Command line and the GUI

InstaloaderSharp GUI and InstaloaderSharp.exe work together: every download in the GUI corresponds to an InstaloaderSharp command, and existing commands can be imported into the GUI. This page explains Settings → Command line and lists where every command-line option is found in the GUI.

Contents

• The equivalent command
• What the command contains
• Argument files
• Importing a command line
• Importing an argument file
• Resetting the options
• Sharing data between the GUI and the command line
• Option reference

The equivalent command

The box under Settings → Command line always shows the InstaloaderSharp command that does the same as your current targets and options, for example:

InstaloaderSharp --stories --fast-update --login=YOUR-USERNAME natgeo "#sunset"

It changes as you change options. Copy copies it, so you can run the same download from a command prompt, a batch file or a scheduled task (see Scheduled downloads). The command is also printed at the top of the output of every download on the Activity page.

To run it, open a command prompt in your download folder and use the full path of InstaloaderSharp.exe if it is not in your PATH:

cd /d "%USERPROFILE%\Pictures\InstaloaderSharp"
"C:\Tools\InstaloaderSharp\InstaloaderSharp.exe" --fast-update natgeo

What the command contains

• Only options that differ from InstaloaderSharp's defaults are included. With default options, the command is just InstaloaderSharp and the targets.
• The download folder is not part of the command: InstaloaderSharp saves into the folder it is run in.
• Your password is never included. With Instagram login, the command contains --login=YOUR-USERNAME; the saved session is used, or the password is asked for.
• The GUI-only options Keep the computer awake and Notify when finished have no command-line equivalent.
• Arguments that contain spaces or special characters are quoted, for example "#sunset" and "--post-filter=likes > 100".
• Targets that start with - (single posts) come after --, as the command line requires. When Remember latest downloads is on without a stamps file, -- is placed before the targets too, so that the first target is not read as the stamps file.
• Several caption template lines become several --post-metadata-txt options.
• Metadata file targets are written with their full path.

Argument files

Save args file… saves the options and targets as an InstaloaderSharp argument file: a text file with one argument per line, for example:

--stories
--fast-update
--login=YOUR-USERNAME
natgeo
#sunset

Run it with:

InstaloaderSharp.exe +args.txt

Relative paths in the file are resolved from the folder you run it in. Argument files are useful to keep several target lists, to schedule downloads, and to share a setup. See Reading options from a file in the InstaloaderSharp manual.

Importing a command line

Import command line… applies an InstaloaderSharp or Instaloader command line to the GUI. Paste it into the dialog and click Import:

• The command is read by InstaloaderSharp's own argument parser, so everything is understood exactly as on the console: abbreviated options (--fast for --fast-update), --option=value, combined short options (-sF), -- before shortcodes, and +file arguments.
• The program name at the start (InstaloaderSharp, InstaloaderSharp.exe, instaloader, or a full path) is ignored.
• All options and targets of the command are applied. Options that the command does not mention are reset to their defaults. Your download folder and the Behaviour options Keep the computer awake and Notify when finished are kept.
• --login switches the sign-in method to Instagram login, --load-cookies to Browser cookies, and a command without either to Anonymous.
• --profile-pic-only and --stories-only become the matching switches; see Choosing what to download.
• An invalid command line is not applied; the parser's error is shown, for example instaloader: error: unrecognized arguments: --bogus-option.

Importing is not possible while a download runs.

Importing an argument file

Import args file… applies an argument file, such as one saved with Save args file… or written for InstaloaderSharp or Instaloader. Argument files that refer to other argument files (+more.txt inside the file) are read too, relative to the file's folder. Everything else works as for importing a command line.

To add only the targets of a plain list, use Import list… on the Download page instead.

Resetting the options

Reset to defaults resets every option to its default, after asking. Your targets, download folder and sign-in method (with username, session file, browser and cookie file) are kept.

Sharing data between the GUI and the command line

The GUI and InstaloaderSharp.exe (and Instaloader) use the same files, so you can switch between them at any time:

Shared	Where
Session files	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Instaloader\session-USERNAME
The latest-stamps file	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Instaloader\latest-stamps.ini
Downloads, metadata, resume files	The download folder

A session created with Sign in in the GUI works with InstaloaderSharp.exe --login YOUR-USERNAME, and the other way round. See Where data is stored.

Option reference

Every InstaloaderSharp command-line option, and where to find it in the GUI. The options are explained in Command-line options in the InstaloaderSharp manual.

Command line	GUI
profile, @profile, "#hashtag", %location_id, :feed, :stories, :saved, -- -shortcode, file.json[.xz]	Download → Targets (Adding targets)
+args.txt	Settings → Command line → Import args file…
--profile-pic-only, -P	Download → only Profile picture on
--no-posts	Download → Posts off
--no-profile-pic	Download → Profile picture off
--stories, -s	Download → Stories
--stories-only	Download → Stories on, Posts off
--highlights	Download → Highlights
--tagged	Download → Tagged posts
--reels	Download → Reels
--no-pictures	Download → Pictures off
--no-videos, -V	Download → Videos off
--no-video-thumbnails	Download → Video thumbnails off
--geotags, -G	Download → Geotags
--comments, -C	Download → Comments
--no-captions	Download → Captions off
--no-metadata-json	Download → Metadata JSON off
--no-compress-json	Download → Compress JSON off
--slide	Download → Images of multi-image posts
--post-metadata-txt	Settings → Caption text files → Post text template
--storyitem-metadata-txt	Settings → Caption text files → Story item text template
--fast-update, -F	Download → Fast update
--latest-stamps [FILE]	Download → Remember latest downloads (and Stamps file)
--post-filter, --only-if	Download → Post filter
--storyitem-filter	Download → Story item filter
--count, -c	Download → Maximum number of posts
--login, -l	Account → Instagram login → Username
--password, -p	Account → Instagram login → Password (or asked when needed)
--sessionfile, -f	Account → Instagram login → Session file
--load-cookies, -b	Account → Browser cookies → Browser
--cookiefile, -B	Account → Browser cookies → Cookie file
--dirname-pattern	Settings → File naming → Folder name pattern
--filename-pattern	Settings → File naming → File name pattern
--title-pattern	Settings → File naming → Title pattern
--sanitize-paths	Settings → File naming → Sanitize paths
--no-resume	Settings → Resuming → Resume interrupted downloads off
--resume-prefix	Settings → Resuming → Resume file prefix
--use-aged-resume-files	Settings → Resuming → Use aged resume files
--no-sleep	Settings → Connection → Pause between requests off
--no-iphone	Settings → Connection → Use iPhone API off
--max-connection-attempts	Settings → Connection → Maximum connection attempts
--request-timeout	Settings → Connection → Request timeout
--abort-on	Settings → Connection → Abort on HTTP status codes
--user-agent	Settings → Connection → User agent
--quiet, -q	Settings → Behaviour → Quiet mode
--version	Settings → About
--help, -h	This manual, and the descriptions under each option in the program
(the folder the command runs in)	Download → Save to → Download folder