You can’t message first
No tool opens a chat in the DM—not ours, not anyone else’s. The other person writes, comments, mentions you or taps a button first, and that’s what lets you answer.
Instagram automationa keyword under a post, a reply to every comment, story mentions, an AI agent.
See how the funnel worksWhat Meta allows
and why the funnel works
These limits come from Instagram, not from us, and every tool works inside them. Read them before you plan a campaign.
24 hours to answer a DM
The clock starts at their last message. After that Instagram won’t deliver your reply until they write again.
7 days to answer a comment
A comment opens a second door: one direct message to its author within 7 days. One comment, one message—a second attempt is refused, so make the first one count.
Broadcasting to your followers isn’t on the list—Instagram has no such door, for anyone. To reach a whole audience at once, use Telegram or the chat on your site.
Every comment
gets an answer
The auto-responder replies under your posts on its own. It picks a line at random from the list you wrote.
Several replies, not one
The same sentence under every comment gives the bot away at a glance. Write several and each comment gets a different one.
Reply publicly, in the DM or both at once—under every post or only the ones you pick.
Skip emoji-only comments
Comments that are only “🔥” or “❤️” have nothing to answer. Turn the skip on and the responder walks past them.
Spam never lands
Links, phone numbers, other people’s handles, ALL CAPS, walls of emoji, the same line posted three times—the filter hides or deletes them and can notify you when it does. Every rule stays off until you turn it on.
Ways a conversation
can start
You can’t write first, so the conversation starts with them. There are more of those moments than you’d think.
A keyword in the DM
Plenty of people never comment. They read your word in a story or in your bio and send it straight to the DM. Turn on “catch this word in the DM too” and the same rule answers there.
Story mentions
When someone tags you in their story, it lands in the DM as an ordinary message and opens the 24-hour window. A flow can answer it, or the AI agent can.
Saved questions and a menu
Instagram shows up to 4 saved questions in an empty chat, plus a menu of up to 5 items—each one a link or the start of a flow. A tap counts as the person writing first. Both replace what you set in the Instagram app, so keep them in one place.
The AI agent
takes everything else
Flows catch exact words and button taps. Price, sizes, shipping, “is this still in stock?”—that goes to the agent.
It answers from your knowledge base
Give it your price list, shipping terms and size chart as text, a link to a page or a file. Add question-and-answer pairs for what people ask every day, and pick the language it replies in.
One message never gets two answers: the agent speaks only when the flows stay silent.
What it doesn’t know, it writes down
Questions it couldn’t answer collect in a separate list. Add an answer and the agent keeps it, then handles that question on its own next time.
It hands the chat to a person
When it isn’t sure, the agent stops guessing. It tells the person a human will pick this up, notifies you and leaves the chat waiting in the shared inbox—next to your Telegram and website conversations.
What it costs
One price per connected account. Comments, direct messages and flows aren’t billed on top.
Questions
Before you connect
Do I need a business account?
Yes—a Business or Creator account. A personal profile can’t be connected, and that’s Instagram’s rule, not ours. Switching takes a minute in your profile settings, costs nothing and can be undone.
What permissions do you ask for?
Three: which account you connected, replying to direct messages, and replying to comments—including that first message from a comment. We don’t ask to publish or edit posts, so we can’t touch your feed.
Can I send a promo to all my followers?
No, and neither can anyone else: Instagram has no such door. You can answer everyone who wrote or commented and carry the conversation on. To reach a whole audience at once, use Telegram or the chat on your site.
What happens when the 24 hours run out?
Instagram won’t deliver the message. You wait for the person to write again—or reply to their comment, which opens a 7-day door and a fresh window once they answer.
Which language does the AI agent answer in?
The one you pick in its settings. The knowledge base is yours, so the wording is yours as well.
How do I connect the account?
You log in through Instagram’s own window and allow the account to reply. No tokens, no keys, no server setup—that part is on us.
Let the comments do the work.
Instagram is a trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc. Chatonaut is an independent product, not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Meta.
Someone comments,
you reply in the DM
One word under a post starts the chain: a public reply, then a message in the DM. You set it up in a short form, not in the flow builder.
A comment turns into a conversation
Someone writes your keyword under a post. The account replies publicly and sends that person a direct message a second later.
One rule can hold several keywords and be tied to specific posts—a different message and a different link under each.
mara.studio Want one! PRICE
2m · Replyyour.brand Just sent it to your DMs 💌
nowa second later
Ask them to follow first
Send the freebie to followers only. If they don’t follow yet, the account sends a link to your profile and an “I followed” button—one tap and we check Instagram again.
The public reply changes every time
Write a few versions of “check your DMs” and each comment gets one at random. The same line under 20 comments reads like a bot—to people and to Meta.