers = browser.get_followers("user2", limit=100)

    # ── Content Scraping ──
    post = browser.scrape_post("https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC/")
    reel = browser.scrape_reel("https://www.instagram.com/reel/XYZ/")
    stories = browser.scrape_stories("username")
    comments = browser.scrape_comments("https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC/")

    # ── Discovery ──
    results = browser.search("fashion brands")
    hashtag = browser.scrape_hashtag("streetwear")
    notifs = browser.read_notifications()

    # ── Batch Operations ──
    posts = browser.scrape_posts(["url1", "url2", "url3"])
    files = browser.download_post("https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC/")

    # ── Web API (Direct JSON — exact data) ──
    profile_json = browser.get_profile_json("username")
    print(f"Exact followers: {profile_json.follower_count:,}")

    feed = browser.get_user_feed_api(profile_json.user_id, count=5)
    reels = browser.get_reels_api(profile_json.user_id)
    highlights = browser.get_highlights_api(profile_json.user_id)

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📚 API Reference

1. Profile Scraping

from instaharvest import ProfileScraper
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()
scraper = ProfileScraper(config=config)
session_data = scraper.load_session()
scraper.setup_browser(session_data)

profile = scraper.scrape('username')
print(f"Posts: {profile.posts}, Followers: {profile.followers}")
print(f"Verified: {profile.is_verified}, Category: {profile.category}")
print(f"Bio: {profile.bio}, Links: {profile.external_links}")

scraper.close()

2. Followers / Following

from instaharvest import FollowersCollector
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()
collector = FollowersCollector(config=config)
session_data = collector.load_session()
collector.setup_browser(session_data)

followers = collector.get_followers('username', limit=100, print_realtime=True)
following = collector.get_following('username', limit=50)

collector.close()

3. Follow / Unfollow & Direct Messaging

from instaharvest import FollowManager, MessageManager
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()

# Follow
manager = FollowManager(config=config)
session_data = manager.load_session()
manager.setup_browser(session_data)
manager.follow('username')
manager.batch_follow(['user1', 'user2', 'user3'])
manager.close()

# DM
messenger = MessageManager(config=config)
session_data = messenger.load_session()
messenger.setup_browser(session_data)
messenger.send_message('username', 'Hello!')
messenger.batch_send(['user1', 'user2'], 'Hi there!')
messenger.close()

4. Post & Reel Data (JSON-First)

from instaharvest import PostDataScraper
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()
scraper = PostDataScraper(config=config)
session_data = scraper.load_session()
scraper.setup_browser(session_data)

post = scraper.scrape('https://www.instagram.com/p/DVs7LK-iO0C/')

# 30+ fields extracted automatically from JSON
print(post.like_count, post.comment_count)     # Engagement
print(post.caption, post.tagged_accounts)       # Content
print(post.location.name if post.location else 'N/A')  # Location
print(post.owner.username if post.owner else 'N/A')     # Owner

for slide in post.carousel_slides:              # Carousel
    print(f"  Slide {slide.slide_index}: {slide.media_type}")

scraper.close()

5. Comment Scraping

from instaharvest import CommentScraper
from instaharvest.exporters import export_comments_to_json, export_comments_to_excel
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()
scraper = CommentScraper(config=config)
session_data = scraper.load_session()
scraper.setup_browser(session_data)

result = scraper.scrape(
    'https://www.instagram.com/p/POST_ID/',
    max_comments=100,
    include_replies=True
)

for comment in result.comments:
    print(f"@{comment.author.username}: {comment.text}")
    for reply in comment.replies:
        print(f"  ↳ @{reply.author.username}: {reply.text}")

# Export
export_comments_to_json(result, 'comments.json')
export_comments_to_excel(result, 'comments.xlsx')

scraper.close()

6. Stories & Highlights

from instaharvest import StoryScraper, HighlightsScraper
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()

# Stories — JSON-first, per-slide tag mapping
scraper = StoryScraper(config=config)
session_data = scraper.load_session()
scraper.setup_browser(session_data)

result = scraper.scrape('username', extract_tags=True)
print(f"Stories: {result.story_count}, Tags: {result.all_tagged_accounts}")
for slide in result.slides:
    print(f"  Slide {slide.slide_index}: [{slide.media_type}] {slide.timestamp} → {slide.tagged_accounts}")

scraper.close()

