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So i recently have submitted my Instagram integration app to market, but I'm concerned about users who repeatedly use the app. If some users do not observe the rate limits, Instagram automatically limits their activity. But my question is whether this may result in Instagram taking down my client? I mean do i have to apply the limits within my app to prevent them from taking down my client? And if so, how can i have a backup client for emergency?

And the other question is some limitations are not clearly stated by Instagram and are just applied, like limited number of follow and unfollow per hour which is independent from API call limits. What is the exact limitations about these staff? And do i have to observe these too? Thanks in advance.

sideshowbarker
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saraX
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1 Answers1

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Due to first question I think Instagram API developers assume that you'll handle 429 error code correctly (it'll be returned when you'll exceed hour limit) and you won't spam their API. Moreover, in Instagram doc you can find following statement:

You may also receive responses with an HTTP response code of 400 (Bad Request) if we detect spammy behavior by a person using your app. These errors are unrelated to rate limiting.

So I think, if you receive a lot of responses with 400, from Instagram point of view, it's yours app's user fault.

About rate limits of undocumented endpoints, you should contact instagram support directly

Krzysztof Skrzynecki
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  • Thanks for the answer. Does Instagram takes down my client if i do not handle the 429 error code and some users excessively use the API? Is there any documentations or evidences that show they do that? – saraX May 26 '16 at 16:36
  • You don't need to handle 429 error code really - you can just ignore it. About 'excessively use' I didn't find an detailed information. One point from **platform policy** can be a hint: `Don't use an unreasonable amount of bandwidth, or adversely impact the stability of Instagram.com servers or the behavior of other apps using the Instagram APIs.` . So we can assume that your app needs to be so aggresive that it would affect affect instagram servers - in my opinion it's `impossible` (unless you control botnet big enough that you can attack instagram servers ;) – Krzysztof Skrzynecki May 26 '16 at 18:39
  • So much Thanks. Sorry my amateur but as the last question, i see an app like InstaFollow which has limited number of follow/unfollow each hour. So why should they do that? Thanks again:) – saraX May 26 '16 at 19:17
  • I guess they track it, because this feature needs to just work - they have it in their app name. When user exceeds rate limit, InstaFollow developers can just display message: `sorry, you exceeded follow limit for this hour`. It depends on your business logic how it should be handled - if request which you invoked isn't essential for this moment, you can ignore it and try later - e.g. sync action which is invoked in the background – Krzysztof Skrzynecki May 26 '16 at 19:25