TL;DR: To set up an AI agent for Instagram, connect a Business or Creator account, train the assistant on your real prices and policies, choose a comments mode, write your private-reply message, test from a second account and review conversations daily at first. With Intelli, connecting usually takes under a minute. Quality depends mostly on the information you load.
What do you need before you start?
An Instagram Professional account (Business or Creator). Personal accounts cannot be connected.
A Facebook Page linked to the account, as Meta's connection flow typically requires. Check the setup guide for the current steps.
An Intelli account. Start a free trial if you do not have one.
Your business information: prices, delivery times, policies, opening hours, FAQs.
Step 1: How do you connect Instagram?
In the Intelli dashboard, go to Channels, choose Instagram and approve the permissions Meta requests. Connection usually takes under a minute. If comment permissions are missing, Intelli shows a prompt to reconnect.
Step 2: How do you train the assistant?
Create or choose an assistant and give it real information. A thin knowledge base leads to weak answers, so cover:
Products, prices and variants
Delivery areas, costs and timing
Payment methods
Returns and exchanges
Opening hours and location
The five questions you answer most often
Our assistant setup guide shows the options. Also tell the assistant what it must not do, such as promise discounts or discuss existing orders, and when to hand off.
Step 3: How do you choose routing and handoff?
Decide who handles what:
AI first, human on request. Good for high volume.
Human first, AI after hours. Good for small teams.
Assignments. Route sales and support to different people.
Make sure a teammate can take over with the full conversation visible.
Step 4: How do you set up comment automation?
Open the comments settings and pick a mode. See the release notes for details.
Mode | Use when |
|---|---|
Off | You want to handle comments yourself |
Public replies only | Answers are safe to share publicly |
Public + private | You want a short public reply and details by DM |
Private replies only | The topic is sensitive |
Optionally assign a separate assistant to comments. Write the opening private message using {customer_name} and {business_name}. Remember Meta's limits: a private reply must be sent within 7 days of the comment, and only one message is allowed per comment unless the person replies (Meta's rules).
Step 5: How do you test?
From a second Instagram account, send a DM with a common question.
Comment on a post and check the public reply and the private message.
Ask an awkward question, such as one about a paid order, and confirm handoff.
Ask something your knowledge base does not cover and see whether the assistant admits it.
Fix the content and test again.
Step 6: How do you go live?
Start with a single post or a quiet period. Watch the Comments inbox and the DM inbox for the first week. Use the per-post pause for anything sensitive, and retry failed replies from the inbox.
Step 7: How do you improve it?
Read a sample of conversations each week.
Add the questions the assistant missed.
Check where customers asked for a human.
Review analytics for volume and response patterns.
What are the common mistakes?
Launching with an empty knowledge base
Running two automation tools on one account
Using long public replies instead of a short one plus a DM
Forgetting to tell the assistant when to hand off
Not checking the inbox in the first week
For related background, see comment-to-DM automation and our overview of the Instagram channel.
Need help getting set up? Email [email protected] or book a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does setup take? Connecting usually takes under a minute. Training the assistant takes longer, depending on how much information you have ready.
Do I need a developer? No. Setup is done from the dashboard.
Can I test without affecting customers? Yes. Use a second Instagram account to send test DMs and comments.
What if the assistant does not know an answer? Train it to say so and hand off to your team, and add the missing information afterwards.
Can I use it on Facebook comments too? Yes. Comments automation covers both Instagram and Facebook.
