Aetherion is an open-source, local-first automation framework for Instagram that replaces fragile UI scrapers and proxies with native platform interaction. It pairs a headless Android host (aetherion-app) for authentic hardware fingerprinting and real-time FBNS/MQTT listening with a typed Python client (aetherion-sdk) for native API execution.
And here we go with Ship #1 for Aetherion (v0.0.1-poc)!! ;D
So long story short, Aetherion is an open-source, local-first automation framework designed to interact with Instagram at the native device level—ditching fragile UI scrapers and centralized proxies for authentic hardware telemetry and Keystore attestation!!!
The biggest battle by far was getting the cryptographic handshake working and extracting genuine on-device signatures (#PWD_INSTAGRAM:4, Keystore ECDSA nonces) that Meta’s servers actually accept [Especially when I tried it again after the break, the server just kept returning empty bodies 😭😭]. While live credential logins are currently running headfirst into upstream Bloks version checks (classic Meta :P [I would be implementing a fix for this in the next version with automated GitHub actions and LLM based patches if only the version code changed]), the underlying attestation pipeline, dynamic secret extraction, and live protocol inspector are completely functional and validated!
If you want to poke around and test it, grab the APK, install it, tap Preview Demo, and open the Saved Secrets drawer to see the exact cryptographic parameters and hardware tokens your phone derives (or you can try inputting any dummy pass etc to see the live network requests and the Meta server accepting your signatures!!).
For the full deep dive please check out my last devlog! ;D [though the devlogs were not consistent, the last one is exceptionally detailed, I think it should clear everything up!!]
3h 19m 9s logged
Phewwww, finally pushed the last commit, and this will be my last devlog before the ship (and the last one for Stardance). Anyway, I would like to summarize what happened over the past months. To start, I was very excited to work on this project and did a quick proof of concept at the start, though I didn’t think much of it and didn’t establish a solid pipeline. I just realized that when I revisited the project again, this time I focused mostly on the pipeline, and sadly that (the pipeline that is used to intercept Instagram requests, i.e.) would be internal for most of the duration of the project since Meta would likely patch the method I am using (it requires a rooted device and is fairly difficult as well as risky too, so it might be good overall). Going forward, for what I have done now, instead of making a complete profile sign-in (which was practically impossible in the time I have left), I just validated all the secret extraction from the Android device against the Meta endpoints, so I can at least guarantee that I can generate all the nonce and cryptographic signatures required by the Instagram backend. Currently, the problem I am running into is the client being out of date (even though its the latest blocks and client version)…? Anway this seems to be a temporary issue since instagram seems to be overhauling many things, but the point is that making a client right now was not my end goal, it was to make a pipeline I can use repideatly to keep up this project and to verify if I can extract what Meta need from the android device and I seem to have achieved both of them and can conveniently display them to you folks, hence the ship [to see your own instagram params, just install Aetherion, go to preview demo and click saved secrets and it will show you everything, though the keys can be rotated, is was still very difficult none the less]. Anyway, I seem to have run headfirst into nearly all the issues that currently plague subzeroid/instagrapi on GitHub, so I must be doing something right… Anyway, SHIP INBOUND!!!
25m 39s logged
Yayaa, just extracted the data I would use for the login POC [this ship will mostly be a pipeline POC]. again, the front end it mostly AI generated but it was NOT agentic, I verified each line manually, now I am working on implementing this into the kotlin app… most of this was done in the last devlog but it was’t completed hence omitted… LETSSS GOO!!!!
1h 15m 48s logged
Whewww! it was some long work but I finally restructured my internal logger to work with the new instagram version! (it took soo long probably before it has been around 2 months and many changes compounded into a nearly complete overhaul). Anyway, most of the work today was done on Aetherion internal, a internal branch of Aetherion which will only be used to update Aetherion, it is unlikely to be made public as meta would likely quickly patch the methods used… either way, entirely of the project other then this would be FOSS!! Attached are screenshots from the private dashboard, the UI is mostly AI generated as this is never ment to be used on production…
Tomorrow I will work on the analyzer to get useful data out of these recordings and will they to ship it before stardance ends, but I will sure be cutting close :( Also, I am able to do all this interception as I rooted my old realme device (which is a whole story on its own), it is not at all possible on stock androids!!
1h 30m 39s logged
Well I am back after a long time and to no ones surprise, nothing works :(
I now have ahead to me:
AAAAA, it will take soo longgg :( [BTW I got login working 2 months ago but it does’t wok anymore, instagram just refracted their backend :(]
8h 26m 48s logged
AAAAAAAA!!! I am basicly forced to write this devlog as it has been around 8 hours without one… I thought that I would not make a devlog until I at least make the login work consistently, but here we are… Anywho, this will be my first devlog, till now I just have created a rough app for testing out calls and responses to the instagram endpoints, a majority of the time was spent trying to break Instagrams SSL pinning (No I wont be telling you how I did it, or will I [cue vsauce music]). Anyway, I wont be telling you much now, I am stuck between by class 12, SAT and my project, I just hope it turns out well… As for what Aetherion does, ill be sure to explain it in the next devlog!
