IG Like Blocker

A Chrome extension that takes liking off the table on Instagram. It cancels the network requests Instagram sends when you like something, and hides the like buttons so the temptation isn't there in the first place.

It is a self-control tool, not a security product — see Limitations.

What it blocks

Two layers, because neither one is sufficient alone.

Mechanism	What it covers	Can the page work around it?
declarativeNetRequest	The five REST endpoints Instagram posts likes to, plus the six GraphQL like mutations when the mutation name is in the URL	No — enforced by the browser's network stack
MAIN-world fetch/XHR patch	The same six GraphQL mutations when the name is in the POST body, which declarativeNetRequest cannot read	In principle yes; see below
content.css + DOM markers	Hides like buttons, disables double-tap-to-like, keeps carousel arrows working	Cosmetic only

Concretely, that covers likes on feed posts, reels, stories, comments, and reel reactions in DMs.

Everything the extension blocks is listed in two readable files — public/rules/block-likes.json and the mutation list at the top of public/content/main-world.js. Nothing is hidden in a bundle.

One inherited quirk: rule 5 blocks direct_v2/threads/broadcast/reel_share, which is sharing a reel in a DM rather than liking one. It has been in this extension since the beginning and is preserved as-is. Delete the rule if you want sharing back.

Limitations

Worth being straight about:

• The MAIN-world patch is best-effort. It runs in the page's own JavaScript world — that is the only place a request body can be inspected — so in principle Instagram could re-patch fetch or forge the settings event. The declarativeNetRequest rules are the layer that genuinely cannot be worked around, which is why the URL blocking lives there.
• declarativeNetRequest cannot read request bodies. That limit is structural, not an oversight, and it is the entire reason the second layer exists.
• Instagram's markup and endpoints rot. Class names are build-generated hashes that rotate on every deploy, and Meta renames its internal GraphQL mutations without notice. Nothing here depends on a class name, but selectors and endpoint names still go stale. When they do, the like button reappears — please open a selector rot issue.
• Your language may be missing. Instagram localizes the aria-label on the like button, so hiding it depends on a list of translations in public/content/selectors.js. If yours isn't there the button stays visible — the network blocking still holds, so likes are still blocked. Adding a language is a one-line change.
• Instagram will show an error when you try to like something. That is by design: a blocked request fails exactly the way a dropped connection does, so Instagram's own error handling rolls the heart back.

Install

There is no Chrome Web Store listing. Build it and load it unpacked:

git clone https://github.com/Bar-2020/ig-like-blocker.git
cd ig-like-blocker
npm ci
npm run build

Then, in Chrome:

1. Open chrome://extensions/.
2. Turn on Developer mode (top right).
3. Click Load unpacked and select the dist/ folder.

Requires Chrome 111 or newer.

Settings

Click the toolbar icon. The badge reads off whenever blocking is paused.

Setting	Effect
Block likes	Master switch. Off pauses everything, including the network rules.
Hide like buttons	Hides the heart on posts, reels and comments.
Disable double-tap to like	Stops a double-tap on the media from liking it, while leaving the carousel arrows clickable.

Changes apply immediately to already-open Instagram tabs — no reload needed.

Privacy

The extension makes no network requests of its own, contains no analytics, and loads no remote code. Its only stored state is four values in chrome.storage.sync — the settings above — which Chrome syncs to your own Google account and nowhere else. It has permission for www.instagram.com only.

Development

npm run watch        # rebuild dist/ on change
npm test             # unit tests for the network patch
npm run check        # lint + format + test + build + verify — what CI runs

npm run dev is not useful here; a Vite dev server can't be loaded as an extension. Build to dist/ and reload from chrome://extensions/.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the layout, the verification procedure, and — most usefully — how to fix the selectors when Instagram changes them.

License

MIT