From d491564f8a053e95851a42de998d1c2b6baa8c18 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Mike=20F=C3=A4hrmann?= <mike_faehrmann@web.de>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 16:46:33 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] [instagram] add 'user-strategy' option (#8978 #9025)

---
 docs/configuration.rst            | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 docs/gallery-dl.conf              |  3 ++-
 gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py | 27 +++++++++++++++------------
 3 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst
index 37d1d861..d4b4b703 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -3881,6 +3881,22 @@ Description
         Cache user data in memory
 
 
+extractor.instagram.user-strategy
+---------------------------------
+Type
+    ``string``
+Default
+    ``"topsearch"``
+Description
+    Selects how to retrieve user profile data.
+
+    ``"topsearch"`` | ``"search"``
+        Use `topsearch` results
+    ``"web_profile_info"`` | ``"info"``
+        | Use `web_profile_info` results
+        | (high liklyhood of ``429 Too Many Requests`` errors)
+
+
 extractor.instagram.videos
 --------------------------
 Type
diff --git a/docs/gallery-dl.conf b/docs/gallery-dl.conf
index 9ef119fb..cddb1d4d 100644
--- a/docs/gallery-dl.conf
+++ b/docs/gallery-dl.conf
@@ -474,7 +474,8 @@
             "order-files": "asc",
             "order-posts": "asc",
             "previews"   : false,
-            "user-cache" : "disk",
+            "user-cache"   : "disk",
+            "user-strategy": "topsearch",
             "videos"     : true,
             "warn-images": true,
             "warn-videos": true,
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
index 98760835..fa0b59b6 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
@@ -811,6 +811,13 @@ class InstagramRestAPI():
         self.user_by_name = _cache(36500*86400, 0)(self.user_by_name)
         self.user_by_search = _cache(36500*86400, 0)(self.user_by_search)
 
+        strategy = self.extractor.config("user-strategy")
+        if strategy is not None and strategy in {
+                "web_profile_info", "profile_info", "info"}:
+            self._topsearch = False
+        else:
+            self._topsearch = True
+
     def guide(self, guide_id):
         endpoint = "/v1/guides/web_info/"
         params = {"guide_id": guide_id}
@@ -899,18 +906,14 @@ class InstagramRestAPI():
                 return user
 
     def user_by_screen_name(self, screen_name):
-        if user := self.user_by_search(screen_name):
-            return user
-
-        self.user_by_search.invalidate(screen_name)
-        self.extractor.log.warning(
-            "Failed to find profile '%s' via search. "
-            "Trying 'web_profile_info' fallback", screen_name)
-
-        if user := self.user_by_name(screen_name):
-            return user
-
-        self.user_by_name.invalidate(screen_name)
+        if self._topsearch:
+            if user := self.user_by_search(screen_name):
+                return user
+            self.user_by_search.invalidate(screen_name)
+        else:
+            if user := self.user_by_name(screen_name):
+                return user
+            self.user_by_name.invalidate(screen_name)
         raise exception.NotFoundError("user")
 
     def user_id(self, screen_name, check_private=True):