jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Instagram media metadata returned an invalid download URL fo

Error message

Instagram media metadata returned an invalid download URL for item #${index + 1}

What it means

Thrown by buildInstagramDownloadItems when item.url for a media entry cannot be parsed by new URL(String(item.url || '')). The metadata item exists and has a valid type, but its download URL is missing or unparseable.

Source

Thrown at clis/instagram/download.js:98

        kind: kind,
        shortcode,
        canonicalUrl: `https://www.instagram.com/${kind}/${shortcode}/`,
    };
}
export function buildInstagramDownloadItems(shortcode, items) {
    if (!Array.isArray(items)) {
        throw new CommandExecutionError('Instagram media metadata returned a malformed media list');
    }
    return items.map((item, index) => {
        if (!item || typeof item !== 'object' || !['image', 'video'].includes(item.type)) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`Instagram media metadata returned malformed media item #${index + 1}`);
        }
        let downloadUrl;
        try {
            downloadUrl = new URL(String(item.url || ''));
        }
        catch {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`Instagram media metadata returned an invalid download URL for item #${index + 1}`);
        }
        if (!['http:', 'https:'].includes(downloadUrl.protocol)) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`Instagram media metadata returned an unsupported download URL for item #${index + 1}`);
        }
        const fallbackExt = item.type === 'video' ? '.mp4' : '.jpg';
        let ext = fallbackExt;
        const candidateExt = path.extname(downloadUrl.pathname).toLowerCase();
        if (candidateExt && candidateExt.length <= 8)
            ext = candidateExt;
        return {
            type: item.type,
            url: downloadUrl.toString(),
            filename: `${shortcode}_${String(index + 1).padStart(2, '0')}${ext}`,
        };
    });
}
export function buildInstagramFetchScript(shortcode) {
    // The persisted GraphQL query this used to send now answers HTTP 200 with

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Re-run the command with a valid (logged-in if needed) browser session
Retry later if Instagram is rate-limiting or returning degraded data
Update the library if Instagram changed where the CDN URL lives in the metadata

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

for (const item of items) {
  let u; try { u = new URL(String(item.url || '')); } catch { throw new Error('Item has no parseable download URL; refetch metadata'); }
}

Type guard

function hasDownloadUrl(item) {
  if (!item || typeof item.url !== 'string') return false;
  try { new URL(item.url); return true; } catch { return false; }
}

Try / catch

try {
  await igDownload(url);
} catch (e) {
  if (/invalid download URL/.test(e.message)) {
    console.error('A media item lacked a usable URL; retry with a fresh session.');
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Retry metadata fetches that return partial data
Keep sessions logged in so CDN URLs are fully populated
Update the library if the metadata url field location changed

When it happens

Trigger: A media item whose url field is empty, null, or a relative/garbage string that new URL() rejects — often from an incomplete or degraded metadata fetch inside the browser page.

Common situations: Instagram serving partial CDN data when logged out or rate-limited; items where the video/image rendition URL failed to build in the page script; API shape changes removing the url field.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/187812e38e074304. Report an issue: GitHub.