Instagram DMs #

Automate your Instagram Direct Messages with the platform. Connect your Instagram Business or Creator account to receive DMs in Chats, respond with an AI Agent, and set up keyword-triggered automations and comment monitoring.

Prerequisites #

Before connecting Instagram to the platform, make sure you have:

• An Instagram Business or Instagram Creator account (not a personal account)
• A Facebook Page connected to your Instagram account
• A Meta Business account (business.facebook.com) with admin access
• The Facebook Page must be published (not in draft/unpublished state)

Two Instagram cards in Settings → Channels? This channel is the Instagram & Messenger card (the official Meta connection, via a Facebook popup). The separate Instagram (Personal) card is the beta channel described in Instagram (Personal) — Beta: it connects with your Instagram username and password instead, and is the one that can see your follower list.

Linking Your Instagram to a Facebook Page #

If your Instagram account is not yet connected to a Facebook Page:

1. Open Instagram on your phone.
2. Go to your profile.
3. Tap Edit Profile.
4. Under Page, select an existing Facebook Page or create a new one.
5. Confirm the connection.

This link is required because Meta requires Instagram DM access to go through a connected Facebook Page.

Before You Connect: Connection Gotchas #

A few Meta-side settings need to be in the right state before you connect, otherwise AI replies will be blocked, delayed, or never sent at all.

• Turn off any native automated greeting or “Away message” Meta lets you set inside your Instagram and Facebook Page settings. Meta lets only one app “own” automated messaging on a given account at a time, and Meta’s own native greetings outrank third-party apps. Check this in the Instagram app under Settings > Business tools > Saved Replies / Away Message, and on the linked Facebook Page under Inbox > Automations, and disable any active automated responses.
• In Meta Business Manager, verify that both the Facebook Page and the Instagram account appear linked to each other before connecting. Open business.facebook.com, go to Business Settings > Accounts > Instagram Accounts, select your Instagram account, and confirm the connected Facebook Page is listed.
• During the connect flow, enable “Allow third-party messaging control” when Meta prompts for it. Without it, the integration can read messages but cannot send replies on your behalf, and the AI will appear silent.

Connecting Instagram to the App #

1. In the left sidebar, click Settings near the bottom.
2. In the Settings left rail, under Channels, click Channels.
3. Find the Instagram & Messenger card and click Connect.
4. You’ll be redirected to Facebook’s login page. Log in with the Facebook account that manages your Business account and Instagram.
5. Review and grant the requested permissions:
   • Instagram messaging — allows the platform to read and send Instagram DMs
   • Page messaging — allows the platform to read and send Messenger messages (this also connects Messenger; see Facebook Messenger)
   • Page management — allows the platform to access your Page information
6. Select the Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts you want to connect.
7. Finish the authorization to complete the connection.

Selecting Which Page to Use #

After you sign in, the app loads every Facebook Page you have access to. On the Instagram & Messenger card, pick the page you want to use — it shows as selected once picked.

• If you only have one Page, it’s selected automatically.
• If you have more than one, you must pick one — until you do, the card shows Pick a page, and Instagram and Messenger won’t be available when you build a conversation flow, even though the connection succeeded.

How Incoming DMs Are Handled #

When someone sends a Direct Message to your connected Instagram account:

1. Instagram automatically notifies the platform about the new message.
2. The platform creates or updates the contact record for the sender.
3. The message appears in Chats in real time.
4. If an AI Agent is handling the conversation, it generates and sends a response automatically.

Supported Incoming Message Types #

Manually Taking Over a Conversation #

You can step into any Instagram conversation yourself at any time — either from Chats or straight from the Instagram app.

• Replying from the Instagram app (or Meta Business Suite inbox): the moment you send a manual reply from Instagram itself, the AI is automatically paused for that contact. Your reply also shows up in Chats, so the conversation history stays complete.
• Replying from Chats: use the pause action in the conversation to pause the AI before or while you reply.

