This Python script enables you to download any ongoing Instagram livestreams as well as any available replays. It is based on another script that has now been discontinued.

• Features
• Quickstart
• Installation
• Usage
• Notes
• Help

PyInstaLive is capable of downloading:

• Ongoing livestreams (also detects livestreams where the specified user is being guested).
• Saved replays.
• Livestream and replay comments.
• Available livestreams and replays from your following user feed, concurrently.

• Read the Notes & Help sections below (important!)
• Install the prerequisites and then PyInstaLive.
• Run pyinstalive to generate a default configuration file.
• Edit the configuration file using any text editor.
• Run pyinstalive -d "<live-username>" to start downloading a livestream or replay.

• ffmpeg
• Git
• Python 2.7.x or 3.5>=
• pip + setuptools

Make sure all tools are accessible via command line (added to your PATH if on Windows, use Google).

Tip — To install PyInstaLive with the latest commit changes, remove the version tag from the install command (e.g. @3.2.0).

Run the following command in your command line (might need to be run as administrator on Windows):

pip install git+https://github.com/notcammy/[email protected]

To update PyInstaLive to the latest version (currently 3.2.0) run the following command:

pip install git+https://github.com/notcammy/[email protected] --upgrade

If you want to install a specific version of PyInstaLive when for example the newest version contains a bug, you can specify a different version tag in the install command:

pip install git+https://github.com/notcammy/[email protected]

Use the version number you want after the @ symbol (e.g @2.2.0).

Make sure there is a configuration file called pyinstalive.ini in the directory you want to run PyInstaLive from.

PyInstaLive will automatically generate a default configuration file for you to edit if one is not present already.

Here is an example of a valid configuration file:

[pyinstalive]
username = johndoe
password = grapefruits
download_path = 
download_lives = True
download_replays = True
download_comments = true
show_cookie_expiry = True
log_to_file = True
ffmpeg_path = 
run_at_start =
run_at_finish =
use_locks = True
clear_temp_files = False
do_heartbeat = True
proxy = 
verbose = False
skip_merge = False

pyinstalive -u "johndoe" -p "grapefruits" -d "janedoe"

You can omit the username and password arguments if you have specified these in the configuration file:

pyinstalive -d "janedoe"

Below is an example of PyInstaLive's output after downloading a livestream:

> pyinstalive -d "janedoe"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] PYINSTALIVE (SCRIPT V3.2.0 - PYTHON V3.6.3) - 01-02-2019 06:56:29 PM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] Successfully logged into account: johndoe
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] Getting info for 'janedoe' successful.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] Livestream available, starting download.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] Username    : janedoe
[I] Viewers     : 335 watching
[I] Airing time : 2 minutes and 8 seconds
[I] Status      : Active
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] Downloading livestream, press [CTRL+C] to abort.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] The livestream has been ended by the user.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] Airtime duration  : 3 minutes and 13 seconds
[I] Download duration : 1 minutes and 7 seconds
[I] Missing (approx.) : 2 minutes and 6 seconds
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] Waiting for comment downloader to finish.
[I] Successfully saved 19 comments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] Merging downloaded files into video.
[I] Successfully merged downloaded files into video.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I] There are no available replays.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

• I have not much time to extensively test the changes I make to the code, so when you do encounter a problem please open an issue and try using an older version of PyInstaLive in the meantime.

• Python 2 cannot save most unicode characters in comments such as emojis if it's not built from source using the --enable-unicode=ucs4 argument. Read more about this here. This should probably not affect pre-installed Python 2 installations on Linux-based systems such as Ubuntu or Debian.

You can find a list of frequently asked questions here.

You can find a list of available commands and an explanation of the configuration file here.

If you would like to report a bug or ask a question please open an issue.