Glossary

Terms used in InstaloaderSharp and this manual.

Term	Meaning
Abort	Stopping the whole download because Instagram demands a verification, or because of --abort-on. Exit code 4
App interface	The interface of Instagram's mobile apps (i.instagram.com). Used when logged in for the largest versions of pictures and videos, stories and the story tray; turned off with --no-iphone
Caption	The text of a post. Saved in the post's .txt file
Carousel	Instagram's name for a post with several pictures or videos; see sidecar
Checkpoint	A verification that Instagram demands before it accepts a login or further requests, done in a browser or the app
Cookies	Small pieces of data with which a website recognizes a logged-in browser. --load-cookies imports Instagram's cookies from a browser
Cover	The picture of a highlight, saved as ..._cover.jpg
date_utc, date_local	A post's publication time in UTC, and in your computer's time zone
doc_id	The ID of a query of Instagram's website. Instagram replaces them from time to time, which is one reason why downloaders need updates
fb_dtsg	A request token that Instagram's website embeds in its pages and sends with its queries; InstaloaderSharp sends it with logged-in queries
Fast update	--fast-update: stopping at the first post that was downloaded before
Feed	The posts of the accounts you follow, as on Instagram's home page. Target :feed
Followees	The accounts a profile follows. Target @profilename
Followers	The accounts that follow a profile
Geotag	The location a post is tagged with. Saved with --geotags
GraphImage, GraphVideo, GraphSidecar	The typename of a post: one picture, one video, or several pictures and videos
GraphQL	The query language of Instagram's website; most requests of the program are GraphQL queries
Hashtag	A word marked with # in a caption. Target "#hashtag"
Highlight	A collection of story items that a profile keeps on its profile page after the 24 hours. Downloaded with --highlights
IGTV	Instagram's former long-video service, retired in 2022. Its videos are now posts and reels
Instaloader	The Python program that InstaloaderSharp is a C# / .NET Framework version of: github.com/instaloader/instaloader
Latest stamps	--latest-stamps: a file that remembers the time of the newest downloaded items of each profile
Location ID	The numeric ID of a location, from its URL instagram.com/explore/locations/ID/. Target %ID
Magic	The eight characters in a resume file's name, computed from the list it belongs to
Mediaid	The numeric ID of a post or story item
Metadata	Everything Instagram reports about an item besides its pictures and videos: date, caption, likes, comments, tagged users, location and more. Saved in .json.xz files
pcaption	A shortened, one-line version of the caption for file names
Pinned post	A post that a profile has fixed at the top of its profile, out of date order. Up to three
Profile	An Instagram account, as a target given by its username
Rate limit	The number of requests Instagram allows in a given time. The program paces itself to stay within it
Reel	A short video. Downloaded with the posts, and with --reels
Resume file	iterator_MAGIC.json.xz: the position of an interrupted download, for continuing it
Saved posts	Posts you bookmarked on Instagram. Target :saved
Session	A login, kept in a session file so that the password is not needed every time
Session file	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Instaloader\session-USERNAME: the saved login cookies of an account
Shortcode	The ID of a post in its URL, instagram.com/p/SHORTCODE/. Target -- -SHORTCODE
Sidecar	A post with several pictures or videos (typename GraphSidecar), saved as numbered files _1, _2, ...
Slide	One picture or video of a sidecar. --slide selects which are downloaded
Story, story item	Pictures and videos that are visible for 24 hours. A profile's story consists of story items
Story tray	The row of stories at the top of Instagram's app; the source of :stories
Tagged posts	Posts of other accounts in which a profile is tagged. Downloaded with --tagged
Target	What to download, given on the command line: a profile, hashtag, location, shortcode, :feed, :stories, :saved or a metadata file
Template	A pattern with placeholders in curly braces, such as {date_utc}_UTC, for file names, folder names and caption files
Thumbnail	The still picture shown for a video, downloaded unless --no-video-thumbnails is given
Two-factor authentication (2FA)	A login that needs a code from an app or text message in addition to the password
User agent	The identification of the browser that a request claims to come from; set with --user-agent
UTC	Coordinated Universal Time, the time zone of file names (..._UTC)
WinHTTP	The HTTP component of Windows that InstaloaderSharp uses for its connections
xz	A compression format. Metadata files are xz-compressed JSON (.json.xz)