Getting started

Install

npm

npm install igflare

pnpm

pnpm add igflare

yarn

yarn add igflare

igflare needs Node 22 or newer. It ships ESM and CommonJS builds with type declarations, and its only runtime dependency is zod.

A first script

import { IgFlare, FileSessionStore } from 'igflare';

// The session (device identity and login token) is saved in this file.
const ig = await IgFlare.fromStore(new FileSessionStore('./session.json'));

if (ig.session.auth.userId === undefined) {
  await ig.login({
    username: process.env.IG_USERNAME!,
    password: process.env.IG_PASSWORD!,
  });
}

const me = await ig.account.me();
console.log('logged in as', me['username']);

const user = await ig.user.infoByUsername('instagram');
console.log(user.full_name, user.follower_count, 'followers');

for await (const post of ig.feed.paginateUser(String(user.pk))) {
  console.log(post.code, post.like_count);
  break; // one is enough for a first run
}

The first run logs in and writes session.json. The next runs read it and skip the login.

Keep the session

Instagram ties a login to a device. A script that logs in from a fresh device on every run looks like a new phone each time, and Instagram usually answers with a verification challenge. Reusing session.json limits logins to when the session expires.

The session file is a secret

It holds the account's login token, so it stays out of version control and shared storage.

Next steps

• Logging in: two-factor codes, challenges and expired sessions.
• Results and errors: what a call returns and what it throws.
• Lists and pagination: pages, cursors and iterators.