Here’s how to use gallery-dl to download an entire Instagram profile including as much metadata as Instagram provides (captions, timestamps, likes, comments count, etc.).

⚠️ Instagram requires authentication for full access. Without login cookies, metadata will be incomplete or downloads may fail.

1️⃣ Install gallery-dl

bash
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pip install -U gallery-dl

Verify:

bash
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gallery-dl --version

2️⃣ Log in to Instagram (REQUIRED)

Option A — Use browser cookies (recommended)

1. Log in to Instagram in your browser

2. Export cookies to a file

   • Chrome/Firefox extension: cookies.txt or Get cookies.txt

3. Save as:

text
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cookies.txt

3️⃣ Basic Profile Download (with metadata)

bash
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gallery-dl \
  --cookies cookies.txt \
  https://www.instagram.com/USERNAME/

This downloads:

• Photos & videos

• Captions

• Post dates

• Like count

• Comment count

• Post IDs

4️⃣ Enable FULL Metadata Saving

Use a config file for maximum metadata.

Create config file

bash
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mkdir -p ~/.config/gallery-dl
nano ~/.config/gallery-dl/config.json

Recommended config for Instagram

json
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{
  "extractor": {
    "instagram": {
      "cookies": "cookies.txt",
      "videos": true,
      "include": "all",
      "sleep-request": 2,
      "sleep": 1,
      "directory": ["instagram", "{username}"],
      "filename": "{date:%Y-%m-%d}_{shortcode}_{typename}",
      "postprocessors": [
        {
          "name": "metadata",
          "event": "post",
          "filename": "{filename}.json",
          "mode": "json"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

This creates a .json metadata file per post.

5️⃣ What Metadata You Get

Each {filename}.json includes:

• shortcode

• caption

• timestamp

• like_count

• comment_count

• owner.username

• is_video

• video_duration

• location

• hashtags

• mentions

• Media URLs

• Carousel info (for multi-posts)

6️⃣ Download Stories / Highlights (Optional)

Stories

bash
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gallery-dl --cookies cookies.txt instagram:stories USERNAME

Highlights

bash
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gallery-dl --cookies cookies.txt instagram:highlights USERNAME

7️⃣ Avoid Rate Limits / Bans

Instagram is aggressive with scraping.

Recommended:

json
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"sleep-request": 2,
"sleep": 1

Optional:

bash
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--limit-rate 500K

8️⃣ Verify Metadata Output

Example:

bash
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ls instagram/USERNAME/*.json

Inspect:

bash
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jq . instagram/USERNAME/2024-01-01_ABC123_Image.json

9️⃣ Common Issues

❌ 403 / Login required
→ Cookies expired → re-export cookies

❌ Missing captions or likes
→ Not logged in OR using old gallery-dl

❌ Only thumbnails downloaded
→ Set "videos": true

🔥 Pro Tip

To embed metadata into files:

bash
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pip install gallery-dl[metadata]

If you want:

• Single JSON for whole profile

• CSV export

• Download private accounts

• Reels-only

• Stories with captions

Tell me 👍

This is normal on Debian / Ubuntu (Python 3.12+). Your system Python is PEP 668 “externally managed”, so pip install is blocked on purpose.

You have three correct ways to install gallery-dl.
👉 Use option A or B (recommended).

✅ Option A — Use pipx (BEST & simplest)

Installs gallery-dl in its own isolated environment and works system-wide.

1️⃣ Install pipx

bash
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sudo apt install pipx python3-venv
pipx ensurepath

Log out & back in (or restart shell).

2️⃣ Install gallery-dl

bash
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pipx install gallery-dl

3️⃣ Verify

bash
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gallery-dl --version

✔ No virtualenv management
✔ Safe
✔ Recommended by Debian

✅ Option B — Use a virtual environment

Best if you want full control or plugins.

