Instaloader API

A FastAPI-based wrapper around Instaloader and Instagrapi that downloads Instagram profile content (posts, and profile pictures) and serves it as ZIP archives. Includes optional authentication, simple rate handling, and automatic cleanup of temporary downloads.

Features

• Download profile posts, and profile pictures as ZIPs
• Download single posts by link/shortcode (returns raw file if one item, ZIP if carousel)
• Profile info lookup with follower counts and verification flag
• Metadata export for posts (caption, hashtags, likes, comments, location)
• Temp download isolation per request with scheduled cleanup
• Configurable limits for posts and request frequency

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• instaloader download prerequisites (network access to Instagram)

Quick Start (local)

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -e .
uvicorn app.main:app --reload --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

The interactive docs are served at / (Swagger) and /redoc (ReDoc).

Running with Docker

docker build -t instaloader-api .
docker run -p 8000:8000 \
  -e DEBUG=true \
  -e INSTAGRAM_SESSION_FILE=/sessions/sessionfile \
  -v $(pwd)/sessions:/sessions \
  -v $(pwd)/downloads:/tmp/insta_downloads \
  instaloader-api

Mounting /tmp/insta_downloads is optional but keeps ZIPs accessible outside the container until cleanup runs.