A few things to know:

• If the AI was already composing a response when you jumped in, that one in-flight reply may still be delivered a moment later. Everything after that stays paused.
• The pause applies only to that contact — the AI keeps working normally in all your other conversations.
• The AI stays paused for that contact until someone on your team resumes it from the app.

DMs That Start From an Ad #

When someone clicks an Instagram ad that opens a DM (“Click to Instagram Direct”) and then messages you, Instagram tells the platform which ad they came from. The platform saves the ad on that contact and passes the ad name to the AI, so it knows the conversation started from a specific ad.

You don’t need a keyword or trigger for this — just mention the ad in your AI Agent’s instructions. For example:

• “If the contact came from the ‘Pack Glow’ ad, they are interested in the glow skincare bundle — lead with that.”
• “If the contact came from the ‘Summer Sale’ ad, offer the summer discount code.”

The bot only knows the ad’s name (the title you gave it in Meta Ads Manager), so use those same names in your instructions. If a contact later messages you from a different ad, the platform updates to the most recent ad.

Setting Up an AI Agent for Instagram #

1. In the left sidebar, under AI STUDIO, click AI Agents.
2. Create or open an Agent.
3. Give it instructions covering brand voice and how it should respond.
4. Add relevant entries to the Knowledge Base so it can answer common questions accurately.
5. Set its active hours (24/7 or only outside business hours).
6. Assign the Agent to Instagram as an Entry Point — that is what routes new Instagram conversations to it. See Entry Points and Moving from Campaigns to Broadcasts & Agents.

Keyword-Triggered Automation #

You can set up keyword triggers so an incoming DM containing a specific word routes to a particular Agent or automation:

• A contact DMs “pricing” and receives automated pricing information.
• A contact DMs “book” and is guided through an appointment booking flow.
• A contact DMs a specific word from a story or post call-to-action (e.g., “DM us ‘FREE’ for a discount code”).

Configure keyword routing as an Entry Point for the channel — see Entry Points.

Comment Monitoring and Auto-Replies #

The platform can monitor comments on your Instagram posts and automatically respond via DM. This is a deep feature with its own dedicated guide — see Comment-to-DM Automation for Exact Text mode, reply variations, and the full credit breakdown. The steps below are the Instagram-specific path.

Plan requirement. Replying to comments is included on every plan sold directly today. A few legacy and agency-granted plans leave it out; on those, comments are still captured in your inbox but no public reply or DM is sent automatically. Check Settings → Billing for your plan’s feature list.

How It Works #

1. A user comments on one of your Instagram posts.
2. The platform detects the comment automatically.
3. The platform replies to the comment publicly (a short nudge) and opens a DM with the commenter, where the AI Agent takes over.

The public reply is just a nudge. The public comment reply is intentionally a short nudge (for example “Sent you a DM — check your messages!”) — the real answer is delivered in the DM that follows.

Before You Start #

Make sure your Facebook Page and Instagram account are linked together inside Meta Business Manager (business.facebook.com). If you only see one of them when connecting, that means they aren’t linked yet — open your Page in Business Manager and use the + button to add the Instagram account.

Setting Up Comment Monitoring #

Comment monitoring is set up on the AI Agent that should answer, as an Instagram Comment Entry Point:

1. In the main sidebar, under AI Studio, click AI Agents.
2. Open the Agent you want to answer these conversations, or create one.
3. Go to the Agent’s Entry Points tab and click New Entry Point.
4. Choose Instagram Comment as the type. The channel is locked to Instagram (it must already show connected — see Connecting Instagram to the App above).
5. Under Which posts, leave All posts selected to watch everything you publish, or choose Specific posts, click Choose posts and tick the posts you want from the list — each shows its thumbnail, caption and date, so there is nothing to look up. Posts you pick appear under the button; click the x on one to remove it. If a post isn’t in the list (very old posts, or a post you only have the ID for), open Or paste post IDs and paste its Post ID, one per line (see Finding a Post ID below).
6. Add one or more Comment keywords (for example: checklist). The platform uses smart matching, so one clean keyword is enough — you don’t need typos or plural forms. Leave the field empty and every comment on the watched posts gets a DM.
7. Choose the First response: AI lets the Agent write both the public comment reply and the first DM, or Exact text sends wording you write yourself — a Public comment reply and a First DM message, each of which can hold several variations so repeated replies don’t look copy-pasted. Exact text costs 0 credits; see Comment-to-DM Automation for the full comparison.
8. Optionally set a delay in minutes before the public reply and the DM go out, so it looks more natural.
9. Toggle the Entry Point Enabled, click Save, and Publish the Agent.