1️⃣ Install venv support

bash
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sudo apt install python3-full python3-venv

2️⃣ Create virtual environment

bash
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python3 -m venv ~/venvs/gallery-dl

3️⃣ Activate it

bash
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source ~/venvs/gallery-dl/bin/activate

4️⃣ Install gallery-dl

bash
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pip install -U gallery-dl

5️⃣ Run

bash
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gallery-dl --version

To exit later:

bash
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deactivate

❌ Option C — Don’t do this (not recommended)

bash
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pip install --break-system-packages gallery-dl

⚠️ Can break your OS Python. Avoid.

📍 Where to put config.json (important)

Regardless of install method:

bash
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~/.config/gallery-dl/config.json

Cookies path example:

json
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"cookies": "/home/YOURUSER/cookies.txt"

✅ Works perfectly with Instagram

Both pipx and venv support:

• Cookies

• Full metadata

• JSON export

• Stories / reels / highlights

Recommended setup for you:

pipx + config file + cookies.txt

If you want, tell me:

• your distro (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, etc.)

• whether you want CSV, single JSON, or Reels-only

and I’ll tailor it exactly 👍

Below is the clean, complete way to download a Facebook album with all available metadata using gallery-dl.

⚠️ Facebook requires login cookies for albums, private content, and full metadata. Without cookies you’ll get little or nothing.

1️⃣ Make sure gallery-dl is installed

(From earlier, pipx is ideal)

bash
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gallery-dl --version

2️⃣ Export Facebook cookies (REQUIRED)

1. Log in to Facebook in your browser

2. Use a browser extension:

   • Get cookies.txt (Chrome / Firefox)

3. Export cookies as:

text
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cookies.txt

Place it somewhere safe, e.g.:

bash
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~/.config/gallery-dl/cookies.txt

3️⃣ Facebook Album URL formats

Gallery-dl supports all of these:

text
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https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.ALBUM_ID
https://www.facebook.com/USERNAME/albums/ALBUM_ID/
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=PHOTO_ID&set=a.ALBUM_ID

4️⃣ Download Album (basic)

bash
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gallery-dl \
  --cookies ~/.config/gallery-dl/cookies.txt \
  https://www.facebook.com/USERNAME/albums/ALBUM_ID/

This already downloads:

• Full-resolution photos/videos

• Captions

• Upload timestamps

• Photo IDs

5️⃣ Enable FULL metadata output (recommended)

Create / edit config file

bash
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mkdir -p ~/.config/gallery-dl
nano ~/.config/gallery-dl/config.json

Facebook metadata config

json
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{
  "extractor": {
    "facebook": {
      "cookies": "~/.config/gallery-dl/cookies.txt",
      "videos": true,
      "include": "all",
      "directory": ["facebook", "{author[name]}", "{album[name]|Album}"],
      "filename": "{date:%Y-%m-%d}_{id}",
      "sleep-request": 2,
      "sleep": 1,
      "postprocessors": [
        {
          "name": "metadata",
          "event": "post",
          "filename": "{filename}.json",
          "mode": "json"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

6️⃣ What Metadata You Get

Each media item creates:

text
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photo.jpg
photo.json

The .json includes:

• id

• caption

• created_time

• album.name

• album.id

• author.name

• author.id

• like_count (when visible)

• comment_count

• is_video

• video_duration

• Original media URLs

⚠️ Facebook does not expose commenter names or full reactions reliably anymore.

7️⃣ Download Only One Album (safe test)

bash
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gallery-dl --range 1-5 \
  https://www.facebook.com/USERNAME/albums/ALBUM_ID/

8️⃣ Avoid Rate Limits / Temporary Blocks

Facebook is aggressive.

Recommended (already in config):

json
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"sleep-request": 2,
"sleep": 1

Optional CLI:

bash
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--limit-rate 500K

9️⃣ Common Problems & Fixes

❌ Login required / empty album
→ Cookies expired → re-export

❌ Low resolution images
→ Must be logged in
→ Album privacy must allow you access

❌ Missing captions
→ Some albums are “media-only”
→ Facebook often strips old captions

🔥 Advanced Options (if you want)

I can show you how to:

• Export single album JSON

• Convert metadata to CSV

• Download private group albums

• Download tagged photos

• Separate videos vs photos

• Mirror entire Facebook pages

Just tell me what you want next 👍

Got it — here’s how to push gallery-dl (Facebook) as far as it can go in terms of postprocessors + metadata extraction.

