An Instagram chatbot can be set up in two ways. The first is Instagram's built-in tools: frequently asked questions with up to four questions and optional automated answers, plus auto reply, away message and custom keyword automations in Meta Business Suite. The second is the Instagram Messaging API from Meta, where a developer builds the bot and the app can answer within a standard messaging window that lasts 24 hours for most user actions. The in-app questions and the API need an Instagram professional account, and Meta Business Suite automations are for Instagram business accounts. Below are the five automated replies, the setup steps, and the rules Meta states.
What you need first
Meta's developer documentation says people who use its Instagram APIs must have an Instagram professional account, which can represent a business or a creator. Instagram's Help Center says the frequently asked questions feature is only available for business and creator accounts. Meta's help page on Inbox automations says they are available for Facebook Pages, Instagram business accounts and WhatsApp Business accounts connected to Meta Business Suite, so connect the accounts first. Its mobile app page adds that you must have Facebook access to the Page, or task access to Messages, and Meta says some automations may not be available for some channels.
Meta's desktop setup page also carries a notice that certain messaging-related metrics, ad campaigns and organic messaging features for businesses and ads delivered to and from Europe and Japan will be unavailable.
Meta's help pages also state one setting that affects the Meta Business Suite automations below: if you turn on Meta Business Agent, any existing automations, such as away messages or instant replies, are paused.
1. Frequently asked questions in the Instagram app
In our reading, this is the closest thing inside the Instagram app itself to a greeting for a new conversation. Instagram's Help Center says the questions are displayed when people try to message your account, and that you can select up to four. Each question can carry an optional automated response, so people can get answers to simple questions immediately.
The steps on Instagram's Help Center page:
- Tap Messages at the bottom, then open Tools.
- Under Tools, tap Frequently asked questions.
- Tap the toggle next to Show Questions to enable automated responses.
- Under Questions, tap Add Question.
- Enter a question and an optional automated response, then tap Save.
One rule to know: Instagram says that if a person selects one of these questions, their message goes to your Requests in Chats and you need to accept the request to reply. Instagram also says that if you have a business account and have not set up your questions, 4 suggested questions appear in an inactive chat, and you can turn that off under Menu, Business tools and controls, Frequently asked questions. If you already use frequently asked questions on a Facebook business Page through Messenger, Instagram says you can import them.
2. Auto reply (a greeting) in Meta Business Suite
Meta's help page lists the template "Auto reply: Reply with a greeting when someone messages you for the first time." (Meta's overview page calls the same greeting template Instant reply.) This is the template for automating a greeting: Meta describes it as an automation you create from a template in Inbox and turn on or off with a toggle.
On desktop, Meta's steps are: go to Inbox in Meta Business Suite, click Automations, click Create automation in the top right, click the automation you want, click Create automation again, and complete the on-screen instructions. You can turn it on or off with the toggle below Status.
3. Away message
Meta lists this as "Reply to a message when you're not available." On the Meta Business Suite mobile app the steps are: open Inbox, tap the icon in the top-right corner, tap Automations, tap the template, switch on Instagram under Platforms, add your response, and tap Save. For the away message you can go to Schedule, select a time zone, tap Add to schedule and choose days with a start and end time. Meta says the automation is only active during the hours you schedule, and the message is sent instantly in response to an incoming message.
4. Custom keywords and comment to message
Meta's help page says custom keyword automations are only available on the Meta Business Suite desktop experience. It says you can create one for messages that include up to 5 specific keywords or phrases, that keywords are case-sensitive and must match exactly, and that the same keyword can only be used in one keyword automation. It also says Inbox will automatically send a keyword automation after 15 minutes unless you personally respond before then. If a template automation such as an away message is also triggered, Meta says it sends the template response and not the keyword one.
The same list includes "Comment to message", which sends a message reply to comments on your posts that contain specific keywords or phrases, and Meta marks it as desktop-only. Our guide to Instagram comment-to-DM automation goes through it in more detail.
We found no Instagram or Meta page that describes a "saved replies" feature, so this article does not cover it.
