From da887721c9d9bf4ab49939392ee8fbfe052b0621 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Mike=20F=C3=A4hrmann?= <mike_faehrmann@web.de>
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2026 17:58:10 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] [instagram] use '/topsearch/' to fetch user information
 (#8978)

---
 gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py | 40 +++++++++++++++++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
index a92293ea..18f57c9f 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
@@ -879,6 +879,17 @@ class InstagramRestAPI():
         except KeyError:
             raise exception.NotFoundError("user")
 
+    @cache(maxage=36500*86400, keyarg=1)
+    def user_by_search(self, screen_name):
+        url = "https://www.instagram.com/web/search/topsearch/"
+        params = {"query": screen_name}
+
+        name = screen_name.lower()
+        for result in self._call(url, params=params)["users"]:
+            user = result["user"]
+            if user["username"].lower() == name:
+                return user
+
     @cache(maxage=36500*86400, keyarg=1)
     def user_by_id(self, user_id):
         endpoint = f"/v1/users/{user_id}/info/"
@@ -890,16 +901,22 @@ class InstagramRestAPI():
                 self.extractor._user = self.user_by_id(screen_name[3:])
             return screen_name[3:]
 
-        user = self.user_by_name(screen_name)
+        user = self.user_by_search(screen_name)
         if user is None:
-            self.user_by_name.invalidate(screen_name)
-            raise exception.AuthorizationError(
-                "Login required to access this profile")
-        if check_private and user["is_private"] and \
-                not user["followed_by_viewer"]:
-            name = user["username"]
-            s = "" if name.endswith("s") else "s"
-            self.extractor.log.warning("%s'%s posts are private", name, s)
+            self.user_by_search.invalidate(screen_name)
+            self.log.warning("Failed to find profile '%s' via search. "
+                             "Trying 'web_profile_info' fallback", screen_name)
+            user = self.user_by_name(screen_name)
+            if user is None:
+                self.user_by_name.invalidate(screen_name)
+                raise exception.AuthorizationError(
+                    "Login required to access this profile")
+            if check_private and user["is_private"] and \
+                    not user.get("followed_by_viewer", True):
+                name = user["username"]
+                s = "" if name.endswith("s") else "s"
+                self.extractor.log.warning("%s'%s posts are private", name, s)
+
         self.extractor._assign_user(user)
         return user["id"]
 
@@ -946,7 +963,10 @@ class InstagramRestAPI():
     def _call(self, endpoint, **kwargs):
         extr = self.extractor
 
-        url = "https://www.instagram.com/api" + endpoint
+        if endpoint[0] == "/":
+            url = "https://www.instagram.com/api" + endpoint
+        else:
+            url = endpoint
         kwargs["headers"] = {
             "Accept"          : "*/*",
             "X-CSRFToken"     : extr.csrf_token,