I’ll be very clear about what is possible vs impossible, because Facebook hard-limits data.

⚠️ Reality check (important)

Gallery-dl can only save metadata that Facebook actually exposes to logged-in users.

❌ Not possible (Facebook blocks this):

• Full commenter lists

• Reaction breakdowns (👍❤️😂 etc.)

• User profile metadata of likers

• EXIF from Facebook images (already stripped)

✅ Possible:

• Full media metadata

• Album + author info

• Captions

• Timestamps

• IDs

• Video properties

• URLs

• Group/page context

• Structured JSON, TXT, CSV

1️⃣ All useful postprocessors for Facebook

Gallery-dl supports these postprocessors (relevant ones):

2️⃣ MAXIMAL Facebook metadata config

This config enables everything gallery-dl can extract.

json
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{
  "extractor": {
    "facebook": {
      "cookies": "~/.config/gallery-dl/cookies.txt",
      "include": "all",
      "videos": true,

      "directory": [
        "facebook",
        "{author[name]|unknown}",
        "{album[name]|no_album}"
      ],

      "filename": "{date:%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S}_{id}",

      "sleep-request": 2,
      "sleep": 1,

      "postprocessors": [

        {
          "name": "metadata",
          "event": "post",
          "filename": "{filename}.json",
          "mode": "json"
        },

        {
          "name": "mtime",
          "event": "file"
        },

        {
          "name": "checksum",
          "event": "file",
          "hash": "sha256"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

3️⃣ What Facebook metadata fields you actually get

Inside each .json file:

Media info

json
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"id"
"shortcode"
"is_video"
"video_duration"
"dimensions"
"media_url"

Time

json
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"created_time"
"date"

Text

json
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"caption"
"alt_text"

Album

json
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"album": {
  "id"
  "name"
}

Author / Page / Group

json
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"author": {
  "id"
  "name"
  "url"
}

Engagement (limited)

json
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"like_count"
"comment_count"

Context

json
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"group"
"page"
"privacy"
"source_url"

4️⃣ Generate a single album JSON (advanced)

Gallery-dl is per-post by design, but you can merge later.

Example with jq

bash
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jq -s '.' facebook/**/**/*.json > album_full.json

5️⃣ Convert metadata to CSV

bash
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jq -r '
  .[] |
  [
    .id,
    .created_time,
    .author.name,
    .album.name,
    .caption,
    .like_count,
    .comment_count,
    .media_url
  ] | @csv
' album_full.json > album.csv

6️⃣ Run custom scripts (power user)

Example: auto-append metadata to a log file.

json
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{
  "name": "exec",
  "event": "post",
  "command": [
    "bash",
    "-c",
    "echo '{id},{created_time},{album[name]}' >> facebook_log.csv"
  ]
}

7️⃣ Zip each album automatically

json
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{
  "name": "zip",
  "event": "after",
  "filename": "{album[name]}.zip"
}

8️⃣ Debug & see EVERYTHING gallery-dl extracts

bash
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gallery-dl -K https://www.facebook.com/USERNAME/albums/ALBUM_ID/

This prints all fields, including hidden ones.

9️⃣ Things people often misunderstand

❌ “More postprocessors = more Facebook data”
✔ No — postprocessors only store / transform what Facebook already exposes.

❌ “Gallery-dl is missing likes/comments”
✔ Facebook stopped exposing them consistently.

If you want next:

• Private group albums

• Whole Facebook page mirror

• Timeline photos

• Tagged photos

• Custom Python metadata processor

Tell me what you want and your OS 👍

Below is the maximum-coverage, realistic way to mirror an entire Facebook page with gallery-dl, including all media + all metadata Facebook still exposes.

This is as close to a true mirror as Facebook allows in 2025.

