instaloader: 429 error on first post retrieval from logged in account, successive attempts also fail

Describe the bug 429 error on first or second attempt at post retrieval from logged in account, even after waiting several minutes or hours between requests. No 429 error when logged out of the account, but account login is necessary to download media from private profiles and for high quality images.

To Reproduce instaloader <target> --no-captions --no-profile-pic --no-metadata-json --no-video-thumbnails --login=xxx --post-filter=“date_utc >= datetime(2020, 1, 1)”

Same 429 error if I use my local IP address or switch to a VPN for the account.

Expected behavior Successful download of media that meets criteria

Error messages and tracebacks This error was displayed on the first run from the logged in account.

Loaded session from /Users/xxx/.config/instaloader/session-xxx.
Logged in as xxx.
Stored ID xxx for profile xxx.
Retrieving posts from profile xxx.
[  1/286] <target>/2020-08-15_xxx_UTC.mp4 
[  2/286] JSON Query to api/v1/media/xxx/info/: 429 Too Many Requests [retrying; skip with ^C]
HTTP error code 429 was returned because too many queries occurred in
the last time. Please do not use Instagram in your browser or run
multiple instances of Instaloader in parallel.
The request will be retried in 666 seconds, at 11:54.
GraphQL requests:
  xxx
    last 10 minutes: 1 requests
    last 11 minutes: 1 requests
    last 15 minutes: 1 requests
    last 20 minutes: 1 requests
    last 30 minutes: 1 requests
    last 60 minutes: 1 requests
  other
    last 10 minutes: 1 requests
    last 11 minutes: 1 requests
    last 15 minutes: 1 requests
    last 20 minutes: 1 requests
    last 30 minutes: 1 requests
    last 60 minutes: 1 requests
  iphone
    last 10 minutes: 1 requests
    last 11 minutes: 1 requests
    last 15 minutes: 1 requests
    last 20 minutes: 1 requests
    last 30 minutes: 1 requests
    last 60 minutes: 1 requests
^C[skipped by user]
JSON Query to api/v1/media/xxx/info/: 429 Too Many Requests Unable to fetch high quality image version of <Post xxx>.

Instaloader version $ instaloader --version 4.5

Additional context

Also, these restrictions do not seem to apply for logged-in users. As far as already has been reported, logging in should solve the problem. Do you have problems on your server even if logged-in?

But I am specifically having this issue while logged in. If I log out, I can download media, but I’m not able to download the high quality images because I am not logged in (which is what I am looking for).

About this issue

  • Original URL
  • State: closed
  • Created 4 years ago
  • Comments: 26 (9 by maintainers)

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Most upvoted comments

I appreciate the update, I will give it another shot in the next couple days and update here on the results.

I think I have a similar issue. Yesterday I’ve started downloading of about 7k photos, after around 1k, I got this error. I tried with a VPN, it’s the same. I’ve also waited 12 hours and it’s also the same. It’s true that I’ve kept my browser open on IG and maybe reloaded the tab. I’ve tried to delete the session file in case the problem is from the session, apparently not.

Maybe new anti-spam measures from IG ?

EDIT: I need to be logged in, so my tries were all logged in.