# Highlights — mentions, links, music, locations
hl_scraper = HighlightsScraper(config=config)
session = hl_scraper.load_session()
hl_scraper.setup_browser(session)

full = hl_scraper.scrape_all('mondayswimwear', max_slides_per=100)
print(f"{full.total_highlights} highlights, {full.total_slides} total slides")

hl_scraper.close()

7. Parallel Processing & Orchestrator

from instaharvest import SharedBrowser, InstagramOrchestrator
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig(headless=True)

with SharedBrowser(config=config) as browser:
    orch = InstagramOrchestrator(config, shared_browser=browser)

    results = orch.scrape_complete_profile_advanced(
        'username',
        parallel=3,
        save_excel=True,
        scrape_comments=True,
        scrape_stories=True
    )
    print(f"Scraped {len(results['posts_data'])} posts")

8. Tagged Posts

from instaharvest import TaggedPostsScraper
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()
scraper = TaggedPostsScraper(config=config)
session = scraper.load_session()
scraper.setup_browser(session)

result = scraper.scrape('mondayswimwear', max_posts=100)
print(f"Total: {result.total_found} tagged posts, Unique taggers: {result.unique_taggers}")
for post in result.tagged_posts:
    print(f"  @{post.owner} → {post.url} ({post.media_type})")

scraper.close()

9. Notifications

from instaharvest import SharedBrowser
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()
with SharedBrowser(config=config) as browser:
    notifs = browser.read_notifications()
    print(f"Total: {len(notifs)} notifications")

Notification types: follow, post_like, comment_like, comment, mention, follow_request, follow_accepted, thread, story, system

10. Media Download

from instaharvest import SharedBrowser
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()
with SharedBrowser(config=config) as browser:
    # Handles images, videos, reels, carousels automatically
    files = browser.download_post("https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-example...")
    print(f"Downloaded {len(files)} files")

🔧 Video support requires Google Chrome (browser_channel='chrome', the default). Chromium lacks video codecs.

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🔌 Web API — Direct JSON Data Extraction

Access Instagram's internal API endpoints directly through Playwright. Returns exact, structured data — no DOM scraping.

16+ endpoints | 15 data models | Auto-pagination | Rate limiting | POST + GET support

from instaharvest import SharedBrowser
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig(headless=True)

with SharedBrowser(config=config) as browser:
    # ── Profile (exact stats) ──
    profile = browser.get_profile_json('mondayswimwear')
    print(f"{profile.full_name}: {profile.follower_count:,} followers")
    user_id = profile.user_id

    # ── Followers / Following ──
    followers = browser.get_followers_api(user_id, count=50)
    following = browser.get_following_api(user_id, count=50)

    # ── Feed, Comments, Likers ──
    feed = browser.get_user_feed_api(user_id, count=12)
    comments = browser.get_media_comments_api(feed.posts[0].media_id)
    likers = browser.get_media_likers_api(feed.posts[0].media_id)

    # ── Stories, Highlights, Reels ──
    stories = browser.get_stories_api(user_id)
    highlights = browser.get_highlights_api(user_id)
    reels = browser.get_reels_api(user_id)

    # ── Hashtag & Location ──
    hashtag = browser.get_hashtag_feed_api('swimwear')
    location = browser.get_location_feed_api('213385402')

    # ── Raw API (any endpoint, GET or POST) ──
    raw = browser.fetch_raw_api('/api/v1/users/1059031072/info/')

Available Endpoints:

Method	Description	Returns
get_profile_json(username)	Profile with exact stats	WebProfileData
get_user_info(user_id)	Profile by ID	WebProfileData
get_followers_api(id, count)	Followers list (paginated)	FollowListResult
get_following_api(id, count)	Following list (paginated)	FollowListResult
get_friendship_status(id)	Follow relationship	FriendshipStatus
get_user_feed_api(id, count)	User's posts	UserFeedResult
get_media_info_api(media_id)	Detailed post info	MediaInfo
get_media_comments_api(id)	Post comments	CommentsResult
get_media_likers_api(id)	Post likers	LikersResult
get_stories_api(id)	Active stories	List[StoryMediaItem]
get_highlights_api(id)	Highlights list	HighlightsResult
get_reels_api(id)	Reels with plays	ReelsResult
get_hashtag_feed_api(tag)	Hashtag posts	HashtagSection
get_location_feed_api(id)	Location posts	LocationSection
get_tagged_posts_api(id)	Tagged posts	UserFeedResult
fetch_raw_api(endpoint)	Any endpoint (GET/POST)	Dict

