README.md
# Instagrammer
Instagrammer lets you fetch Instagram user info and posts. This is done by crawling the Instagram web interface, powered by [Capybara](https://github.com/teamcapybara/capybara/) and a headless Chrome Selenium driver. Automated integration tests are run daily to keep up with possible changes. Read more about the [motivation to build this gem](#motivation).
[](https://travis-ci.org/richardvenneman/instagrammer)
[](https://badge.fury.io/rb/instagrammer)
[](https://codeclimate.com/github/richardvenneman/instagrammer/maintainability)
[](https://codeclimate.com/github/richardvenneman/instagrammer/test_coverage)
## Installation
Add this line to your application's Gemfile:
```ruby
gem 'instagrammer'
```
And then execute:
$ bundle
Or install it yourself as:
$ gem install instagrammer
If you're running on Heroku, make sure to use the [heroku-buildpack-google-chrome](https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-google-chrome) buildpack.
## Usage
### User
Create a new user with `Instagrammer::User.new("username")` or simply `Instagrammer.new("username")`.
Accessing certain properties on an account that is private will result in a `PrivateAccount` exception. In some cases Instagram doesn't expose any meta data through. In these cases a `UserInvalid` exception will be raised when accessing certain properties.
Therefor you can check if the account is scrapable with the `#public?` instance method.
#### Metadata
The meta counts data is available for both public as well as private accounts:
```ruby
user = Instagrammer.new("richardvenneman")
user.follower_count # => "204"
user.following_count # => "141"
user.post_count # => "91"
```
#### Bio
Bio info is currently available for public accounts only:
```ruby
user = Instagrammer.new("richardvenneman")
user.name # => "Richard Venneman"
user.username # => "@richardvenneman"
user.avatar # => "https://www.instagram.com/static/images/ico/favicon-200.png/ab6eff..."
user.bio # => "👨🏻💻 Partner at GoNomadic B.V.\nTraveling and building 🏙 @cityspotters"
user.url # => "https://www.cityspotters.com/"
```
#### Posts
Get the posts for a specific user by using the `#get_posts(_limit_)` user method.
```ruby
user = Instagrammer.new("richardvenneman")
user.get_posts(3) # => [#<Instagrammer::Post:70223732051200..>, #<Instagrammer::Post:70223732051200..>, #<Instagrammer::Post:70223732051200..>]
```
See below for the available post methods
### Post
Create a new post with `Instagrammer::Post.new("shortcode")`.
```ruby
post = Instagrammer::Post.new("Bg3VjfwDRDw")
post.photo? # => true
post.caption # => "🌋 Mount Agung as seen from 🌋 Mount Batur just after sunrise 🌅"
post.upload_date # => #<DateTime: 2018-03-28T11:07:26+00:00 ((2458206j,40046s,0n),+0s,2299161j)
post.comment_count # => 3
post.like_count # => 52
post.image_url # => "https://instagram.foem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/vp/04bffab7e91872110690173cbac1ba28/5D9FDCD0/t51.2885-15/e35/29416707_933709783459981_1377808440356765696_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.foem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net"
post.image_urls # => [{:url=>"https://instagram.foem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/vp/b962b338f5024309e3242ec3e4158681/5DA27835/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/s640x640/29416707_933709783459981_1377808440356765696_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.foem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net", :width=>640}, {:url=>",https://instagram.foem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/vp/fb1477d8dc17c9d1a6b36c8107b4a5b2/5DC4FA35/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/s750x750/29416707_933709783459981_1377808440356765696_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.foem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net", :width=>750}, {:url=>",https://instagram.foem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/vp/04bffab7e91872110690173cbac1ba28/5D9FDCD0/t51.2885-15/e35/29416707_933709783459981_1377808440356765696_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.foem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net", :width=>1080}]
```
Additionally video posts are somewhat supported as well. Image URLs and like counts are not available for videos.
```ruby
post = Instagrammer::Post.new("Byx0Nd3A3qr")
post.video? # => true
post.watch_count # => 8035142
```
## Motivation
The problem with scrapers is that they always brake. Instagram/Facebook seems to put in a lot of effort to battle scrapers. This gem tries to approach that challenge a bit different than other Ruby Instagram scrapers. With decent test coverage the integration should be tested continuously and good code quality should allow for quick and easy updates may any changes in the Instagram web interface happen.
The main focus is currently retrieving user posts with some metadata while maintaining a stable implementation. Therefor I try to avoid naive page selectors and rely on meta data where possible.
## Contributing
Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/richardvenneman/instagrammer.