The easiest way to boost your Instagram account and get likes and followers.

Go-instabot automates following users, liking pictures, commenting, and unfollowing people that don't follow you back on Instagram.

It uses the unofficial but excellent Go Instagram API, goinsta (v2).

The idea behind the script is that when you like, follow, or comment something, it will draw the user's attention back to your own account. There's a hidden convention in Instagram, that will make people follow you back, as a way of saying "thank you" I guess.

Moreover, you may have noticed that when you follow someone, Instagram tells you about 'similar people to follow'. The more active you are on Instagram, the more likely you are to be in this section.

• There is a config file, where you can enter hashtags, and for each hashtag, how many likes, comments, and follows you want.
• The script will then fetch pictures from the 'explore by tags' page on Instagram, using the API.
• It will decide (based on your settings) if it has to follow, like or comment.
• At the end of the routine, an email can be sent, with a report on everything that's been done.

Additionally, there is a retry mechanism in the eventuality that Instagram is too slow to answer (it can happen sometimes), and the script will wait for some time before trying again.

The script is coded so that your Instagram account will not get banned ; it waits between every call to simulate human behavior.

The first time it logs you in, it will store the session object in a file, encrypted with AES (thanks to goinsta). Every next launch will try to recover the session instead of logging in again. This is a trick to avoid getting banned for connecting on too many devices (as suggested by anastalaz).

1. Install Go on your system.

2. Download and install go-instabot, by executing this command in your terminal / cmd :

   go get github.com/tducasse/go-instabot

Go to the project folder :

cd [YOUR_GO_PATH]/src/github.com/tducasse/go-instabot

There, in the 'dist/' folder, you will find a sample 'config.json', that you have to copy to the 'config/' folder :

{
    "user" : {
        "instagram" : {
            "username" : "foobar",          // your instagram username
            "password" : "fooBAR"           // your instagram password
        },
        "mail" : {
            "from" : "foo@bar.foo",         // the address from which you want to send the emails
            "password" : "foOb@r",          // the password for this email address
            "to" : "bar@foo.bar",           // the address to which you want to send the emails
            "smtp" : "smtp.gmail.com:587",  // the smtp address for your mail server
            "server" : "smtp.gmail.com"     // the domain name for your server
        }
    },
    "limits" : {                            // this sets when the script will choose to do something
        "maxRetry" : 2,                     // OPTIONAL: Maximum number of times th script will go through the same tag
        "like" : {                          // the script will like a picture only if :
            "min" : 0,                      //      - the user has more than 0 followers
            "max" : 10000                   //      - the user has less than 10000 followers  
        },
        "comment" : {                       // the script will comment only if :
            "min" : 100,                    //      - the user has more than 100 followers
            "max" : 10000                   //      - the user has less than 10000 followers  
        },
        "follow" : {                        // the script will follow someone only if :
            "min" : 200,                    //      - the user has more than 200 followers
            "max" : 10000                   //      - the user has less than 10000 followers  
        }
    },
    "tags" : {                              // this is the list of hashtags you want to explore
        "dog" : {                           // do not put the '#' symbol
            "like" : 3,                     // the number you want to like
            "comment" : 2,                  // the number you want to comment
            "follow" : 1                    // the number you want to follow
        },
        "cat" : {                           // another hashtag ('#cat')
            "like" : 3,
            "comment" : 2,
            "follow" : 1
        }                                   // following these examples, add as many as you want
    },
    "comments" : [                          // the script will take the comments from the following list
        "awesome",                          // again, add as many as you want
        "wow",                              // it will randomly choose one 
        "nice pic"                          // each time it has to put a comment
    ],
    "blacklist" : [                         // a list of users you don't want to follow
        "foo",                          
        "bar",                              // the scripts prompts you to choose whether to unfollow them or not
        "foobar",                           // when you use -sync
        "barfoo"                            // This list will be updated at the end of the script.
    ],
    "whitelist" : [                         // a list of users you don't want to unfollow
        "boo",                          
        "far",                              // it adds them to the whitelist if you choose to answer "No" (N)
        "boofar",                           // the scripts prompts you to choose whether to unfollow them or not
        "farboo"                            // This list will be updated at the end of the script.
    ]                                       // The list might become obsolete as username is easily changeable by user.
}

I use Gmail to send and receive the emails. If you want to use Gmail, there's something important to do first (from the Google accounts website) :

Change your settings to allow less secure apps to access your account.
We don't recommend this option because it might make it easier for someone to break into your account.
If you want to allow access anyway, follow these steps:
    - Go to the "Less secure apps" section in My Account.
    - Next to "Access for less secure apps," select Turn on.

(If you can't find where it is exactly, I think this link should work)

As this procedure might not be safe, I recommend not doing it on your main Gmail account, and maybe create another account on the side. Or try to find a less secure webmail provider!

This is it! Since you used the go get command, you now have the go-instabot executable available from anywhere* in your system. Just launch it in a terminal :

go-instabot -run

* : You will need to have a folder named 'config' (with a 'config.json' file) in the directory where you launch it.

-run : This is the main option. Use it to actually launch the script.

-h : Use this option to display the list of options.

-dev : Use this option to use the script in development mode : nothing will be done for real. You will need to put a config file in a 'local' folder.

-logs : Use this option to enable the logfile. The script will continue writing everything on the screen, but it will also write it in a .log file.

-nomail : Use this option to disable the email notifications.

-sync : Use this option to unfollow users that don't follow you back. Don't worry, the script will ask before actually doing it, so you can use it just to check the number!

-noduplicate : Use this to skip following, liking and commenting same user in this session!

• If you want to launch a long session, and you're afraid of closing the terminal, I recommend using the command screen.

• If you have a Raspberry Pi, a web server, or anything similar, you can run the script on it (again, use screen).

• To maximize your chances of getting new followers, don't spam! If you follow too many people, you will become irrelevant.

  Also, try to use hashtags related to your own account : if you are a portrait photographer and you suddenly start following a thousand #cats related accounts, I doubt it will bring you back a thousand new followers...

Good luck getting new followers!

This is very loosely maintained, as in, I'll probably try and fix things if everything is broken, but I'm no longer working on it. Feel free to fork it though!