Instagram auto reply: how to automate Instagram DMs the right way

What Instagram and Meta offer built in

To use business tools on Instagram, switch to a professional account (business or creator). Instagram describes business accounts as best for retailers, brands and service providers, and the switch is in your settings under Account type and tools.

Frequently asked questions in the Instagram app. You can add up to four questions, each with an optional automated answer. Instagram shows them when people try to message your account. To set them up, open Messages, then Tools, then Frequently asked questions, and turn on "Show questions".

Inbox automations in Meta Business Suite. If your Instagram business account is connected to Meta Business Suite, its Inbox can send automated responses. Meta lists these templates:

• Instant reply: a greeting when someone messages you for the first time.
• Away message: a reply when you are not available.
• Frequently asked questions: suggested questions with your answers.
• Location, contact information and hours: replies to people who ask for them.
• Custom keywords: a reply when a message contains specific keywords. Desktop only.
• Comment to message: a message reply to comments that contain keywords or phrases you choose. Desktop only.

Keyword automations in Meta Business Suite take up to five keywords, are case-sensitive, only fire on an exact match, and are sent after 15 minutes unless you reply first. Meta notes that some automations may not be available, depending on the channels you connected.

Saved replies. In the Meta Business Suite Inbox you can save a response you send often and reuse it. Meta may suggest a saved reply when it fits the conversation. A saved reply is not automatic: you still pick it and press send.

What needs a tool on Meta's API

The built-in tools suit one person and one account. When chats are spread across apps, several people answer, or you want more than one fixed message, you need a tool built on Meta's Instagram API, which lets an app send and receive messages for a professional account.

What a tool on the API typically adds:

• One inbox for every channel. Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and TikTok chats in one list, answered by a team without sharing passwords. See the unified inbox.
• Comment to DM with buttons, links and follow-ups, plus a public reply under the comment.
• AI reply drafts written from your products and business information.

A tool gets no special permission to message people whenever it likes. The same rules apply.

Instagram's messaging window rules

Meta's policy for the Instagram Messaging API is short, and every Instagram auto reply has to follow it:

• The customer writes first. A business app can only message someone after they have sent your account a message.
• 24 hours to respond. For most actions, the standard messaging window lasts 24 hours. Messages inside it may contain promotional content.
• Up to 7 days after an ad. When the person sends their first message after clicking a Click-to-Direct ad, the window may last up to 7 days from that message.
• Human agent replies. If a real person needs more time, the reply can be tagged to use a separate 7-day Human Agent window. It is for manual replies, not automation.
• Tell people when it is a bot. Where the law requires it, automated chats must say that the person is talking to an automated service. Meta recommends doing this even where it is not required.

Comments follow their own rule. A private reply to an Instagram comment is one message per comment, sent within 7 days of the comment. It lands in the person's inbox if they follow you, or in their message requests if they do not. Follow-up messages can only be sent if the person responds, and must be sent within 24 hours of that response.

Karobar applies these limits for you. Each Instagram chat shows the time left in the 24-hour window, and replies a person sends between 24 hours and 7 days carry Meta's human agent tag. After 7 days, Karobar blocks sending until the customer writes again, so nothing fails silently.

Keyword auto replies in Karobar

A keyword auto reply answers a repeated question with text you wrote once. Because the customer has just messaged you, the window is open and the reply is allowed. In Karobar, inbox auto replies work like this:

• Match type. A rule fires when the message contains a keyword, starts with it, or matches it exactly.
• Keywords and reply. Up to 30 keywords per rule and up to 1,000 characters per reply, enough to cover spellings and languages.
• Order. Rules are checked in the order you set, and the first match wins.
• Cooldown. Each rule answers the same chat at most once per cooldown. The default is 24 hours, and the longest is 30 days.
• Your words, no AI. The reply is exactly your text. It uses no AI and no AI credits.
• Polite timing. No reply goes out if a person has already answered the latest message.
• Channels. Rules can run on Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and TikTok, or only on the channels you pick.