When someone comments one of your keywords on a monitored post, the platform replies to the comment publicly and opens a DM with that person — the conversation then continues like any other Instagram chat, with the AI Agent handling the follow-up.

Finding a Post ID #

You only need this if a post doesn’t show up in the Choose posts list. The Post ID is not the post’s URL:

1. Open Meta Business Suite (business.facebook.com).
2. Go to Content in the left sidebar.
3. Find the post you want to monitor and click its three-dot menu.
4. Choose Copy Post ID, then paste it into the entry point.

Instagram Post and Story Engagement #

Beyond standard DMs, the platform helps you manage engagement across your Instagram content:

• Post comments — Monitor and respond to comments on specific posts.
• Story replies — Receive story replies as DMs, with the Story attached; the AI answers them by default, and you can turn that off.
• Post reactions — Track when users react to your content.

These interactions flow into the same unified Chats view, giving you a complete picture of each contact’s engagement with your Instagram presence.

Story replies #

When someone replies to one of your Stories, Instagram delivers it as a DM. Your AI Connector tags that message [THE CONTACT REPLIED TO YOUR STORY] and attaches the Story image or video itself, so the AI knows the “😍” or “which one is this?” is about that Story rather than a new enquiry, and answers in context. (Stories expire after 24 hours; if Instagram no longer serves the media by the time the reply arrives, the message says the Story is unavailable and the AI works from the text alone.)

Not every business wants the AI jumping on Story replies — a lot of them are just a quick reaction, and a sales-minded reply to “🔥” can feel pushy. You can turn it off per agent: open the agent, go to the AI Instructions tab and switch off Instagram Story replies (it sits just under Primary language). This is a live setting — no publish needed. With it off, Story replies still land in your Chats with the Story attached and everything else still runs (tags, automations, notifications); the AI simply doesn’t reply, and the conversation shows a small note that the AI skipped it because Story replies are turned off. Reply yourself whenever you like — the AI picks the conversation back up on the contact’s next normal DM as usual.

Over the API the same switch is respond_to_instagram_story_replies on the agent (true by default, false to turn it off) — see the Campaigns API.

Message Types Supported for Outgoing #

Character limit. Instagram limits outgoing direct messages to 1,000 characters. Replies longer than that are automatically shortened (cut off with “…”), so keep AI answers concise on Instagram.

24-hour window. Meta only lets you message a contact for 24 hours after their last message to you. This applies even to existing conversations — if 24 hours pass with no new message from the contact, your next reply or follow-up won’t be delivered until the contact messages you again. When this happens the message shows as failed with a “messaging window expired” reason.

Troubleshooting #

Instagram Account Not Appearing After Connection #

• Verify that your Instagram account is a Business or Creator account, not personal.
• Ensure the Instagram account is linked to a Facebook Page.
• Check that you granted all required permissions during the Facebook login process.
• Try disconnecting and reconnecting through Settings → Channels → Channels → Instagram & Messenger.

The App Shows You as Connected on Facebook, but Instagram Shows “Not Connected” #

This mismatch almost always means your Instagram account is not linked to the Facebook Page on the Meta side, so the connection has nothing to pull in even though Facebook lists the app as authorized. On Facebook’s side the connection is listed under Your AI Connector — that is the name of the app that carries the messages, so don’t be thrown by it not matching the name on this site.

• Open your Facebook Page settings and confirm the Instagram account is linked to the same Page you connected. If it isn’t, link it there first.
• Come back to the Instagram & Messenger card in Settings → Channels and click Reconnect — this is what tells the app to pick up the newly linked Instagram account; it will not sync the change on its own.

