Does Instagram Block CDN URL requests from Some IPs?

Question

I observed recently that for some cdn url of instagram the GET request is giving >400 response.

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/26184672_169643143794471_5913317750591193088_n.jpg

If I try same url from same code from local it works. so, does it block content delivery by IP address of the request?

Answer 1

As the 400 error could be interpreted as:

• Invalid URL

• Bad Request

• The request hostname is invalid.

• The request could not be understood by the server due to malformed syntax.

You may try to :

• clear your browser cookies
• clear your DNS cache
• clear your browser cache

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And retry to get the data again.

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Apparently it is not due to cache or cookies,

So please note that in the specific case of Instagram, and according to this issue the 400 error could also mean:

{ "meta": { "error_type": "OAuthAccessTokenException", "code": 400, "error_message": "The access_token provided is invalid." } }

You may also note that according to the rate limit documentation when the max. rate limit was reach Instagram will raise a 429 error, and from the same source,

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.

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So my last advice is to evaluate if your production server may be considerate by Instagram as a "spammy server" (because of too much requests)

In that case, you may still try to review your app and getting an access token. But keep in mind, that if your app was reviewed you still have this Global Rate Limits constraint:

Global rate limits are applied inclusive of all API calls made by an app per access token over the 1-hour sliding window, regardless of the particular endpoint. Rate limits also apply to invalid or malformed requests.

Sandbox 500 /hour

Live 5000 / hour