On Instagram, if a DM matches a keyword in one of your comment to DM automations, that automation goes first and the keyword reply stays quiet, so the customer does not get two answers.

Conversation starters

Conversation starters are up to four questions shown as buttons when someone opens a chat with you, such as "Do you deliver to my city?" or "How do I order?". When the customer taps one, they get the answer you wrote. In Karobar they work on Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

Good starters answer the most common question before it is typed. Keep each one short enough to read at a glance.

Comment to DM

Comment to DM sends a private message when someone comments on your post. In Karobar, comment to DM works on Instagram and Facebook. It does not work on TikTok.

• Triggers. Any comment on a post, a keyword in a comment, a keyword in a DM, a story mention or a story reply. You can choose all posts or specific posts.
• Matching. Keywords match by contains, exact or starts with. You can also describe the trigger in words and let it match by meaning.
• Opening DM and links. An optional opening DM has one button. When the person taps it, they get your message with link buttons. Without an opening DM, the link message goes straight away.
• Follow-up. If the link was not opened, a follow-up can go out after 30 minutes, 1, 3, 6 or 12 hours.
• Public reply. Up to three public reply variations, sent in rotation under the comment, such as "Sent you a DM!".
• Limits. One automation acts per comment, with one private reply per comment, as Meta allows. The same person gets at most one DM per automation in 24 hours. Only top-level comments trigger it, and your own comments are ignored.

Automation messages are always your own text, never AI. Full walkthrough: Instagram comment to DM.

Karobar AI reply modes

When no keyword rule matched, Karobar AI can write a reply from your business information, knowledge sections and product catalogue (prices, variants and availability, never exact stock counts). You choose one of three modes in AI reply drafts:

• Smart (the default). Karobar AI marks chats that need a reply and writes the draft when someone opens the chat. A person reads it and sends it.
• Every message. A draft is ready as each message arrives. A person still approves it.
• Auto. Opt-in, for inbox DMs only. Karobar AI writes and sends replies by itself.

Auto comes with guardrails. To switch it on, the owner accepts a warning and types "enable". It has a daily limit (200 by default) and stops after three replies in a row with no person replying. It never auto-sends answers to complaints, refund, cancel or return requests, order questions, or anything not covered by your business information: those stay as drafts for a person. Every reply is labelled "Sent by Karobar AI", and it only sends inside the platform's messaging window.

Comment replies always need a person: Karobar AI can draft one, but nothing is posted until someone sends it.

How to set up Instagram auto replies, step by step

1. Use a professional account. In Instagram, go to your settings, then Account type and tools, and switch to a business account if you have not already.
2. List your top questions from recent DMs. These become your starters and keyword rules.
3. Connect Instagram to Karobar. Add your Instagram account under Settings, then Channels, so its DMs arrive in the inbox next to your other channels.
4. Complete your business information. Drafts cannot be turned on until this is done.
5. Add products and knowledge: prices and variants in the product catalogue, plus delivery, payment and returns.
6. Write up to four conversation starters for the questions people ask first.
7. Write keyword rules for the rest. Put narrow rules above broad ones and keep the 24-hour cooldown.
8. Set up comment to DM on one post with one keyword, check it, then widen it.
9. Choose an AI mode. Start with Smart. Move to Auto only after weeks of drafts that needed no edits.
10. Test from a second account before your audience does.

Mistakes to avoid

• Spammy DMs. Send people what they asked for, keep it short, and let them reply.
• One rule for everything. A broad rule on "price" placed above "price list" will always win. Order rules from specific to general.
• No cooldown. Without one, a customer who says "price" three times gets the same block of text three times.
• Breaking the window. After 24 hours, an automated message is no longer allowed. Answer quickly, and keep late replies for a real person within the 7-day human agent window.
• Switching on Auto too early. Fill in your business information and products first, and watch the drafts before letting anything send by itself.

What can I automate on Instagram?

Selling on WhatsApp and TikTok too? One inbox for Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok compares each app's reply rules.