jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Instagram whoami failed: ${result.detail}

Error message

Instagram whoami failed: ${result.detail}

What it means

A CommandExecutionError thrown when the in-page whoami IIFE threw a JavaScript exception; the probe catches it and returns {kind:'exception', detail}, and verifyInstagramIdentity re-throws as 'Instagram whoami failed: <detail>'. This means the probe script itself crashed (e.g. response.json() failed to parse, a network error inside the page, or an unexpected runtime error), not that Instagram returned an auth or HTTP status. The inner detail explains the actual failure.

Source

Thrown at clis/instagram/auth.js:39

        headers: { 'X-IG-App-ID': '936619743392459', 'Accept': 'application/json' },
      });
      if (r.status === 401 || r.status === 403) {
        return { kind: 'auth', detail: 'Instagram /users/info HTTP ' + r.status };
      }
      if (!r.ok) return { kind: 'http', httpStatus: r.status };
      const d = await r.json();
      const user = d?.user;
      if (!user || !user.pk) {
        return { kind: 'auth', detail: 'Instagram /users/info returned no pk — session likely expired' };
      }
      return { ok: true, user_id: String(user.pk), username: String(user.username || ''), full_name: String(user.full_name || '') };
    } catch (e) {
      return { kind: 'exception', detail: String(e && e.message || e) };
    }
  })()`);
  if (result?.kind === 'auth') throw new AuthRequiredError('www.instagram.com', result.detail);
  if (result?.kind === 'http') throw new CommandExecutionError(`HTTP ${result.httpStatus} from Instagram /users/info`);
  if (result?.kind === 'exception') throw new CommandExecutionError(`Instagram whoami failed: ${result.detail}`);
  if (!result?.ok) throw new CommandExecutionError(`Unexpected Instagram probe: ${JSON.stringify(result)}`);
  return { user_id: result.user_id, username: result.username, full_name: result.full_name };
}

registerSiteAuthCommands({
  site: 'instagram',
  domain: 'instagram.com',
  loginUrl: 'https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/',
  columns: ['user_id', 'username', 'full_name'],
  quickCheck: hasInstagramSessionCookie,
  verify: verifyInstagramIdentity,
  poll: async (page) => {
    if (!await hasInstagramSessionCookie(page)) {
      throw new AuthRequiredError('www.instagram.com', 'Waiting for Instagram sessionid cookie');
    }
    return verifyInstagramIdentity(page);
  },
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

  1. Read the inner detail in the message to identify the underlying exception
  2. Open instagram.com in the CLI-controlled browser and check for checkpoints/captcha or consent prompts; resolve them manually
  3. Re-run the command — transient network errors inside the page often resolve on retry
  4. Log in again if Instagram keeps redirecting to a non-JSON response
  5. Update the CLI if Instagram changed the /users/info response shape

Example fix

// diagnose the wrapped exception
try {
  await opencli instagram whoami;
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith('Instagram whoami failed:')) {
    console.error('Inner cause:', e.message.slice('Instagram whoami failed:'.length));
  }
}
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

null

Type guard

null

Try / catch

try {
  await instagramWhoami();
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith('Instagram whoami failed:')) {
    const cause = e.message.slice('Instagram whoami failed:'.length);
    console.error('Probe crashed:', cause); // e.g. JSON parse failure, network error
    return instagramWhoami(); // one retry for transient in-page failures
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Any exception inside the probe's try block: fetch() rejecting due to a network/CORS failure inside the page, response.json() throwing on a non-JSON body (e.g. an HTML error page or checkpoint redirect), or a bug/type error in the probe code.

Common situations: Instagram serving an HTML interstitial (checkpoint, consent page) instead of JSON; browser network interrupted mid-request; a page navigation canceling the fetch; running against a modified or outdated page context.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c49751576b363ed0. Report an issue: GitHub.