# Instagram comparison v1 — synthetic samples

Verified 2026-10-10 on comparetwolists.net production Pages 4bb4eda3-feb4-4ff2-a3a3-18af723d98c8 (source sha256:410a560fbd706e5e39a02ade7e674516cb40a87d93ac3304925450751d30ab70). No personal account data. All four HTML files are made-up inputs, not authentic exports. Historical authentic-format evidence is described separately in format-provenance.json.

## Run the main example

1. Save following.html, followers_1.html and followers_2.html. Keep the .html extension; do not import this README, JSON or a ZIP.
2. Open the homepage's Instagram lists button. Target List A, Description Following. Choose following.html, check alpha / beta / gamma, then Apply usernames.
3. Reopen Instagram lists. Target List B, Description Followers. Select followers_1.html and followers_2.html together. Check beta / delta / beta: 3 recognized entries, 2 files. Apply usernames.
4. Keep Trim outer whitespace on, Ignore case off and Original order. Compare lists. Only in A = alpha, gamma; Only in B = delta; In both = beta. Followers has 2 distinct values and 1 extra duplicate row. Expand beta under In both to inspect its three source entries (one from Following and two from Followers).
5. Select Only in A, Download TXT. Open it as text. It must have exactly two nonempty lines: alpha and gamma. The actual saved download is observed-only-in-following.txt; observed.json records its byte count, SHA-256 and independent readback. Copy values is an alternative; this run used Download TXT.

## Missing-file example

Keep A unchanged. Replace the second Followers file with missing-demo/followers_2.html (gamma, delta), selecting it together with followers_1.html. Only in A = alpha; Only in B = delta; In both = beta, gamma. Now import only followers_1.html into B and compare again: Only in A = alpha, gamma; Only in B is empty; In both = beta. Gamma appears missing because an input file was omitted. This does not establish an unfollow event.

The second files share a basename; keep the missing-demo subdirectory so you can tell them apart. Each B import replaces B rather than appending to the earlier selection.

## Scope and checks

expected.json was frozen independently from literal sets before the product ran. observed.json contains actual previews, selected files, groups, duplicate/source information and error handling. ZIP, JSON and unrelated HTML were rejected, Apply usernames stayed disabled, and existing lists/results were kept. Pasting @alpha and an Instagram profile URL for beta successfully produced alpha and beta.

manifest.json lists raw file sizes and SHA-256. HTML downloads are samples for the importer, not additional site pages; they are not added to the sitemap. The sample date text is illustrative only, not an export-generation or unfollow timestamp. No promise is made about all historical or current Instagram export layouts. General 125-item complete-export checks were already covered by the earlier list-comparison guide; they were not rerun here.