Resolving an Instagram handle during an OSINT lookup, in four lines of Python

A list of Instagram handles is processed in a queue. Many of these handles are invalid, do not exist, or are imitations of the desired account. Before opening any browser tabs, three key pieces of information are sought: whether the handle resolves, the numeric ID associated with it, and the size of the account. The Python script uses the HikerAPI to make a single request to an Instagram endpoint, passing the handle as a parameter.

The two essential fields extracted from the API response are the user's numeric ID (pk) and follower count. The pk remains constant even if the handle changes, providing a stable identifier for the account over time. The follower count helps prioritize the accounts based on their popularity. Two errors that may occur during the process are a 402 status code, indicating an empty prepaid balance, and a 429 status code, signaling that the request rate is too high and needs to be slowed down.

The script separates these two error types to handle them appropriately. The script also handles cases where private or new accounts may not return the follower count field, avoiding a KeyError. Using the HikerAPI is more efficient and reliable than scraping the Instagram website directly, as the latter no longer renders profile data for logged-out visitors, resulting in heavy and empty HTML that is difficult to parse.