Automating Instagram
with Python and Selenium
Tim Großmann
@timigrossmann
/timgrossmann
@TimGrossmann
contact.timgrossmann
Why Automation?
Why Automation?
- Repetitive task are done by hand
Why Automation?
- Repetitive task are done by hand
- One time effort
Why Automation?
Selenium
automating browsers
Selenium
automating browsers
- Testing web apps
Selenium
automating browsers
- Testing web apps
- Automating boring tasks
Selenium
automating browsers
- Testing web apps
- Automating boring tasks
- Dynamically rendered content
Selenium
automating browsers
- Testing web apps
- Automating boring tasks
- Dynamically rendered content
pip install seleniumStarting a session
from time import sleep
from selenium import webdriver
# starting a new browser session
browser = webdriver.Chrome('./assets/chromedriver')
# navigating to a webpage
browser.get('https://www.instagram.com')
# make sure the browser stays open for 5sec
sleep(5)
# clean exit
browser.close()
Finding Elements
Finding/Clicking Elements
# find Log in link
login_elem = browser.find_element_by_xpath(
'//article/div/div/p/a[text()="Log in"]')
# click it
login_elem.click()
ActionChains
ActionChains
# find form inputs and enter data
inputs = browser.find_elements_by_xpath(
'//form/div/input')
ActionChains(browser)\
.move_to_element(inputs[0]).click()\
.send_keys('contacting.john.doe')\
.move_to_element(inputs[1]).click()\
.send_keys('passtheword')\
.perform()
# find Log in button and click it
login_button = browser.find_element_by_xpath(
'//form/span/button[text()="Log in"]')
ActionChains(browser)\
.move_to_element(login_button)\
.click().perform()
Special Keys
Special Keys
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
# find the body element to send keys to
body_elem = browser.find_element_by_tag_name('body')
# move up and down to load new images
for _ in range(3):
body_elem.send_keys(Keys.END)
sleep(2)
body_elem.send_keys(Keys.HOME)
sleep(2) 
Automated Liking
Automated Liking
# find all the heart links
hearts = browser.find_elements_by_xpath(
'//a[contains(@class, "_tk4ba _1tv0k")]')
# click all the heart links
for i, heart in enumerate(hearts):
print('{}/{}'.format(i, len(hearts)))
heart.click()
sleep(2)
Problems
When working with Frontend
Problems
When working with Frontend
- Changing page layout
Problems
When working with Frontend
Problems
When working with Frontend
Page Object
Design Pattern
Page Object
Design Pattern
Page Object
Design Pattern
- Maintainabiliyt
- Reduced duplicated code
Page Object
Design Pattern
Page Object
Page Object
class InstaLoginPage:
def __init__(self, browser):
"""init all the wrapper here"""
self.browser = browser
self.userbox = browser.find_element_by_xpath('...')
self.pw_box = browser.find_element_by_xpath('...')
self.login_button = browser.find_element_by_xpath('...')
def login(self, username, password):
"""Login user with username and pw"""
ActionChains(self.browser)\
.move_to_element(self.userbox)\
.click\
.send_keys(username)\
.move_to_element(self.pw_box)\
.click\
.send_keys(password)\
.move_to_element(self.login_button)\
.click()
# return instance of the following page
return InstaFeedPage(self.browser) InstaPy
automating Instagram
InstaPy
Don't like keywords
Ignore users
Ignoring restrictions
Restrictions
Clarifai - Smart image filtering
Emoji Support
Limit by followers
Works on a Server
Docker support
Clarifai -comments based on image tags
Works without API
Detailed documentation
InstaPy
from instapy import InstaPy
InstaPy(username='EuroPython', password='Rocks!')\
.login()\
.set_upper_follower_count(limit = 2500) \
.set_do_comment(True, percentage=10) \
.set_do_follow(True, percentage=10) \
.set_comments(['Cool!', 'Awesome!', 'Nice!']) \
.set_dont_include(['myFriend', 'myOtherFriend']) \
.set_dont_like('NSFW', 'naked') \
.like_by_tags(['nature', 'cat'], amount=100) \
.end()InstaPy Growth
A quick look at my Instagram growth.
InstaPy Growth
A quick look at my Instagram growth.
InstaPy Growth
A quick look at my Instagram growth.
Open Source
Why You should be doing it!
Open Source
Why You should be doing it!
- Give something back
Open Source
Why You should be doing it!
Open Source
Why You should be doing it!
Open Source
What it did for Me!
Open Source
What it did for Me!
7 job offers
Open Source
What it did for Me!
Open Source
What it did for Me!
Open Source
What it did for Me!
Open Source
How to level up Your open source portfolio!
Open Source
How to level up Your open source portfolio!
- Add documentation
Open Source
How to level up Your open source portfolio!
Open Source
How to level up Your open source portfolio!
What's next?
@timigrossmann
/timgrossmann
/@TimGrossmann
contact.timgrossmann