Instagram Can’t Be Selected When Building a Conversation Flow #

• You haven’t selected a Page yet. If you manage more than one Facebook Page, the app does not pick one for you — go to the Instagram & Messenger card and pick the Page you want.
• The selected Page has no Instagram linked to it. The card will say “The selected Facebook page has no linked Instagram account.” Link your Instagram account to that Page in your Meta settings and click Reconnect, or select a different Page that already has Instagram linked.
• The Page is already connected to another account. One Facebook Page (and its Instagram) can only be active on one account at a time. Go to the other account’s Channels page and disconnect there first, then come back and select the Page. Existing conversations stay in the old account; new messages arrive in the account the Page is now connected to.

Instagram Shows as Connected, but No Conversations Ever Appear #

If Instagram looks connected but the chat list stays empty and the AI Agent never answers, check the Instagram & Messenger card for this warning:

This Instagram account is not linked to your Facebook Page as a professional account, so Meta will not send us its DMs and no Instagram conversations will appear here.

It means Meta is treating your Instagram account as merely “connected” to the Page rather than linked to it as a professional account. Meta only sends DMs for a professional account that is properly linked to the Page, so nothing reaches Your AI Connector — and because the account still appears during the connect flow, the setup looks finished when it isn’t. Messenger on the same Page is unaffected and keeps working.

To fix it:

1. Open the Instagram app, go to your profile, and tap Edit profile.
2. If the account isn’t already a professional account, switch it: Settings > Account type and tools > Switch to professional account (Business or Creator, both are free).
3. Back in Edit profile, under Page, select the same Facebook Page you connected to Your AI Connector, and confirm.
4. Return to the Instagram & Messenger card in Channels and click Reconnect.

The warning clears once Meta reports the link as healthy. Send a test DM from another Instagram account to confirm messages are arriving.

Not Receiving Incoming DMs #

• Confirm your Agent/Entry Point for Instagram is active.
• Verify the Instagram account shows connected in Settings.
• Send a test DM from a different Instagram account.
• Check that no other chatbot or automation app is still connected to the linked Facebook Page. Meta delivers incoming DMs to only one app at a time. Remove any other app at business.facebook.com → Business Settings → Apps / connected business integrations for the Page. A tell-tale sign is a generic auto-reply still going out that doesn’t match your AI Agent’s voice.

AI Not Responding #

• Check that an Entry Point covers this channel and that your agent has been published. Open the Agent, confirm it has an Entry Point for Instagram, and use Publish so the changes are live — an agent left unpublished does not answer real DMs, no matter how complete the setup looks.
• Confirm the Agent is active and its active hours include the current time.
• Verify the contact is routed to the correct Agent.
• Check your credit balance — AI responses require credits.
• Did you reply from the Instagram app yourself? Replying to a conversation from Instagram (or from the Meta Business Suite inbox) automatically pauses the AI on that one conversation, so it does not talk over you. Open the chat in Chats and use the toggle at the top — it reads “AI paused” when the AI is off, and selecting it turns the AI back on.

Media Not Displaying #

• Instagram media URLs can expire quickly. The platform downloads media automatically, but very high traffic volumes can occasionally cause delays.
• If media shows as “unavailable,” it means the platform could not save the file before Instagram’s temporary link expired. The text content of the message is still preserved.

“Permissions Error” When Connecting #

• Make sure you are logging in with the Facebook account that has admin access to the Business account.
• Verify that your Facebook Page is published and in good standing.

Best Practices #

• Respond to DMs within 24 hours. Instagram users expect quick responses, and timely replies improve your account’s standing with the algorithm.
• Fill out your Knowledge Base thoroughly. The AI performs best with comprehensive reference material.
• Use comment-to-DM automation to convert post engagement into conversations.
• Keep your AI’s personality consistent with your brand voice on Instagram.
• Monitor Chats regularly for conversations flagged for human review.
• Do not spam. Instagram actively monitors for spam-like behavior. Keep your automated messages relevant and valuable.