5. A chatbot through the Instagram Messaging API
For a bot that goes beyond templates, Meta's developer documentation describes the Instagram Messaging API. This is the answer to "how to integrate chatbots on Instagram": your app does it, through Meta's documented flow, rather than a setting in the Instagram app.
What the documentation states:
- How it starts. An Instagram user sends a message to the professional account. It is delivered to the account's inbox and a webhook notification is sent to your server. Your app can use the API to respond during the standard messaging window.
- The 24-hour window. For most user actions the window lasts 24 hours. When the user action is a person's first message after clicking a Click-to-Direct ad, Meta says it may last up to 7 days from that message.
- Human agent. If more time is needed for a person to answer, Meta says the app can use the human agent tag to send a response in a separate 7-day window. The allowed use is human support when an issue cannot be resolved in the standard window, such as when the business is closed for the weekend or the issue takes more than 24 hours.
- Access. Standard Access is for apps that serve accounts you own or manage. Advanced Access is for apps that serve accounts you do not own or manage and requires App Review and Business Verification.
- Message types. Messages can contain text, links, images, audio, video, PDFs, reactions and stickers. Quick replies are preset buttons, with a maximum of 13 plain-text buttons of up to 20 characters. Ice breakers are a list of frequently asked questions, and the documentation sets a maximum of 4. The documentation says neither quick replies nor ice breakers are currently available on desktop.
- Private replies to comments. Meta says an app can send a private reply to a person who commented on a post, reel, story, Live or ad post within 7 days of the comment, except Live, where replies can only be sent during the live broadcast. Only one message can be sent to the commenter, and follow-up messages can only be sent if the person responds, within 24 hours of that response.
- Limits. Meta lists 100 calls per second per Instagram professional account on the Send API for messages with text, links, reactions and stickers, and 750 calls per hour for private replies to comments on posts and reels.
- Group chats. Group messaging is not supported; an account can only converse with one customer per conversation.
Rules for automated chats
Instagram's Help Center page on automated chats says that where legally required, automated chats must tell the person when they are interacting with one: at the beginning, after a significant lapse of time, and when a conversation passes from a human back to an automated chat. Meta's developer documentation lists California and German users as groups that need special attention, and recommends disclosure as best practice even where it is not required.
For handing off to a person, Meta describes two routes. A single app can run a custom inbox that provides both the automated experience and human replies. With several apps, the Handover Protocol passes the conversation from one app or inbox to another, for example from a bot to a human agent.
Do chatbots help product sales?
Meta's documentation describes what the tools do, not a sales result, so this article makes no sales claim. Instagram's Help Center says frequently asked questions help a business reduce the time and resources spent answering similar questions repeatedly. Meta's page on business messaging says an Instagram business account has a professional inbox, and that you can create click to Instagram Direct ad campaigns that Meta says help reach potential customers and drive sales. Nothing in the pages we read measures how much a bot adds to sales.
If you compare tools that build on the API, see our comparison of Instagram DM automation tools. A chat needs an audience to start it, and UpGrow's Instagram growth service targets people you choose and does not need your Instagram password.
FAQ
Does Instagram have a built-in chatbot?
Instagram's Help Center describes frequently asked questions with optional automated responses, up to four, for business and creator accounts. Meta Business Suite adds templates such as auto reply, away message and custom keywords.
Can I use an Instagram chatbot on a personal account?
Meta's developer documentation says people who use its APIs must have an Instagram professional account, and Instagram says frequently asked questions are only available to business and creator accounts.
How long can a chatbot reply after a customer messages?
Meta says the standard messaging window is 24 hours for most user actions. A human agent can use a separate 7-day window with the human agent tag.
Do I have to tell people they are talking to a bot?
Instagram's Help Center says that where legally required, automated chats must tell people they are interacting with one. Meta recommends doing so even when it is not required.
How do I integrate a chatbot with Instagram?
Meta's documentation points to the Instagram Messaging API: a professional account, a Meta login flow, a webhooks server to receive notifications, and the instagram_business_basic and instagram_business_manage_messages permissions with a subscription to the messages webhook event (the setup its Instagram Login guide lists).