⚠️ Important limitations (Facebook-side)

Even with login cookies, no tool can extract:

❌ Full comments
❌ Reaction breakdowns
❌ Lists of likers
❌ Full timelines as structured posts
❌ Shared/private-only content you can’t see manually

✔ What is possible:

• All photos & videos

• Albums

• Timeline media

• Reels (if accessible)

• Captions

• Timestamps

• IDs

• Page info

• Engagement counts (limited)

• Per-media JSON metadata

1️⃣ Requirements (must-have)

✔ Logged-in Facebook account
✔ Cookies exported (cookies.txt)
✔ gallery-dl installed (pipx or venv)

Cookies path used below:

text
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~/.config/gallery-dl/cookies.txt

2️⃣ Facebook page URLs you should mirror

To fully mirror a page, you must hit multiple endpoints:

Example page:

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https://www.facebook.com/PAGENAME

3️⃣ MAXIMAL Facebook mirror config

Create/edit:

bash
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~/.config/gallery-dl/config.json

json
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{
  "extractor": {
    "facebook": {
      "cookies": "~/.config/gallery-dl/cookies.txt",
      "include": "all",
      "videos": true,

      "directory": [
        "facebook",
        "{author[name]|unknown}",
        "{category|page}"
      ],

      "filename": "{date:%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S}_{id}",

      "sleep-request": 2,
      "sleep": 1,

      "postprocessors": [
        {
          "name": "metadata",
          "event": "post",
          "filename": "{filename}.json",
          "mode": "json"
        },
        {
          "name": "mtime",
          "event": "file"
        },
        {
          "name": "checksum",
          "event": "file",
          "hash": "sha256"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

4️⃣ Mirror the ENTIRE page (recommended order)

① Albums (highest quality media)

bash
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gallery-dl https://www.facebook.com/PAGENAME/photos/albums/

② Timeline photos

bash
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gallery-dl https://www.facebook.com/PAGENAME/photos/

③ Videos

bash
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gallery-dl https://www.facebook.com/PAGENAME/videos/

④ Reels (if supported)

bash
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gallery-dl https://www.facebook.com/PAGENAME/reels/

⑤ Tagged photos

bash
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gallery-dl https://www.facebook.com/PAGENAME/photos_of/

📌 These commands do not duplicate files — gallery-dl deduplicates by ID.

5️⃣ Resulting directory structure

text
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facebook/
└── Page Name/
    └── page/
        ├── 2018-06-01_123456789.jpg
        ├── 2018-06-01_123456789.json
        ├── 2019-02-12_987654321.mp4
        ├── 2019-02-12_987654321.json
        └── ...

Each media item has:

• File

• Matching .json metadata

6️⃣ What metadata you get per post

Inside .json:

Core

• id

• created_time

• source_url

• media_url

• is_video

• video_duration

• dimensions

Text

• caption

• alt_text

Page info

• author.id

• author.name

• author.url

• category

Engagement (limited)

• like_count

• comment_count

Context

• album.id

• album.name

• privacy

7️⃣ Create a SINGLE JSON mirror (optional)

bash
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jq -s '.' facebook/Page\ Name/page/*.json > page_full.json

8️⃣ Convert to CSV (optional)

bash
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jq -r '
  .[] |
  [
    .id,
    .created_time,
    .caption,
    .author.name,
    .like_count,
    .comment_count,
    .media_url
  ] | @csv
' page_full.json > page.csv

9️⃣ Large pages (VERY IMPORTANT)

For pages with 10k+ posts:

✔ Use sleeps (already set)
✔ Expect hours/days
✔ Run per section (albums → photos → videos)
✔ Resume safely if interrupted

Resume automatically:

bash
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gallery-dl --download-archive archive.txt URL

10️⃣ Debug: see ALL extracted fields

bash
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gallery-dl -K https://www.facebook.com/PAGENAME/photos/

🧠 Summary

✔ This mirrors all accessible page media
✔ Preserves timestamps, captions, structure
✔ Produces machine-readable metadata
✔ Facebook limits are unavoidable

If you want next:

• Private page / group mirror

• Incremental syncing

• Wayback-style HTML viewer

• Python script to rebuild timeline

• Media dedup across pages

Tell me 👍