Direct API access (without SharedBrowser):

from instaharvest import InstagramWebAPI
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

with sync_playwright() as pw:
    browser = pw.chromium.launch(headless=True)
    context = browser.new_context(storage_state='instagram_session.json')
    page = context.new_page()
    page.goto('https://www.instagram.com/')

    api = InstagramWebAPI(page=page)
    profile = api.get_profile('mondayswimwear')
    print(f"{profile.follower_count:,} followers")

    browser.close()

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🎯 Complete Workflow Example

from instaharvest import SharedBrowser, InstagramOrchestrator
from instaharvest.config import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig()

with SharedBrowser(config=config) as browser:
    # 1. Profile analysis
    profile = browser.scrape_profile('target_user')
    print(f"📊 {profile.full_name}: {profile.followers} followers")

    # 2. Collect & follow
    followers = browser.get_followers('target_user', limit=50)
    for f in followers[:10]:
        browser.follow(f)

    # 3. Scrape posts
    post_links = browser.scrape_post_links('target_user')
    posts = browser.scrape_posts([l['url'] for l in post_links[:5]])

    # 4. Stories + Web API
    stories = browser.scrape_stories('target_user')
    profile_json = browser.get_profile_json('target_user')
    reels = browser.get_reels_api(profile_json.user_id)

    # 5. Full orchestrated scrape
    orch = InstagramOrchestrator(config, shared_browser=browser)
    results = orch.scrape_complete_profile_advanced(
        'target_user', parallel=3,
        save_excel=True, scrape_stories=True
    )
    print(f"✅ {len(results['posts_data'])} posts scraped")

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📁 Project Structure

🗂️ Package Structure

insta-harvester/
├── instaharvest/              # Main package
│   ├── __init__.py            # Package entry point
│   ├── base.py                # Base scraper class
│   ├── config.py              # Configuration
│   ├── profile.py             # Profile scraping
│   ├── followers.py           # Followers collection
│   ├── follow.py              # Follow/unfollow
│   ├── message.py             # Direct messaging
│   ├── post_data.py           # Post data (JSON-first)
│   ├── reel_data.py           # Reel data extraction
│   ├── comment_scraper.py     # Comments with replies
│   ├── story_scraper.py       # Story scraping
│   ├── highlight_scraper.py   # Highlights extraction
│   ├── tagged_posts.py        # Tagged posts
│   ├── notifications.py       # Notification reader
│   ├── web_api.py             # 🔌 Web API (16+ endpoints)
│   ├── shared_browser.py      # SharedBrowser
│   ├── orchestrator.py        # Workflow orchestrator
│   ├── parallel_scraper.py    # Parallel processing
│   ├── downloader.py          # Media download
│   └── ...                    # More modules
├── examples/
│   ├── save_session.py        # Session setup
│   ├── all_in_one.py          # Interactive demo
│   ├── main_advanced.py       # Production scraping
│   ├── example_web_api.py     # 🔌 Web API demo
│   └── example_custom_config.py
├── tests/                     # 130+ unit tests
└── LICENSE                    # MIT License

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⚙️ Configuration

from instaharvest import ScraperConfig

config = ScraperConfig(
    headless=True,              # Run without browser UI
    viewport_width=1920,
    viewport_height=1080,
    default_timeout=30000,      # 30 seconds
    max_scroll_attempts=50,
    log_level='INFO',
    # Rate limiting
    follow_delay_min=10.0,
    follow_delay_max=15.0,
    message_delay_min=15.0,
    message_delay_max=20.0,
)

See Configuration Guide for all options.

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🔧 Troubleshooting

🔍 Common Issues & Solutions

Problem	Solution
playwright command not found	pip install playwright && playwright install chrome
No module named 'instaharvest'	pip install instaharvest or pip install -e .
Session file not found	Run save_session() first
Login required / Session expired	Re-run save_session()
Instagram says 'Try again later'	Increase rate limiting delays in config
Could not follow/unfollow	Increase popup_open_delay and action_delay_*
Slow internet errors	Increase page_load_delay and scroll_delay_*
Posts: 0 but content exists	Update to latest version (v2.7.1+)

Getting Help:

• GitHub Issues
• Configuration Guide
• Email: [e-mail]

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⚠️ Disclaimer

This tool is for educational purposes only. Follow Instagram's Terms of Service, respect rate limits, and use responsibly.

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📜 License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Submit a Pull Request.

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Made with ❤️ by Muydinov Doston

Happy Harvesting! 🌾