Instagram Auto-Reply: Reply to Comments and DMs Automatically

Instagram auto-reply means software answers comments and direct messages for you, usually when they contain a keyword such as “price”. Through Meta’s Instagram API a business can post a public reply under a comment and send the commenter one private reply within 7 days of the comment, and can answer DMs inside a 24-hour messaging window. You need an Instagram professional account.

Used well, it turns every “price?” comment into a conversation within seconds. Used badly, it floods your posts with identical replies. This guide explains what Meta allows, how to choose keywords, how to write public and private replies, and how to move interested people to WhatsApp, as of October 2026.

What Meta’s Instagram API allows

Private replies land in the person’s Inbox if they follow your account, and in their Requests folder if they don’t, so some people will only see your reply when they check requests. New DM conversations from non-followers also start in Requests.

Meta also documents a separate 7-day Human Agent window, which Meta describes for manual replies by a business representative; it is not for automated messages. Message tags can’t be used to send promotional content.

What you need before you start

• An Instagram professional account. Meta says a professional account can represent a business or a creator; personal accounts can’t use the API.
• A way to connect. With the Instagram API with Instagram Login, your account connects directly and no Facebook Page is needed. The Facebook Login option works for accounts linked to a Facebook Page.
• Permissions. The connecting tool asks for permission to read your basic profile, manage comments and manage messages.

A keyword strategy that works

Keywords decide which comments and DMs get an automatic reply. Good keywords are words people actually type when they are ready to act.

• “Contains” for questions: “what’s the price of the blue one?” still matches “price”.
• “Exact” for short words: an exact match on “hi” avoids replying to every message that happens to contain “hi”, like “this”.
• Ask for a keyword in the caption: “Comment GUIDE and we’ll DM you the size guide” tells people exactly what to type.
• Limit a rule to one post or reel when the offer only exists on that post.
• Leave out complaint words. Someone writing “refund” or “broken” deserves a person, not a template.

Public reply etiquette

The public reply tells everyone reading the comments that you answered. Keep it short, friendly and honest:

• “Sent you a DM with the details!”
• “Check your messages (or your Requests folder) 💌”
• “Thanks for asking! Details are in your DMs.”

Rotate between a few versions so a busy post doesn’t look like a wall of identical bot replies. Never post prices or personal details publicly if they differ by customer, and don’t promise a DM if the rule has no private reply set.

Writing the private reply

You get one private reply per comment, so make it complete:

1. Answer the question they asked (price, availability, how to book).
2. Give one clear next step: a link, or “reply YES and we’ll help you order”.
3. Invite a reply. If they respond, you can keep talking for 24 hours from their response.

Example (sample data): “Hi! The Example Kurta is ₹1,299 and comes in S to XL. Want help choosing a size? Reply here or chat with us on WhatsApp: [link]”

DM auto-replies

DM rules answer the questions you get every day: price lists, opening hours, size charts, how to order. Inside the 24-hour window your replies can include promotional content.

• Answer the most common three or four questions first; add more only when you see new patterns.
• Keep each reply to one topic so it reads like a person wrote it.
• Check DMs in the Instagram app regularly: auto-replies don’t replace a person for anything unusual.

Check what’s working

• Read a sample of matched comments each week and remove keywords that trigger on the wrong comments.
• Note which posts bring the most keyword comments, and reuse that style of caption.
• Count how many people tap through to WhatsApp or your link after a private reply.

Moving the conversation to WhatsApp

Instagram’s windows are short, and a buyer who needs follow-ups is easier to serve on WhatsApp. Add a WhatsApp click-to-chat link to your private reply or DM. WhatsApp’s click-to-chat links use the form wa.me/ followed by your full number in international format, without zeroes, brackets or dashes, and can carry a pre-filled message. Our free WhatsApp link generator builds one for you.

When the customer taps the link and sends the message, a 24-hour WhatsApp customer service window opens and your team can reply freely, from a shared inbox, a chatbot or an AI assistant. Each WhatsApp business number gets 1,000 free service messages a month; see WhatsApp API pricing in India.

Instagram auto-reply in Automate AI

With Automate AI’s Instagram Auto-Reply:

• Connect by logging in with your Instagram business account.
• DM rules: comma-separated keywords, matched “exact” or “contains”, each with a reply text.
• Comment rules: keywords, a public reply, an optional private DM, and optionally limited to one post or reel.

There is no Instagram inbox: Instagram DMs don’t appear in Chats, so reply to anything the rules don’t cover in the Instagram app, or invite people to WhatsApp, where your whole team can answer.