Instagram: DMs, Story Replies and Public Comments

Connect an eligible Instagram account in Messaging Channels, then open its reply settings. Required Meta permissions, plan access and a healthy connection are prerequisites. See connection setup.

Concerned about your account? Read Instagram account safety and permissions. Official authorization is not an exemption from Meta's rules or a guarantee against account restrictions.

Configure each event type

1. Open the intended Instagram connection, not a different page/account.
2. Set Reply to DMs, Reply to Story replies and Reply to comments separately.
3. For each enabled type, choose the response mode.
4. For stories, check the reply-window setting shown in the form.
5. For comments, choose public-thread replies or the offered private-message delivery behavior.
6. Save and test each enabled type from a different customer-side account.

A connected account does not automatically enable all three switches. A story window is not permission to respond to unlimited historical events, and provider rules still apply.

Auto Replies run before AI

Mode	Behavior
Answer all with AI	Matching Auto Replies are considered first. If none matches, AI can generate an answer.
Auto Replies only	Only matching configured triggers receive prepared responses; an unmatched message does not get an AI fallback.
Event type switched off	The disabled type is not opted into automated replies by that control.

Prepare rules in Auto Replies, checking active status, Exact/Contains mode, case sensitivity and priority. Test a matching phrase and a nonmatching phrase. Prepared Auto Reply sends do not consume the AI-generated customer-reply allowance; rule storage limits and provider restrictions remain separate.

Human takeover, account permissions and delivery failures can also affect the result. Do not diagnose every missing reply as an AI quota problem.

Reply under the comment instead of by DM

Enable Reply under the comment — do not send a DM when you want the answer in the public thread. Prepared replies use the main answer rather than a private-message delivery notice.

Public replies cannot use private order, cart or payment tools. Never include private customer information. Invite the customer to an appropriate private channel when an order-specific discussion is needed; the public-only option must not be treated as permission to send an unsolicited private answer.

Long and partially delivered answers

Long public answers may be split into numbered parts. Splitting does not guarantee that every part is accepted: provider limits, permissions, network errors or account restrictions can interrupt delivery.

Inspect which parts reached the thread before retrying. Repeating the whole action can duplicate already-sent comments. Keep prepared public replies concise and link or direct customers to an appropriate source for lengthy general information when supported. Do not promise that attached media or private-message buttons will behave identically in comments.

Verify the complete flow

Run three separate tests: a DM, a story reply and a comment. For comments, verify the exact public thread and confirm no DM was sent when public-only mode is selected. For each test inspect the incoming conversation/event, selected rule or AI response, and actual customer-side delivery.

If no event arrives, check connected asset, Meta permissions and webhook diagnostics. If an event arrives without a response, check the event switch, mode, matching rule and handoff. If only part arrives, inspect delivery status and shorten the prepared wording before retesting. Reconnect only after checking diagnostics; repeated reconnects do not fix policy restrictions.

Share sanitized error details with Support, not customer messages, access tokens or private order data.